White Sins

Chapter Seventeen

Third PoV:

The woods were still dark and cold when the rustle of leaves broke through the stark silence. Klaus slowly sat up as his faculties returned to him after being dormant from sleep. Blinking the sleep crust from his blue eyes, he gazed around the dark forest to spy the sleeping form next to him.

The she-wolf was still in her wolf form, the in-and-outtake of breath outlying her ribs through her pale fur.
Klaus smiled to himself as he reached over and stroked her soft head. He contemplated who she might be while lying back down beside her.

The cold didn't affect the hybrid at all as he lay on the hard ground. Even though he was nude. The she-wolf turned her head under his hand, and he looked down to see those blood-orange eyes that entranced him so much.

Her gaze turned from lazy to worried in a split second. Getting up suddenly, the white wolf got into a defensive stance and growled lowly. Klaus stood up too and looked down at the werewolf.

"C'mon love. I won't hurt you,"
He reasoned with her, leaning down on his knees to match her height.

"So why don't you shift back, hmm? And we'll have a nice little chat about what a freshly-turned werewolf is doing in my territory."

Smirking, he reached out a hand in a placating gesture. The she-wolf sniffed it cautiously, still looking up at him with those beautiful eyes. Stepping back, she growled again. Turning around to run from the hybrid, she was met with him now right in front of her.

"Please love, don't be so foolish as to make me angry. I really wouldn't want to hurt you. Now, do as I say and shift back."
Klaus' voice was slightly more menacing at the end. The pale wolf flattened her ears as she looked for a way of escape. Seeing none, she turned back to the stark naked hybrid in front of her.

The cracking of bones was heard as the werewolf shifted back. Lifting up her head, the hybrid was met with the same cool gray eyes that haunted his mind. Her platinum blonde hair was dirty, leaves and sticks sticking out of it.

As she stood up fully, it became apparent that she had somehow remained in her clothes throughout the shift. Her gray shirt was stained with blood down the front in such a way that can only be inflicted by a cut.

Klaus was stunned, to say the least. It had somehow gone through his fogged mind that she was entirely keeping eye contact with him. Her gaze didn't even lower one inch, which offended him just slightly.

"Ashley?"
He had barely even uttered the name before she was gone.

~~~~~

Even with all of his heightened senses,  it took Klaus a good twenty minutes to track down the albino beauty. But not before stopping off at his mansion to change into some warm clothes.

Walking at a slow pace, no need to rush the inevitable, he headed towards the melodious sound that enriched the forest. The first rays of cool light had begun to filter through the trees when Klaus arrived at his destination.

Gazing at the sunrise over the quarry, he sat down next to originator of the music. Ashley payed him no mind as she continued stringing out chords on her violin. The song was indescribable, it came from nowhere and everywhere at once, it was happy and sad, joyful and lonely, a paradox.

Klaus didn't say a word until she had sat down the instrument.

"What happened."
Is all he asked, a simple question, but with a thousand different meanings.

"Your mother."
She paused for a second, as if contemplating how to continue. He let her think, he knows now's not the time to talk, just listen.

"She recreated the original spell that she used on your and your siblings. With a few alterations apparently, but before she killed me, she did something to my blood, my DNA in fact. She changed the very genes of it until I was a werewolf."

Another stretch of silence,

"Esther figured out that my blood is a recipient for magic, a perfect blank slate for spells. She used it to her advantage to change my heritage. Your mother knew that I had already killed two people, so as soon as I drank blood, the curse almost immediately took effect. I held it off long enough to chop the head off that hypocrite."

Turning his head to look at her, Klaus was amazed at her. The cold light of the morning sun filtered through her hair, making her seem... ethereal. It struck him suddenly, it was her. She was the spiritual being that played the enchanting music the night of the sacrifice.
Klaus couldn't have been more right, she was a goddess, to him anyways. Her usually cool tone had taken a softer one as she continued the story.

"Turns out, one of those alterations Esther made was not tearing my clothes when I shifted, although I think that has more to willpower than anything else. She told me that she created me to be your downfall, the ultimate killing weapon."
Ashley chuckled darkly, a stark contrast to her light attitude.

"She didn't count on me having me own free will and choosing not to kill you. A fatal mistake really. You shouldn't feel threatened, even though she gave me the power to kill you, I won't."

Klaus spoke up for the first time in awhile.

"Why? If you truly have the means to end my life, right here and now, why? Why not rid the world of the Original half-breed monster that terrorizes the underground world."
His voice was raw and raspy with emotion. Ashley finally turned to face him, her face still a cool mask, though you could spot the softness in her eyes.

"Maybe it's because you'll owe me if I don't, maybe it's because nobody deserves a life thinking that it could end anytime one person chose it too, it could be either, it could be both. You'll never really know, but you have my word that I won't kill you. Not unless it's another thousand years in the future and we both want release from the pressures of life."

Her eyes held only truth, and he knew she would keep her word.

They both sat in silence, watching the yellows and pinks awash the sky in color as the orange sun brought warmth to the world.

Klaus knew he couldn't stay, and Ashley knew it too. That's why when he finally stood up, and started walking away from her, she didn't look back at him, she knew it wasn't the last time she would see him.
But Klaus did, he looked back at her resting back against her arms, the wind rustling through her hair, and he made a silent vow that will never be uttered aloud, to any one or thing.