Fandom Hoping That You'll Understand---Vampire Diaries {Private}

[Insanity Awakened 18]

This is a private Vampire Diaries RP between me and Saltwater Bound
Lurker are welcome ​

 

[Saltwater Bound]

Welcome to Mystic Falls
Est. 1860

Isabella stared at the rustic sign for a moment, letting out a sigh before she continued on her way. While the leaves quietly rustled beneath her feet, her mind was going a mile a minute. Between the witches, the hunters and the Original Hybrid residing here, not to mention the dark, misty woods, she definitely did not feel welcome. Then again, this wasn’t a leisure trip anyway, despite what she’d told her friends. She knew exactly what they would've said if she had shared the actual reason, from “you’re insane, how have you been alive this long?” to “that’s a suicide mission.” Which, honestly, fair enough.

But she had no choice. According to the rumors on Klaus' latest scheme, he now wanted to open the literal gates of hell to create his army. Immortality usually made people a lot more dramatic, so with vampire gossip, you never know – but she had to go see if it was true, and if it was, find out how she could stop him. Although she preferred not to think about the latter too much, since he was about 700 years older.

Which reminded her – it had been a whole 300 years since she met Klaus. She’d since begrudgingly grown to accept both the good and the bad in the vampire world: some of them ate bunnies, some wiped out towns full of people if it served their goals. But letting hell’s servants flood the earth? That just couldn't happen, no matter how cool it would secretly be to meet an actual demon after being obsessed with their lore for centuries. So here she was, in the thick woods of Mystic Falls, nervously rubbing her daylight ring as she got closer and closer to the mansion currently inhabited by Klaus Mikaelson. The treeline was starting to thin, and just when she stopped walking in order to listen to what was happening throughout the forest, she heard a few twigs snap behind her.



In all honesty, Klaus had expected to feel a little more regret about desiccating his siblings once more. Without them around, the past few days had been eerily quiet, but this time, he only felt peace and relief; any guilt was overshadowed by his excitement for what was about to happen. His current plan required significant focus; he didn't need Rebekah's inane distractions, Kol's insane antics or Elijah's condescending advice. What he did need was the help of a being almost as powerful as he was, which is why he'd just left the latest mansion he’d built and travelled deep into the woods, far away from the big roads leading into town.

He had initially toyed with the idea of contacting an old family friend who was obsessed with demonology, but since she never liked him and hadn't spoken to him in 300 years, he ultimately decided against that. He would most definitely need to force her to help him out, and since she was an old friend of Rebekah’s, he’d never hear the bloody end of it. So after strong-arming a few hunters across the states, he had ended up finding an actual summoning ritual on his own.

When Klaus finally reached the abandoned crossroads he had in mind, his lips curled into a satisfied smirk. This would do perfectly. He took the box with the graveyard dirt, a picture of himself, and a black cat's bone - somehow, that one felt morbid to him - and buried it in the dead center of the crossroads. He sincerely hoped the rest would be just as easy, for everyone's sake.

Summoning the demon of the crossroads was a mortal thing and it was unclear whether it would work for immortals as well. After all, what would an ancient, handsome, rich and all-powerful vampire need to make a deal for? But he was more ambitious and creative than your basic immortal, and that demon better heed his demands. Klaus stepped back from the road, leaned against a tall, thick tree and crossed his arms, waiting.

 

[Insanity Awakened 18]

Jeremy Gilbert​

Jeremy felt very iffy about what he was about to do. He had heard rumors about what Klaus was planning to do, but would he be able to stop him? Not on his own anyway, but maybe if he got a good idea of who else was working with him, then he would be able to come up with a plan. That was the reason that the younger Gilbert was circling the vampire's mansion, trying to see if there was a way he could break in. He knew there was a chance that he might run into the vampire by doing this, but there might be some indication inside as to what the older vampire was planning. The rumors were enough to cause him to investigate, but he had to be able to find out the truth for himself.

Jeremy wasn't sure how long he had been searching outside of the house, but the moment he thought he heard someone approaching, he started to tense up. Was it his sister or one of his friends coming to stop him? Was it Klaus? Was it someone working for Klaus? He had no idea, but he knew that he better act quickly. He ducked behind a nearby tree, waiting until the person came into view. He was half expecting his sister or one of her friends to be there, but when he saw Isabella, he couldn't stop the curious look that came to his face. He didn't remember seeing her before, but considering she was about to approach Klaus' house, he knew that he had to stop her.

As Jeremy went to approach Isabella, he wasn't as cautious as he was before, totally missing a couple of twigs as they proceeded to snap when he stepped on them. He mentally cursed to himself before raising his gaze to meet the girl standing across from him, giving her a light smile. "Hey. I'm sorry, I didn't mean to startle you or anything. I was just passing through on my way home." he said, hoping that she would end up buying his bluff before he continued. "You look like your not from around here. Maybe I could help you find whatever it is your looking for. My name is Jeremy by the way. Jeremy Gilbert." he said as he held out his hand to her. He hadn't stopped to think that she was a vampire or anything. Even if that case, the young Gilbert had Vervain running through his system. Not to mention he had a steak tucked away safely in his back pocket. should anything happen, he would be prepared to defend himself.

 

[Insanity Awakened 18]

Denise Royal Rockoff​

Denise was in the business of making deals. Thats just what crossroads demons did. Was she looking to make any deals today? Not necessarily, but she wouldn't turn anyone away that would happen to summon her. While she waited, she had been on the other side of town with someone who happened to have made a deal with her hours earlier. The only reason she was still entertaining the poor sap was because she wanted something from him. As she was sitting on his lap in the middle of a five star restaurant, she pulled out a pack of cigarettes from a rainbow hoodie she was wearing. "I'm sure you can get away with a lot, but I don't think they'll let someone as pretty as you smoke in here." the man insisted, causing her to turn her face towards him with a light smirk. "Oh hon. You would be surprised at half the stuff someone like me is able to get away with." she said, letting out a light chuckle before she placed a cigarette between her lips. Before she was able to light it, however, she felt the familiar draw of someone trying to make a deal with her.

"Son of a bitch." Denise muttered, not even being able to light her cigarette as she hopped off the man's lap, casually reaching into his side pocket to take his wallet before she looked over at him. "Well, its been fun, but I gotta see who else I can sucker into a good deal. See you in 10 years." she said with a light smirk before she disappeared. After stowing away the man's wallet into her hoodie, she started to approach whoever it was that had summoned her. Even standing a couple of feet away she could sense that there was something different about him. She just couldn't tell what it was. Either way, that didn't stop her from sneaking up directly behind him, ticking his ear with a light sigh before appearing in front of him.

