[ HER OUTFIT ABOVE! ]

⤵︎

CHAPTER 10. ❝THE BIG
BAD WOLF'S RETURN!❞

[3.09| PART ONE]

"PORTLAND IS FANTASTIC. Once you get over all the whiny music and healthy-looking people, it is literally a breeding ground for werewolves," says the Klaus Mikaelson himself as he answered Stefan's call while strolling to his car.

He's spent these past weeks finally being successful in building his army of hybrids at his disposal. Something he's given the bitter part of a millennium seeking to achieve.

The man was well accustomed to his life now, and he wasn't foreseeing any of it to change. Until now, as the four words he'd hear next would shift his mood unanticipatingly.

"Your father is dead."

And just like that, Klaus' world freezes in time. Already, he sought to know if he'd even heard the Salvatore right. "What did you say to me?"

"Oh, my mistake. Not your actual father and not dead." Stefan spoke as he turned to his desiccated body, "Mikael—Daggered. What do you want me to do with the body?"

Klaus was justly dubious of this at first. Being an infamous, calculated, paranoid being, the hybrid wasn't immediately taking Stefan's words as truth. "Well, first I want you to explain to me exactly what happened."

One hour earlier, at the Salvatore Boarding House:

Stefan, Damon, and Elena were shuffling into the library as Stefan requests, "Aye, let's say that Mikael followed Elena in here. He tried to grab her, so he could use her as bait."

"And you what? Vervained him?" Elena imposed as they stopped in the middle of the room.

"No, we vervained him! This guy is an Original. To make it realistic," Damon argued.

"Okay, fine," Stefan exhaled, crossing his arms. "We vervained him, and in the process discovered that he had a dagger."

Elena figured then, "Which he planned to use on Rebekah, but instead-"

"We drove it through his heart," Stefan finishes Elena's sentence for her.

"And what happens when he asks to see Mikael's body?"

"Good point!" Damon exclaimed. "You, my brother, have been compelled to do what Klaus says. So the idea is to lure him back here and kill him... the last thing we need is you getting tripped up and tongue-tied."

The Gilbert throws Stefan a look, knowing Damon had a solid point. Which was rare.

"Well, don't look at me. I am just in charge of getting him back here." Stefan pointed out.

Elena continued pondering. "Klaus is smart. If we tell him that Mikael is dead, he'll want proof."

"Then I shall be dead," another voice appears inside the room, spinning the trio around in their direction.

They met with Mikael's stare as he walks to them with some items in hand.

Elena courses to him with the Salvatore brothers trailing behind with her. "What if he wants to see you in person?"

"Well, that means our plan is working. Klaus will absolutely want to see my body. You lure him here, and I will kill him." Mikael explained his plan.

Stefan's head tilts. "With what? Those daggers won't work on him," gawking at the silver daggers Mikael had placed on the little table by them.

"Well, I'm in possession of a stake fashioned from the wood of the ancient white oak tree," Mikael announced, opening up the cloth that had been holding the silver daggers he was possessing. "The one that left these ashes when it burned," grasping a small glass container of white oak ash, opening it from the cork.

"Where is it?" asked Damon.

Mikael dips the dagger into the ashes of the white oak tree. "Not here," he assured. Damon glanced away in disappointment. "The knowing of its location is my insurance policy."

"Against what?" Stefan sought to know.

Mikael puts aside the container as he steps to Elena. "You leaving this in my heart. You see, a vampire can't dagger an original without dying. So—it falls to you," he says, handing her the dagger.

Elena's eyes broaden as she carefully takes it from him. "Y...You want me to actually dagger you?" she inquired, uneasy at the fact that he was actually asking this of her.

"Klaus will leave nothing to chance—especially when it comes to trust," Mikael said.

"I wanna see him. I want to see his rotting body for myself," the hybrid stammered out, pacing around the dark forest he was in.