"Why hello there." Denise said, giving Klaus a once over before she finally met his gaze. "There is something different about you than all the others that come to make deals with me. I just can't figure it out." she said, circling him for a minute before she came to stand in front of him once again. "Hmm....whatever it is, I like it." she said, taking a moment to light the cigarette she still had between her lips before taking a deep breath in, turning her head to the side to exhale the smoke before looking back towards the vampire. "Now, what I can I do for you Mr....?" she said, waiting for him to introduce himself while also waiting to see what kind of deal he was looking to make.

 

[Saltwater Bound]

Isabella spun around, relief washing over her face when she saw it wasn’t Klaus who had caught her sneaking up to his house. “No worries,” she said, returning his smile as she curiously eyed the stranger. A quick glance at his hands taught her that he wasn’t wearing a daylight ring – probably not a vampire then, and if he was, most definitely not a vampire who was working for Klaus. Her lapis lazuli ring was one of the few good things she’d gotten out of knowing him. And since most witches hated her kind, probably not a warlock either. Those guys always sensed the undead right away and they usually weren’t subtle about it.

“I’m Isabella Moreaux. Am I that obviously a tourist?” Isabella laughed as she stepped closer and shook his hand. Looking up at Jeremy, she tried to quickly assess what her best course of action was. Mystic Falls was famous for its supernatural activity; besides witches and vampires, that also included hunters. On the one hand, a true hunter could be a great ally. On the other hand, there was a definite possibility that he’d just try to stake her first. In her experience, most hunters preferred acting first, asking questions later. Considering the fact that a vampire could snap your neck or tear out your jugular in 0.2 seconds, Isabella couldn’t really blame them.

Screw it. If he was a trigger-happy hunter, she knew she’d be fast and strong enough to get away from just one. And if he was just a local, maybe he could tell her if he’d seen Klaus lurking around.

“I’m in town visiting an acquaintance. His sister’s my oldest friend and I haven’t heard from her in a while – just wanted to stop by, make sure everything’s okay.” Isabella gestured towards Klaus’ mansion, towering over the tree-line. It was insanely big, especially if, as she suspected, Klaus had desiccated his siblings once again. After hearing the demon rumors, the moment she knew for sure she had to act was when she realized she hadn’t heard from Rebekah in a while either. “I’m pretty sure he lives there, but maybe you can tell me for sure – his name’s Klaus Mikaelson. Do you know him?” Isabella asked, the smile still on her lips as she looked up at Jeremy.




Klaus’ eyes grew a little wider in surprise when the crossroads demon appeared in front of him, right after a light sigh in his ear made him uncross his arms and look around warily. She was stunning, with bright eyes and dark hair, and even more shockingly, a rainbow hoodie. Sure, he’d heard the lore. Supposedly, most demons of the crossroads were hauntingly beautiful; after all, they had to convince every sucker that summoned them to give up their souls. But he had honestly figured that was just made up to get more lonely losers to try and summon those demons.

“If you’re as good as I hope you are, I’m sure you’ll figure it out soon enough,” Klaus finally said, smirking at the notion that he was different from all the others she’d met – and that she liked it. That sounded about right. He couldn’t imagine she met many success stories on the job.

“My name is Klaus Mikaelson. I can’t imagine they haven’t heard of me downstairs,” Klaus introduced himself, gesturing towards the ground. After all, a good chunk of people who died and were now hanging around in the afterlife ended up there because he wanted a snack... or was annoyed… or needed to prove a point of some kind. “I’m not your average client and I’m not looking for a deal where your boss gets my soul and you get a bonus or however that works – I’m looking for a partnership where we both benefit.”

Klaus pulled a scroll of paper from the pocket of his suede leather jacket and unrolled it. “I… found this,” he smirked at her again, “when I was looking for information from hunters. It speaks of a ritual to open the gates of hell for those willing to follow you. According to this thing, I need to make a few sacrifices, but most importantly, I need a demon by my side as an anchor for the others down in hell.” He held the scroll up to her face and expectantly raised his eyebrows. “Are you in?”

 

[Insanity Awakened 18]

Jeremy Gilbert​

Jeremy didn't think that Isabella was a threat. As he waited for her to answer him, however, he did catch sight of her daylight ring. He got an even closer look as she held out her hand towards him. While he shook her hand, he couldn't help letting out a light chuckle at her question and nodded. "Well maybe not to everyone else. With the town being as small as it is, its pretty easy to notice newcomers is all." he told her with a light shrug. While he waited to hear what she was doing there, he thought that maybe she could be working with Klaus. He doubted that was the case, however, considering she would have killed him on the spot. Either way, he couldn't help wondering what she was doing outside of the old mansion. At the mention of Klaus' sister, he felt his eyes widen slightly, glancing back towards the old mansion before turning his sights back on her, now wondering he should tell her the truth.

Jeremy didn't know the complete details as to what was going on with Klaus' sister. All he knew was that he hadn't seen her for a while either. He wasn't sure what would have happened to her, but with Isabella showing up the way she did, he would have to say that maybe she didn't know. While he wasn't sure what he should tell her, after hearing that she knew Klaus, he knew the best thing would be to tell her the truth. "Yeah, I know him. We're not exactly on the friendliest terms, but I know him." he said before he continued. "As far as his sister is concerned, I don't think you'll be able to find her here. I don't know the full details of what happened, but I'm sure that Klaus does." he told her, finding himself debating about whether or not he should tell her the real reason he was there. She seemed trustworthy enough to him, but since she was there, maybe she would be able to help him get to the bottom of what the older vampire was doing.

"If you want, we could go inside and take a look around. See if Klaus' sister is anywhere inside." Jeremy said with a light smile, deciding against telling her the truth for now. She may seem like she didn't want to kill him right now, but that might change once she found out that he was here to stop the older vampire. That was why he was keeping that information to himself. I he proved that she was sided against Klaus, then he might tell her what he was doing. That, however, was a huge if. Either way, he turned and made his way towards the old mansion. Even if she didn't want to go into the old mansion with him, he was still going to break in to see what details he could gather as far as what Klaus might be planning.

 

[Insanity Awakened 18]

Denise Royal Rockoff​

Denise couldn't fight the light smile that came to her face at Klaus' compliment. Well, what she perceived as a compliment anyway. In the meantime, while she waited for his answer, she tried to figure out what was different about him as she gave him a once over. He obviously wasn't human, so what could he be? She would be able to tell if he was an angel or a demon right away. That left one of two options in her mind. She didn't have to guess for very long, however, when he finally offered up his name. This was the famous Klaus she had heard about from the other demons? She didn't think that Klaus Mikaelson was a very common name, but that wasn't her biggest point of concern. What she wanted to know was why he summoned her. From what she heard about him she didn't imagine that he would need that much help with what he did. As he went on to explain his plan, however, she couldn't help being intrigued.

Denise wasn't sure what it was that Klaus had in mind, but she couldn't help raising an eyebrow slightly as he explained that he wanted to open the gates of hell. Hadn't someone tried to do that before? She wasn't sure, but she didn't stay hung up on those details for very long. She wasn't terribly interested in sacrificing people either. If he was looking to her as his first choice for a partnership in this plan, however, she knew she better snag it up before someone else did. When the hybrid proceeded to dangle the scroll in front of her face, she quickly snatched it from his grasp to look it over. "Sounds like an interesting ritual you have here? What hunters did you have to go through in order to get it hmm?" she asked, a mischievous glint passing through her eyes, a smirk coming to her own face as she looked at the scroll. It seemed legitimate enough to her, and while most of the other demons might be weary about jumping into a deal with the infamous hybrid, she was all for it.

"You've got yourself a deal." Denise said, a grin coming to her face as she continued to hold onto the scroll. "Now tell me, Mr. Mikaelson, when do we start? I don't expect you have all of the sacrifices or whatever you need in order to make things happen just yet." she said, taking a peak at the scroll again before looking back towards him. "You don't mind if I hang onto this, do you?" she asked, not really giving the hybrid much of a chance to answer as she put the scroll in her pocket. "All thats left is to seal this partnership then." she told him. She knew that this didn't play out like her past deals did, but she might as well seal it like she did the others right? Without giving him much time to react, she had tossed her cigarette to the side and grabbed onto his jacket, pulling him towards her before pressing her lips firmly to his. The kiss only lasted for a couple of seconds, but when she eventually took a step away from him, she allowed a light smirk to come to her face."Come on. We can check out the restaurant I was at earlier. If we're lucky, maybe the loser I left there might be nice enough to treat us to something." she said before she motioned for him to follow her. She wasn't sure if the guy would still be there, but even if he wasn't, then it wouldn't be a huge loss to the demon.

 

[Saltwater Bound]

Isabella flashed Jeremy another smile when he confessed that he and Klaus weren’t on the friendliest terms; she wasn’t used to people flat out admitting that about the Original. “We have that in common – that about sums up my relationship with him too. And yeah, I suspected she wouldn’t be around,” she added with a small sigh after he told her what he knew regarding Rebekah’s whereabouts. Isabella wasn’t sure if she was maybe too hopeful about this random handsome stranger in the woods, but it almost seemed like Jeremy was also aware of Klaus’ insane habit of storing his siblings whenever they got in the way. The fact that he’d just coincidentally been lurking around the Mikaelson mansion too wasn’t lost on her either. Who was this guy?

Jeremy’s suggestion of going inside with her interrupted Isabella’s train of thought and her eyebrows shot up in surprise. “You’d really sneak into Klaus’ house with me?” she asked rhetorically, the smile on her lips turning into a smirk. Well, that settled it: Jeremy Gilbert, whoever he was, definitely had an agenda of his own. No one who had ever met Klaus would voluntarily break into his house of horrors for a girl they’d just met. Regardless, she was impressed by Jeremy’s guts either way and fell in line with him as he walked towards Klaus’ current residence.

Once the big mansion loomed into full view before them, Isabella moved past Jeremy to the small servant’s entrance she'd spotted on the left, obscured by shrubbery. After taking a moment to listen for any noise from inside the house, Isabella tried the handle and the door immediately swung open. “Ha – I knew Klaus would miss this door. Or he doesn’t lock it because he assumes no one’s dumb enough to break in,” she added, looking up at Jeremy and making a face before she stepped into the dark, quiet home. She looked around, letting her eyes adjust.

“Klaus might forget about the servant’s entrance, but he’d definitely lock away anything of importance,” Isabella whispered. She had little hope of finding Rebekah – if she was around, it’d be hidden away in her usual casket, courtesy of her brother – but surely Klaus’ personal belongings should be able to provide some info. “I don’t think I’ll run into Rebekah here, but we could find some hints as to what’s going on. Considering the size of this thing, how about we try the locked rooms first? Biggest odds of finding something worthwhile in case we have to leave in a hurry,” she suggested. Isabella started walking down the first corridor, checking every handle and continuing on her way if the room wasn’t locked, until finally, she stopped in front of an ornate wooden door. She jimmied the handle – and nothing happened. She took a step back and looked at the black pistol booties on her feet before turning to her partner in crime again. “Should we just kick it in or do you have a more subtle idea?”






When the demon snatched the roll from his hands, Klaus’ smirk spread a little wider. He knew then that he had her and moreover – he reveled at the fact that she could actually laugh at the hunters’ fate. He was so utterly tired of the average 21st century vampire; most of them seemed to have completely forgotten that they were predators. They were supposed to be the hunters. From the Gilberts to the random hunters who – unfortunately for them and their families – had stood between himself and that scroll, Klaus considered them all replaceable pawns. Meeting someone with the same values was quite refreshing. And considering the enthusiasm with which she’d snatched the scroll from his hand, it seemed like she also had ambition that reached further than just repeating high school and reliving their once human life ad infinitum. Also very refreshing.

“You can do with the scroll whatever you please; I’ve been smart enough to make copies and carefully secure them. And that assumption is correct,” Klaus answered after the demon noted that she didn’t think he had all of his ducks in a row yet. Before he could elaborate, though, she tucked away the scroll – and sealed their partnership with a kiss. When she pulled away, Klaus tried to hide the surprise on his face and mirrored her smirk. “I’d be happy to start planning now, so a restaurant sounds like a good idea,” he said, walking beside her as they headed back to civilization. “Although with me, you really don’t have to worry about needing to be treated.”

At the sight of the first restaurant, Klaus gestured for the demon to follow him. As soon as he saw the teenage hostess inside, Klaus locked eyes with the young girl. “You’ll give us your best table, regardless of who is sitting there, and you’ll make sure anyone in a ten feet radius is seated elsewhere as well.” The girl hurried off to get it done, and a moment later, they were brought to a table by the window while most of the other patrons looked either confused or angry.