"Well, he is here." Stefan stands up from his chair, stepping toward Mikael's daggered body. "Come by whenever."

"If you are lying to me, Stefan, your compulsion will expose you. So, answer with your life: Is what you are saying the truth?"

Stefan steals a glance to Elena before disclosing confidently, "It's true. I saw it with my own eyes."

"I wanna talk to Rebekah," Klaus ordered.

Stefan's lips formed a line. "That's not a problem. She is right here."

All their attentions sway then to Rebekah, with Lorelei herself by her side. He hands his phone to the Original, letting her talk, "Hello Nik."

"Rebekah, love. What's this I hear about Mikael's tragic run-in with the dagger?" she, as well as Lory (only faintly), hear him ask.

Elena nods at Rebekah to answer. "It's true," she declares, putting on her most convincing tone, "He's finally out of our lives for good."

There was a beat of silence on the phone as Klaus closed his eyes at this revelation. Even if a part of him was reluctant to believe her words were true, the thought of it still brought him a little solace in his evening.

Rebekah proceeded on, "I miss you. I'm miserable here...only the girl I told you about is keeping me sane in this town."

Klaus hums in remembrance. "Ahh, I believe if I can recall, her name was Lorelei, right?"

Surely, Lory herself didn't know how to feel hearing Klaus' voice from the phone say her name—let alone to hear his voice for the first time in her life.

She oddly thought his voice matched his personality. Judging by his tone and words, he did seem like the ruthless, self-centered, and rather intelligently witted bastard her family said much about.

Lorelei's taken out of her thoughts as she hears Klaus add, "I'll be home soon, then I'll be able to meet this girl I'll have to give my regards to."

The girls roll their eyes at his comment, but ultimately Rebekah responds, "Good. I'll see you then, brother." She hangs up and peered to the others. "He bought it. He's coming home," she revealed, handing Stefan back his phone, already walking out of the room as Lorelei stays behind for a moment.

"Now—was that easy or what?"

Lorelei rolls her eyes again at Damon's cocky reaction before pacing back to Rebekah.

When she caught up with her, Lory instantly  sensed her discomfort. "Hey, Beks are you alright?" she questions, walking with her.

"Fine that we're playing a part in my brother's fantastic murder?" Rebekah retorted back.

"Hell no," Lory spat out in response. "Look, Beks, I get that Klaus has done a grand lot of really really questionably bad things in the past. Heck, my family has told me an impressive amount of stories about you guys like I've told you before, but-"

"But what, Lory?" Rebekah stalls in the middle of the hallway, forcing the Lorenzo do the same.

She lets Rebekah cool down before voicing her mind, "I'm an only child, which means I never got to have a sibling to annoy me or to even be the annoying sibling, but I've seen sibling love before."

Hearing that, Rebekah momentarily turned away from Lorelei at the topic at hand.

The Lorenzo continues, "You stuck with Klaus, Elijah, and all of your siblings for the past thousand years...I don't blame you if you're hesitant in doing the one thing that will take one of them out of your life forever."

It sucked on Rebekah's half, knowing that Lorelei was right.

She absolutely was having second thoughts about agreeing to this plan, but it was mostly for the sake of family. The one that never abandoned her, but also left her with scars that were drastically beyond repair.

Peering back at Lory, conflicting emotions ripped into her being. "Why must you remind me of the bond of family, Lorelei?"

The brunette beauty breathes out a sigh. "Because family is important, and I know you know the importance of it." Lorelei includes as well, "And I don't want you to go through a plan you don't put your full intentions on."

Rebekah broke into a weak smile, holding back tears. "You know, for a cold-hearted woman like you—you really do have ways in proving there's still a heart that beats inside of you."

Lory shook her head as it drops to the ground. "Yeah, well, I guess I'm also very selective of the people who earn that side of me." She glances back at Bekah. "And besides—you're one of the only friends I have at the moment. Of course, you're going to be apart of that secluded group."