“By the way, regarding getting those sacrifices in order, I could actually use your help with that as well,” Klaus said after he sat down, casually looking over the menu. “If I’m correct, the instructions state that I need a human, a vampire and a medium – I’m guessing as a symbol for life, death and the connection between the two. Then a demon as an anchor. Is that really all there is to it to open the gates of hell, or does there need to be something special about those sacrifices that I’m missing…?” Klaus paused for a moment when he realized the demon never introduced herself; he didn't actually know how to address her. “And,” he added, “another thing. What may I call you?”

 

[Insanity Awakened 18]

Jeremy Gilbert​

Jeremy was relieved to hear that Isabella wasn't friends with Klaus either. Did that mean that maybe she could help him? Considering she was there to see Rebekah, he would have to guess that yes she was. Maybe if they happened to find her, then maybe they could convince her to help them figure out what her brother was up to. In that moment, however, he knew that all they could do was search the house. He couldn't help smiling at the vampire's rhetorical question, but was happy when she decided to go with him to the mansion. At this point he had no idea how he was going to get inside, but as he watched the vampire making her way towards a secret entrance, he decided it would be his best bet to follow her. As soon as they found a door that as opened, he couldn't hlep letting out a light sigh of relief as he looked to her.

"Thanks. I probably wouldn't have been able to find that if I was looking on my own." he admitted to her before she made her comment. Wait, did she just call him dumb? He ended up making a face of his own before following her inside. While it was a little insulting for this vampire to insinuate that he was dumb, she did have a good point. He was breaking into the house of an Original, but considering said Original wasn't even home, he figured that he would be just fine. Not to mention he had someone with him that disliked him just as much as he did. If anything, maybe she would watch out for him. Granted that was a big maybe. Before he could get too caught up in his thoughts, he agreed that they should look in the locked rooms first. He let her try each room, and when they finally came to one that was locked, he had a good idea of how to get it open.

"We probably don't want to go breaking the door down. He may not know who it was going through his house when he gets back, but a broken door might make him get a little suspicious." he told her. That is when he went into action. After getting a couple of tools from his pocket, he started to pick the lock on the door. After he heard the click of the door unlocking, he turned his attention over towards the vampire. "We're in. Ladies first?" he asked as he pushed the door open, waiting for her to go into the room first before he followed after her. He wasn't sure what they should be looking for, but he started searching every square inch of the room. He was about to suggest that they look elsewhere, but that was when he found something interesting.

Jeremy walked over to a table in the middle of the room, noticing papers scattered across it. Most of the papers were in a language he couldn't recognize, but by some of the pictures, he could only guess that it involved something bad. "I think I might have found something." he said, looking over towards Isabella before looking back towards the papers. He wasn't sure if any of them had anything to do with what Klaus was doing, but he proceeded to gather up any piece of paper he could get his hands on. "Think we should keep looking around for anything else?" he asked, wondering what else the Original could possibly be hiding. While he was slightly paranoid about the Original finding out that he broke in, he knew he needed to stop him at the same time. If not for his own piece of mind, but to make sure he didn't hurt anyone else.

 

[Insanity Awakened 18]

Denise Royal Rockoff​

Denise thought it was a nice change of pace to have a partnership with someone other than making her usual deals. Granted she wasn't sue how this partnership with Klaus would play out, but she was interested to see how things would go all the same. He knew what he wanted and wasn't afraid to go after it. She wondered what he would do after he managed to open the gates to Hell, but again, that was something they would figure out once it was done. For now, she was happy to go with him to a nearby restaurant and start planning things out. She thought for a moment that they might hit up the same person she had suckered into bringing her there, but watching him at work was enough to cause the demon to smirk. It seemed for the time being she could take it easy and not bother using her own powers of manipulation as they made their way over to their table.

"Nice trick. Isn't it fun to make people do exactly what you want?" she asked him with a grin before the two of them had a seat at the table. She happened to spot the guy she had ditched earlier, whom looked very pissed off, so she couldn't help giving him a cheeky grin before turning her attention back towards the Hybrid as he started talking about the sacrifices they would need to go after. Of course she would help him rally up the sacrifices, but when it came to whether or not there had to be something special about them, she wasn't too sure. "Well you are looking to open the gates of Hell. If we're going to make that happen, we'll need the best we can find." she said, taking a moment to look over the scroll again, looking up only when the Hybrid asked her name. It was then that she realized she hadn't even told him. If they were going to work together, that would probably be a bit of helpful information for him to have.

"Denise. Thats what you can call me." she said, allowing a light grin to come to her face before she looked back down at the scroll. It had almost escaped her sights when the man she left earlier started to walk towards their table. It was only until he was almost halfway there that she let out a light sigh, stowing the scroll away as she gave him a bored look. "This party is invitation only sweetie. Now run back to the kiddie table where you belong and I won't reduce your sentence from 10 years to 1." she said, rolling her eyes as he proceeded to slam his hands on their table. "No, this is bullshit! You ditch me for someone who isn't that good looking and dresses like he picked clothes from JC Penny. You owe me a damn good explanation." he said, noticing as she let out a light sigh, taking a cigarette out before she lit it. "Please excuse me to deal with this petulant child." she told the Hybrid before she turned towards the man in question. She thought that she was going to have a good evening, but then this guy had to come and almost run everything. If he thought he was going to get away with it, he had another thing coming.

Without giving him so much as a warning, she grabbed onto the man by the face, standing up from her chair before slamming him onto the table, her grip still tight on his face as she proceeded to put her cigarette out on his cheek. Her hand was over his face, so as he groaned and squirmed, it only caused her to dig her nails into his other cheek as glared at him, her eyes turning a bright red. "You never insult the man sitting with me. What I do is my own business, so if you thought that I owed you something else besides a deal, you've got another thing coming." she said before she hauled him off the table, practically throwing him to the side. "Now you have 8 years. Consider yourself lucky that I'm even being that generous with you." she said, making a shooing motion before looking back towards the Hybrid, her eyes having gone back to normal. "Sorry about that. Some of the losers I make deals with are clingy." she said, barely glancing over at the man had all but taken off out of the restaurant before she looked back towards the Hybrid. She had hoped that she wouldn't have had to do that in front of him, but at least now he knew what he was getting into by joining a partnership with her.