To that, Rebekah's smile strengths, as it leaves Lory to produce one of her own.

And as if they read each other's minds, the two of them reach into each other's arms and embrace one another, not knowing how much they deeply needed it.

Truly, it seemed like it was just them against the world now, and Lory knew that she and Rebekah needed someone like each other just to go through life with one another.

In breaking their embrace, Lory's hands settled their way to the sides of Rebekah's shoulders. "So, I'll meet you at the party tomorrow?"

"Of course," Rebekah nods. "And I'm assuming you already have your outfit planned, too?"

Lorelei shrugged at the question. "Oh please, I'm Lorelei Lorenzo. I plan everything in my life." She adds before leaving, "But take care, alright? We have a whole day ahead of us tomorrow, with memories and moments we will probably never forget...hopefully."

Rebekah calmly nods again as she observes Lory leave, making her way to the door to take off.

─── · 。ﾟ☆: *.☽ .* :☆ﾟ. ───

HALF OF THE NEXT DAY had gone by like the wind on a fine autumn day, like today.

Lorelei felt hopeful about the evening ahead of her. To the point, it made her anxious. She hardly gets her hopes up this high, chiefly because she dreaded them also getting brutally crumbled into pieces.

Growing up, the Lorenzo always thought the universe was this monster that she couldn't see, that was indirectly attacking her from within. Thinking it hated her guts, as it never really gave her an ounce of happiness without a price.

Lorelei stared at her reflection in the tall mirror in her room, studying over everything that there was to herself.

Her body, figure, face, smile, most of the things any girl would examine over at themselves, but Lory didn't really think of herself being too fawned over her looks.

What her eyes really caught onto, was her butterfly necklace. The one her father gave her, the one that always made her think of him now. Her heart soften thinking that, meanwhile, a wallowing sensation draped itself around her chest.

Ever since he brought every dead vampire, including himself, back to the Other Side, Lorelei found herself back at square once again when it came to grieving her father.

Only this time, she was holding onto the fact that she got to say goodbye this time around.

But still, there was a Henry Lorenzo-sized hole in Lory's heart, and she knew she'd always feel lost without him around.

She'd always just—miss him anyway, no matter what. That part of mourning always sucked too.

But in bringing her out of her own head, she hears two gentle knocks on her door.

Abruptly, Lory's head snapped to the door, finding her mother there at the foot of it. "My oh my," she murmurs, a grin swelling on her cheeks. "Look at my troublemaker of a daughter...as beautiful and as cunning as she is," adding to her words while making her way behind her daughter.

Lory quickly rolls her eyes. "Thanks. It is my first and last homecoming dance here. Might as well make a grand impression," rubbing the sides of her dress.

Aara's grin expands as she planted her hands on the sides of Lory's arms. "I'm pretty sure you've already done that by becoming best friends with an Original vampire, sweetie."

Lory pursed her lips. "I guess that is quite grand after all," she admits, her voice trailing off while her gaze flounders to the ground.

Noticing her daughter's lack of excitement, Aara's face falters. "You okay?"

Peering back at the mirror, Lory nods to her mother through the reflection. "Yeah, yeah it's just-" her words came to a halt, "I guess i still miss Dad, and I—I was just thinking about him because of my necklace."

It was only then that Aaralyn noticed Lory was wearing it right now, leaving a frown to replace her grin. "I miss your father too, more than you know," the mother admits, clearly solemn by the change of topic. "But—I know he wouldn't want us to still be sad over him not being around anymore."

Lorelei sucked in a heavy breath, mentally cursing her mother for being so right. Even if part of her didn't want her to.

One of the last things he said to her was that this wasn't goodbye, and she held onto those words to her core, just as much as she held onto the hope that she'd see him again. That was something she and her mother shared together. Whether they knew it or not. They both just wished they were right to feel and live this way.

"So, why don't you spend this evening letting yourself be happy for once, hmh?" Aara suggests, hoping to light up the mood.