 

[Saltwater Bound]

With her hands in the pockets of her leather jacket, Isabella curiously watched Jeremy at work, expertly picking the lock in no time. “Thank you,” she answered with a little bow after he gestured for her to go in first. Isabella wandered around the room, taking her hands out of her jacket again to pick up and check out the many items that could potentially hold Klaus’ secrets. Her initial focus was on the artifacts from across the world and occult books in various languages, but her eye was also drawn to the many large candles and countless flower-filled vases. The room was beautifully decorated. “Weird to imagine Klaus at the florist,” she muttered. Then again, Isabella knew the hybrid had a rarely seen human side; unfortunately, it had come out a little too late for her.

From the corner of her eye, she saw Jeremy walk over to the table in the center of the room and quickly headed over to join him when he spoke up. “Oh wow – that looks promising,” Isabella said, staring at Jeremy’s find with wide eyes. She carefully pulled a good chunk of the papers towards her – most of them appeared to be older than she was – and leaned over the table to get a better look. “This is insane. These drawings are terrifying! Let’s see, Hebrew, Aramaic, Persian… ooh! Latin,” she happily exclaimed, leaning in even further. She opened her mouth to reminisce about the utter snoozefest that was Latin class at court and how she always used to complain that she’d never use it – and then remembered she hadn't explicitly said anything about being a vampire yet. Isabella was pretty sure Jeremy was smart enough to have figured it out by now, but just in case it would make things uncomfortable, she closed her mouth again and sheepishly smiled up at him before turning back to the Latin text. After all, Jeremy might just consider her a necessary evil for his own agenda with Klaus.

“This basically describes what happened when someone tried to open the gates of hell to summon a demonic army,” Isabella said, her gaze gliding over the page with a frown on her face. “A legion commander in the Roman army followed an ancient ritual to the letter, but the demons refused to submit to his will regardless…” her eyes grew wider and wider as she continued reading. “This is disturbingly graphic. Let’s just say that an actual army possessed by demons… it did not end well for anyone, including the commander.” Isabella bit her lip as she thought about Jeremy’s question. “If we could find more in Latin, French or English, that’d be great, and I did see a safe in the corner – but if we can’t get in, we can also take pictures of all this,” she gestured towards the papers, “and find ourselves a nice linguistics professor.”






“Oh Denise, don’t apologize. That was quite exhilarating to watch. So you’re actually judge, jury and executioner – I have to admit, you have far more power than most of the myths give you credit for. More than I expected, too,” Klaus commented with a smirk after the demon had made sure that her customer would leave and never return. Klaus had been watching Denise adjust the petulant man-child’s attitude with growing amusement, especially once she simply changed their initial deal to punish the poor sod. And even though he and Denise agreed to a partnership, not a deal, and neither of them had uttered a word in regards to his soul, Klaus sternly reminded himself once more that being cocky was fine when you were the most powerful being in the room – but with demons, he clearly had no way of knowing for sure what he could and could not get away with. While he certainly enjoyed being the almighty Original Hybrid, he surprisingly also enjoyed this current uncertainty.

However, he would not enjoy being dragged off by vicious hellhounds, so Klaus glanced at the burn- and nail marks on the doomed man’s face one last time as a visual reminder before turning back to face Denise. “At least he was a good example of what not to sacrifice, if we need the best we can find. And I’ve gotten a good demonstration of what awaits those who cross you.” Klaus paused for a moment as he waved over a waitress with a bottle of wine, who had simply been staring at the scene in utter shock. “I’m very similar when it comes to people with the audacity to defy me,” he continued after a moment, raising his now full glass of red liquor. “Sometimes, you just have to teach them a lesson.”

Klaus’ eye fell on the scroll again, and he remembered what he was about to say before they were so rudely interrupted. “I was also thinking – after we nail down who we want to sacrifice, who are good enough to sacrifice, we should also consider having convenient meatsuits lined up for our new army of demon friends. And considering the fact that we are in Mystic Falls, it shouldn’t be too hard to get the entire town in one place for some fancy ball or ridiculous festival. I have a fantastic, recently renovated mansion that could fit quite the crowd. If you’d like, I could show you after our meal,” he offered. It would be strange to throw a party there without his siblings around - or, well, alive around - but something told him that Denise would make an excellent hostess as well.

 

[Insanity Awakened 18]

Jeremy Gilbert​

Jeremy couldn't make heads or tails of what he was reading. He could tell with some of the papers that had pictures on them that it had to be something bad, but that was about all he could understand. As Isabella came over and identified the language on the papers, he was impressed. He imagined that most vampires would know multiple languages, depending on how long they had been alive, but he wasn't about to offend her by asking. Girls didn't like it when you asked their age, and he was more than certain that the same could be said about vampire girls. He didn't dwell on that subject for very long, however, as she started to mention what was written on the papers. It was enough to cause him to rub a hand over his face, letting out a deep sigh. Klaus was looking to open the gates of Hell? What would happen if he managed to pull this off? More importantly, what would happen if they stayed open for too long? He wasn't sure, but that was something he most definitely didn't want to find out.

"This is crazy. I've never dealt with something like this before." Jeremy admitted to Isabella as he laid the papers on the desk once again, taking out his phone so that he could take pictures of everything they managed to find. Once he was sure that he got enough pictures, he turned his gaze towards the safe in the corner before looking back towards her. "Thats something I definitely won't be able to break into. Not with what I have anyway." he told her with a light chuckle. He was sure that they had more than enough evidence with the papers that they managed to take pictures of, but at the same time, he wanted to see what was in the safe. He didn't want to make it obvious that they had been going through Klaus' mansion, but he had to know what was inside.

"I knew that Klaus could do some insane things, but I didn't think he would want to do something this insane." Jeremy said as he shook his head. "I thought that he was enough that this town had to worry about, but I don't know how Mystic Falls is going to handle demons running around at the same time. Lets just hope that he isn't close to opening the gates anytime soon." he added as he made his way over to the safe in the corner. He knew how to hunt vampires, but he didn't know the first thing about hunting demons. Then again, Mystic Falls didn't have to worry about demons. If all else failed, he may have to figure out how to reach out to some more experienced hunters that dealt with this sort of thing. He wasn't sure how he would do that, but he would find a way if he had to.