Turning a heel to her mother, Lory stiffens her chocolate gaze. "I highly doubt that I'll be able to due to my phobia," she snarled, but Aara tilts her head, prompting her to include, "But—I guess I'll try."

Aaralyn's face livens up. "That's the spirit."

Abruptly, the two hear Lory's phone go off from her bed. As she went and grabbed it, Lory saw it was a text from Bonnie:

Sweet little witch: Hey! Just wanted to give you a heads-up, the school's gym got flooded so now the homecoming party is at the Lockwood Mansion.

Here's the address: 2129 East Street SE, Mystic Falls, Virginia

"Huh..." Lory trails off.

"What?" Aara asks, stepping to Lory's side.

"The gym got flooded. So now the homecoming dance is at the Lockwood Mansion."

A disbelieving look scatters around Aara's eyes. "How does a gym get flooded?"

Lorelei shrugged unknowingly. "I don't know...and frankly, I don't care." She peers back to her mother and sighs. "I should be going by now. I'll see you later, mom," she says, planting a kiss on her mother's cheek.

And as Lory brushes past her, Aaralyn yells out her usual phrases, "Love you, mean it!"

To which Lorelei, who was already out the door, echoes back, "Hate you, kidding!"

But little did either of these ladies know; that tonight was going to be a rather—lengthy night for one of them.

Because the true party—hadn't even quite started yet.

─── · 。ﾟ☆: *.☽ .* :☆ﾟ. ───

COURSING THROUGH THE front doors of the Lockwood Mansion, Lorelei Lorenzo felt electrical. Like she was Zeus, and lighting was the rushing through her veins. But at-least she wasn't much of an asshole as he supposedly is. Though, some people would disagree—and she'd say those people were complete idiots since the majority of the time, they were.

Lorelei was going to listen to her mother and let herself enjoy tonight. It was just a party, after all, right?

Eagerly, she grabs a red solo cup of beer from one of the tables, while snagging through her dress pocket to text Bekah:

Lorelei: Hey, I've been texting you for the past two hours. Where are you? Why aren't you answering?

Part of her knew she had no reason to be worried. The woman was an Original Vampire, feared across the world by others of her own kind just because of her family. Lorelei knew it was rather foolish to still worry. But in her natural human nature, Lorelei Lorenzo still couldn't help this uneasy feeling starting to swirl in her chest and stomach.

She draws a swig of her cup of beer, not only to ease her nerves, but because if she wanted to truly experience this party, alcohol was the way to go. There wasn't any harm in being just a little intoxicated.

After what felt like hours later (which Lorelei knew she was exaggerating, but still she was annoyed), she finds her way to outside to be hit with music, laughter, and people clogging her ears and senses. She's thankful that she's lightly buzzed by now, or else she'd be gone from this hellhole of a party.

Still no text from Rebekah, however. She wasn't worried, though. Somehow, that sense of worry Lory had minutes ago veered into a burning irritation. Her mind grew corrupted in thought that her only friend stood her up. She tried to push past it because it's Rebekah. She wouldn't break her promise. Right? But with every minute that flies by, feeling more of the nightly wind sweep through her skin, the more her chest heaved.

Her eyes navigate through the backyard of the mansion, right where a band was playing, and where the main event seemed to be. She soon finds a lonely-looking Stefan, watching the band from afar. And though he wasn't the type of person she wanted to hang around with this evening, he was the only person she actually knew here.

Stefan's eyes slightly broaden, detecting her presence sneak up to him. "Lorelei," he fumbles out as she reaches his side.

"Steffy," Lory replies with a marginally distasteful sigh. "Should've known you'd be here."

Already, his lips created a line. "What are you doing here?" Stefan questioned.

"Being like any other student here; trying to enjoy herself," Lory answered, keeping her sarcasm at a low but failing because of her mood. "I might just be asking the wrong person this, but have you seen Rebekah? Or do you have any idea where she is? She isn't answering my texts."