 

[Insanity Awakened 18]

Denise Royal Rockoff​

Denise was more than a little pissed that the idiot that she left here had the nerve to try and cause a scene. Especially considering the fact that he thought he could get away with Klaus. Granted she didn't know him for very long, but even if they hadn't been in partnership, disrespect wasn't something that she was going to let slide. She did, however, let a light smile come to her face at the hybrid's compliment towards her. "Thank you." she said, not even daring to look over towards the idiot that had dared to insult the Hybrid, knowing that she might really cause a scene if she did. Instead, she focused on the Hybrid as they were back on track with the main plan. She wouldn't think of sicking her hell hounds on someone she was in a partnership with, but she might not be too happy if he thought about being cocky with her. Either way, she didn't see that being a big problem. After he waved down a nearby waitress to pour them some wine, she appreciated hearing that he didn't put up with disrespect either. As he raised his glass, she didn't hesitate to raise hers as well as she agreed with him.

"Your damn right." Denise said, a grin on her face as she took a sip from her glass. "You are possibly the only other person I have heard say that. Boss man gets kind of catty if we try to hassle people that come to us looking for deals, but I say that if someone is bold enough to test someone with power, then they are bold enough to face whatever punishment follows." she said, knowing that she made the right decision by entering this partnership. How was it that she didn't run into him sooner? She wasn't sure, but either way she knew that it was a nice change of pace to be around someone who thought the same way she did. As they started talking, he went onto add that they would need people for the demons to possess. She hadn't ventured in Mystic Falls before, but when he mentioned that he could throw some kind of party at his mansion, she thought that was an excellent idea. When he mentioned going there after they were done at the restaurant, she found herself agreeing with him once again.

"Sounds like a plan." Denise said, taking a moment to straighten out the scroll on the table as she smiled. "This has to be the most exciting thing I have planned in a long time. How is it that we haven't run into each other before?" she asked, already knowing the answer to that question before he answered. "You are way more exciting than most of the idiots I have to deal with. You might not be able to get rid of me." she teased him. While she was only half joking, she was being half serious. It was refreshing to be around someone who had the same ideals as her, so maybe after all was said and done, she might hang around with him to see what ended up happening.

 

[Saltwater Bound]

Isabella followed Jeremy to the safe. "I could try guessing the combination. If hotel safes are any indication, there are no alarms if you're wrong, you just don't get your stuff," Isabella said, staring at the large black box in front of them. "But just in case - if we're busted, I vote that you hide while I distract so you can get out undetected. He's seen me lurk around his houses plenty of times," she added lightly. Her finger hovered in front of the keypad as she contemplated the many possibilities. He couldn't be stupid enough to use his birthday, so... Rebekah's birthday? She pressed the buttons. Nothing. Elijah's and Kol's? Nope.

"Well, those were the only birthdays I know. Maybe the year he turned into a hybrid?" Isabella suggested out loud as she typed it in. Nada - but it was like a lightbulb turned on in her head when she suddenly recalled hearing how that particular ritual had taken place in Mystic Falls as well. She glanced at Jeremy. Could what happened then be why he wasn't on friendly terms with Klaus now? Was it one of the insane things Jeremy had referred to earlier? Deciding against opening that can of worms while they had limited time, Isabella bit her lip and tried to focus on the combination again. What was a date she would never forget? "How about... the year they turned," she muttered. 1-0-0-1.

With a soft click, the safe opened, revealing more papers with unnerving drawings and writings in ancient languages. Next to them were various stacks of cash and quite the collection of jewellery. In awe, Isabella stared at the amount of gold, silver and precious stones. "Oh my god. I bet he got this from the Queen of - okay, no, focus. If you take pictures of that left pile, I'll take this one," she suggested while taking out a stack of papers with a few scrolls on top. Isabella grabbed her cellphone and quickly got to work, only allowing herself to scan some of them. Most seemed to describe rituals that confirmed the rumors; rituals that made her blood run even colder than it already was. "Done," she finally said after arranging the documents like she'd found them. "What do you want to do now?"






Klaus laughed at the notion of a catty demon boss. "I agree – people have to be mindful of who they’re crossing and must face the consequences of their actions. Unfortunately, that's the point where it often goes awry between my siblings and I. It’s especially my sister who tends to get in the way of my plans, but I decided to desiccate them all for this occasion," he casually informed Denise. "It's something that can be done with a dagger and the ashes of the white oak tree that gave us our powers. Just wanted to make sure that I could complete the ritual without any senseless distractions or objections." He had been very clearly shown what happened when people ever crossed Denise; she deserved the same courtesy. Additionally, he never shied away from an opportunity to let others know what he was capable of.

Although honestly, desiccating his siblings was far from the cruelest thing he had done as punishment. For a moment, as he slowly sipped from his wine, half wishing it was a different kind of red liquid, Klaus let his mind wander. He had slaughtered Katarina’s family when she ruined his ritual; he had killed Rebekah’s closest friend when his insipid sister had once again trusted a mortal with their secret; he had thrown Rebekah’s boyfriend from their balcony when the idiot human had dared to backtalk him… well, it didn’t matter anyway. Even in hell, they were aware of the many things Klaus Mikaelson had done. He'd just wanted to let Denise in on a few specifics.

“Good. Truthfully, I haven't been this exhilarated since I attempted to build my hybrid army. And I’m glad you were the one who answered my call,” Klaus said, sending her a smirk over edge of his glass when she told him this was the most exciting thing she’d planned in a long time – and that he was more exciting than most. “And I’d be honored if you would stick around. If your boss man gets catty about it, let him have at it. We’ll see who’s boss once we summon our demon army.” He sipped from his wine again and glanced at the menu in front of him. “Would you like to order some food or continue this at the mansion? There’s a lot more where that came from,” Klaus gestured towards the scroll in front of Denise, “and well, not much food in the traditional sense, but we could always order. What do demons eat, anyway?”

 

[Insanity Awakened 18]

Jeremy Gilbert​

Jeremy wasn't sure how they were going to get into the safe. His first thought was that maybe Isabella could tear the door off. Then again, that would cause Klaus to think that something had happened, so he knew that was out of the question. instead, he stood to the side as the female vampire went to work on working out the code while trying to figure out why she would have been prowling around the mansion before. He could only guess it was because of Rebekah, but that was only a guess. He had no idea what was significant about the numbers that she tried, but as he heard her mutter something, he couldn't help giving her a slightly confused look. He was about to ask her what she was talking about, but when the safe opened, he quickly turned his attention towards its contents. He did let a light smile come to his face when she pointed out the jewels and stuff must have been from some kind of Queen, but he didn't say anything about it as he quickly took some pictures before straightening up. He wasn't sure what they should do now, but he did know one thing. They needed to get out of there as quickly as possible.