To her demise, Stefan shook his head. "Nope. Haven't seen her since this afternoon."

Slightly defeated by this, Lorelei faced back to the crowd to drink whatever was left of her cup. And when it's all empty, she crumples it up in one hand and throws it on the ground.

Amusement appears on Stefan's face, regarding her abrupt destructive actions. "Well, seems like somebody's mad that their best friend isn't here."

Lory spun her head to him, bearing a scowl his way. "Say another passive-aggressive thing to me, and I will make it certain that you leave this mansion with a wooden fence stuck in your stomach."

Of course, due to her human status, Stefan took this with a grain of salt. But still he raises his hands up anyway in defeat to her.

Suddenly, Tyler steps up to them with a box of beer in his grip. "Hey Stefan! What's up?" he greeted, before his gaze trails to the girl beside him. "And who—might you be?"

Before Lorelei could muster up another sly threat, Stefan butts in, "Ahaha, Tyler, this is Lorelei," he informs, gesturing Tyler to her, "And Lorelei, this is Tyler."

The Lockwood boy sends her a harmless grin. "Nice to meet you, Lorelei."

Still agitated, Lory fires a phony one back. "Yeah, wish I could say the same," she snarled, crossing her arms.

Disregarding her attitude, Stefan tells the Lockwood boy, "Anyways, nice party you've got going on, Ty."

The two watch as Tyler nods and walked in front of them. "Thanks, but I'm not the one throwing it. I'm just doing what Klaus wants."

Lory furrowed her brows, not grasping what he meant by that. "What Klaus wants?" she repeats back to him. "What the hell do you mean what Klaus wants, Tyler?"

That's when he reveals to them, "It's not a party, guys—It's a wake."

In less than a second, the crowd suddenly starts to roar and go wild as the band finishes their performance, leaving a fresh voice to emerge. "Good evening everyone!" their voice echoes through the speakers.

And as Lorelei guided her eyes to the front stage, her attention gets caught onto the sight of a man, and instantly, her heart plummeted to her stomach. "Oh—my—god," she mutters under her breath, a realization hitting her in that same moment. "That's—him."

That was Klaus Mikaelson himself, in the flesh.

He takes in the crowd's ongoing cheering, letting himself stand there in glory. "I wanna thank you for being here with me to celebrate! It's been a long time coming..." Klaus trails off, peering into the crowd at the three of them.

But as his ocean eyes met theirs, he can't help but be seized by a certain beauty besides Stefan. One that already drove his senses haywire at the sight of her.

She wonders then if she was crazy. Not only for feeling this way, but for thinking that Klaus himself was, in fact, looking straight at her. His gaze piercing into hers, leaving her utterly conflicted in the head. And because of that, she was the first one to look away, only to shuffle away from the boys without a single thought.

About two things were swirling in Lorelei Lorenzo's thought then.

One: she just found out what Klaus Mikaelson looked like.

And two: he—was kinda hot.

lani's talking!

future couple finally locked eyes for the first ever time, be excited pls 😀 /j

lol but hi. I'm tired

this scene has whole chapter has been in the making for the past three years. i can't believe I'm finally publishing it (and the next chapter) after all this time. ahhhh

I'm so excited to write their story. as u can tell, klaus will definitely be having to desperately earn her love. so be excited to watch him be like a fucking lost puppy with her, bc that's how I'm planning this love story of theirs to be LOL

but seriously, its gonna be a slowburn, but not too slow of a burn, but just enough to make it worth it, and I hope you guys will enjoy it in the future!

anyways, thank you all for the love and support you've given this story for the past like—four years since it's been published. can you believe it? I've had this story up for FOUR YEARS and only NOW I'm getting these mfs to meet. I know, I'm sorry but ITS HERE. but again, thank you for the love and I will see you all later!

byeeeee <333