"I think the best thing for us to do would be to leave. Maybe we can head into town or go somewhere to make sense of everything that we found." Jeremy said, going through the pictures on his phone before looking over towards Isabella. "I'm not sure when Klaus is going to be heading back, but I think we got everything we can for now. All we can do is try and make sense of this possibly ritual that he is trying to work on." he added, the thought of the Original opening the gates to Hell causing the young Gilbert to become nervous. He hated to think what would happen to Mystic Falls if there were demons running around, but as long as he was a hunter, he would not let something like that happen.

Jeremy waited for Isabella to exit the room first before he got to work locking the door again. Once everything was back in place, he went with her back to the door they had used to break in before he looked to the female vampire. "I don't know where would be the best place to talk about what we found, but I would rather go somewhere that people aren't going to overhear." he told her, wondering if they should head back to his place. He knew that Elena would get suspicious, but they needed to get to the bottom of this as quickly as possible. If all else fails, they could go to one of the local diners and hope it was empty. As they started to walk away from the mansion, however, he knew that he would rather to back to his house so they could everything in the open as far as what they found without being paranoid that someone else was listening. It would be risky inviting the female vampire into his house, but if it meant stopping the Original, then it was a risk he was willing to take.

 

[Insanity Awakened 18]

Denise Royal Rockoff​

Denise couldn't help raising an eyebrow slightly when Klaus mentioned desiccating his siblings. If she were being honest, she had no idea what that meant. From the sounds of it, however, it didn't sound very pleasant. Not to mention she appreciated his honestly about what happened to people who crossed him. Obviously she wouldn't be one of those people but it was still nice to know all the same. "Thats a good way of thinking." she agreed with him, finding herself slightly curious as to how many siblings he had. Yes he was heard of in Hell, but the victims didn't exactly know everything there was to know about Klaus. Either way, she figured that it didn't matter as they were in the planning process of the ritual. She would, however, at some point want to see these siblings that he was talking about. They might have been a distraction from the ritual, but once things were said and done, they might be useful to make sure that he stayed on top.

Denise couldn't help returning the smirk as she and Klaus discussed how excited they were about forming this partnership. Not to mention she was glad she had answered his call first. She could have easily stayed here, but considering the way he acted when he saw her sitting with the Original, she had made a smart move ditching him when she did. She didn't spend too much time worrying about it, however, as she gave a light laugh when they talked about her boss. She wasn't worried about what he had to say to her because she was way more excited to get things started. As the Original suggested that they go back to his place to start the planning process, she found herself agreeing. While she did come there with the intention of getting something, it was like he said. They could always order. She did, however, find it amusing when he asked what demons ate.

"Whatever we want honestly." Denise told him before she continued. "Technically we don't have to eat, but some of the food that these guys make isn't half bad." she added with a light shrug. "Maybe we can snag you a little something on the way out too." she suggested as she started to survey the crowd for someone who would be good enough for the Original to snack on. She definitely wouldn't choose the child who had interrupted their conversation, but she would choose one of the others from the crowd. Once she viewed at least two people that she knew would fit the bill, she wandered over and brought them over to their table, having them sit before she picked up the scroll off the table. "So, what do you think? I'm not sure if you have a type, but these two look like they might be appetizing." she said, having a seat as she looked to the Original. She would pick a couple more to come with if he wanted, but it was completely up to him.

 

[Saltwater Bound]

Isabella was relieved to hear Jeremy confirm what she’d been thinking as well: they’d found plenty on the Hybrid’s plans and now it was time to bounce before they were caught. “Agreed,” she said as they made their way back to the small servant’s entrance, referring to trying to work out what Klaus was planning and to going somewhere they couldn't be overheard. While they were walking away from the mansion, Isabella tried to think of a safe place to talk – but since she was a tourist and those eerie texts and drawings were seriously distracting her, she was having little success. The only safe place she could think of was a hotel, but since every single one of those in Mystic Falls looked like a family-owned B&B, she'd have to be invited in. Suggesting going back to her hotel in Richmond would probably be considered weird. Isabella bit her lip. if they were actually going to work together on this beyond sneaking around in Klaus' house, she might as well tell him who she was and why she was here – or, well, at least the basics. Moreover, Isabella wanted to know more about him. At this point, she was fairly certain he wasn't working for Klaus - Klaus' lackeys wouldn't dare break into the Hybrid's safe, no matter how good the reason - but that was it.

It was dark, they were all alone and what's more, she was immortal. She could disappear into the woods in a split second – or do something she preferred not to – without being noticed. If there was ever a time to tell someone something that could potentially backfire, it was now.

“Hey,” Isabella said, stopping in her tracks. “Before we…” she vaguely gestured towards the town, “we should be honest with each other.” She stared at the starry sky for a moment, thinking about how to start. “Before we went in, you said we could see if my friend was there, but – I already knew she wouldn’t be. I came here because I heard rumors about Klaus’ new ambitions regarding a demon army and the fact that I couldn’t get in touch with Bekah just made it all the more plausible. In my experience, when Klaus thinks one of his siblings is going to get in the way, he usually tosses them into a casket. Which brings me to my final point: I have a lot of experience with Klaus. About three centuries worth." Isabella looked up at Jeremy and simultaneously got ready to disappear into the treeline. “I realize you might’ve already figured it out, but I’m a vampire too.”






“That sounds like a perfect idea,” Klaus answered with a grin that actually reached his eyes when Denise suggested snagging him a good meal as well. Increasingly satisfied and surprised by how his arrangement with this demon was turning out, he watched her check out the crowd for potential victims and then actually get up to bring them to him. When has any woman in his life ever done that on her own accord? He knew it’d be exciting to work with a demon, but he hadn’t anticipated that there would be quite this much entertainment involved as well. And, not entirely unimportant: she seemed to be enjoying herself quite a bit too. A waiter walked by and Klaus grabbed his arm. “Bring me a selection of the best meals you have. First date, not sure yet what the lady likes, I'm sure you understand,” he added with a wink at the noticeably shaken man. “Anyway, since we’d like to continue our meeting at home as soon as possible, kindly bring it in a few to go boxes and, if you know what's good for you, bring it fast. Off you go.”

When Denise returned with the prey and sat them down, Klaus slowly nodded as he eyed the pair. “I think you’ve done quite well. I’ve got to say, I’m impressed,” he complimented her. “For a species that doesn’t drink blood – right? – you seem to have a good eye for what I would prefer. Oh, don’t you two worry,” Klaus added upon noticing that both potential victims had started to look quite panicky since he’d uttered the word blood, “you won’t feel a thing.” He leaned forward. “Thank you for coming – you’ll both be my snack to go. Once my friend and I get up, you’ll follow suit. No noise of any kind, no signaling anyone, just walking exactly ten feet behind us. Ah, thank you,” Klaus added when the waiter showed up with three to go boxes full of food. “Denise, take anything you want. Take it all, honestly. That’s what I’m doing.”He smirked as he stood up and headed for the door, and after exactly ten feet, smirked wider when he saw his two meals for the night get up as well.

Klaus waited for Denise before leaving the restaurant and closing the door behind him. “I’m curious, he said as they started walking towards his mansion, “do you ever spend time up here on earth? And do you ever get visitors down there, or is it more of a… one way street?” he enquired. “Even after a 1000 years of reading, traveling and friendly Q&A's with hunters, I know strangely little about hell.”

 

[Insanity Awakened 18]

Jeremy Gilbert​

Jeremy was still trying to figure out exactly where they could go when he noticed Isabella stop. He wasn't sure what she was stopping for, but rather than ask, he stopped to see what she might have to say. It seemed that she was there for the same reasons that he was. Not to mention it seemed that she knew that Rebekah wasn't going to be at the house either. He suspected that she might be a vampire, but he didn't expect her to be three centuries old. While he was surprised at hearing that news, he gave a light nod when she mentioned she was. He imagined that it took a lot for her to admit the truth to him. If they were going to be working with each other, it would help if they knew about each other. With that in mind, he knew that he would need to be honest with her as well.

"I kind of figured you were a vampire. The daylight ring kind of gave you away." Jeremy said, motioning to the ring that was on her hand before he continued. "I honestly came here so that I could break in, but if Klaus happened to be here, my plan was to try and kill him. Either that or try to slow him down long enough to stop what he was planning." he told her, glancing back towards the mansion for a moment before he looked back towards her. "I come from a long line of hunters. I haven't been doing it for very long, but I though that if he was involved with demons, then I needed to try and stop him." he added with a light nod. He honestly wasn't sure how he would have stopped him if he happened to be at the mansion, but thankfully, that was something he wouldn't have to find out.

"I know we hardly know each other, but I promise that you can trust me. It seems that we both want to stop Klaus' plans, so if we want to prevent him from opening the gates of Hell, we should try working together." Jeremy said, giving Isabella al ight smile before he continued. "Most of the places around here are going to be too crowded for us to really talk, so I think the best place would be to go somewhere that you won't have to worry about being invited in. Either that or we could go back to my house. Its a bit of a walk, but it would give us some privacy." he told her. He was sure that his sister would be caught up with the Salvatore brothers, but on the off chance that she was home, then he would explain to her what was going on. Either way, he would wait to see what the female vampire wanted to do.

 

[Insanity Awakened 18]

Denise Royal Rockoff​

Denise was sure that she had selected the right people that Klaus would like. From the people that she had seen in Hell, the demon liked to think she had a good grasp of what his type was. After she came back to sit down, she grinned at his compliment. She had nodded at his question, but let her gaze move towards the people that she had brought over, seeing that they were getting a little nervous. The Original, however, was able to put them in their place. At least that would eliminate the need to make another scene here, but before they could start leaving, she eyed a waiter as he came over with some food. She got a curious look on her face, but when Klaus said that it was for her, her expression changed from one of curiosity to one of surprise. "Wait, really?" she asked, a grin making its way on her face as they got ready to go. "Thanks. I think I will. Here, you two carry these would you?" she said, making sure that the two that were walking behind them carried her to go boxes before she started walking next to the Original. she listened to his questions for her before she answered.

"I like to spend most of my time up here. Hell can be kind of a snooze fest if you ask me. It is a lot colder up here for me, but most of the others either aren't affected or they don't notice." Denise said with a light shrug before she continued. "We can get visitors from time to time, but thats only if they know how to get there." she added with a slight nod. "Not too many people know the full details, but I'll make sure to teach you everything I know." she told Klaus with a slight grin. Of course, she didn't know everything about hell, but she would certainly share whatever information she had. The two of them were in a partnership after all, so its the least she could do for him right? As long as they were working together, the female crossroads demon would make sure to have his back and keep him informed of everything he needed to know.

"How about you? I haven't had a whole lot of experience with hybrids. Least of all one as powerful as you. Are there any details I should know?" Denise asked as she looked over at Klaus. He was certainly the most impressive person that she had ever met. Not to mention there were other demons that would have killed to be in the spot she was in. Unfortunately for them, she had already gotten dibs on the partnership with him. She was, however, pretty sure that some demons might not be too happy if they knew what the two of them were planning. She doubted anyone would try and attack them head on, but if they did, she would be ready for them. Either way, she decided not to worry about that as she continued to walk with the Original. The only thing she would be focused on was making sure that the two of them and their meals made it back to the mansion.

 

[Saltwater Bound]

Isabella wasn’t sure what she had expected from Jeremy – a stake being pulled maybe, or at the very least a hint of panic – but it most certainly wasn’t this. If she read him correctly, there seemed to be a little bit of surprise in his eyes when she mentioned her approximate age, but that was it. On the other hand, she actually found herself having to let it sink in that Jeremy was planning on killing Klaus if they had run into him back at the house. Did he have the power for that? And would she be able to kill Klaus? Ignoring the obvious strength-related issues, Rebekah would be shattered and Elijah wouldn’t be too happy either. She’d honestly just been planning on finding a way to ruin the ritual. Isabella involuntarily smiled at the irony of teaming up with a human who was all ready to kill while the vampire was having second thoughts. Then again, he was a hunter, like she’d figured he might be.

“I can get into my hotel without a hassle, but that’s all the way in Richmond,” Isabella answered. She bit her lower lip. Entering his house – where, without a doubt, all his weapons were stashed – was a risk, but then again, he was taking a risk by irreversibly inviting her in. And for some reason, even though they had indeed literally only known each other for a few hours, she did feel like she could trust him. He was strangely comfortable to be around, especially considering the fact that a) he was a hunter, b) she met him while lurking in the woods and c) they had spent most of their time together breaking into the house of a 1000 year old killer who they both already weren’t on friendly terms with. “I’m cool with going to your house,” she finally concluded. “But please tell me you’re not one of those hunters who displays all their weapons in their living room. It's like being a vampire and decorating with bloodbags – just unnecessarily creepy.”

Isabella crossed her arms over her leather jacket and started walking towards town again. For a moment, the only sound came from her pistol booties on the pavement. She didn’t want to ask earlier since they’d been inside Klaus’ house and thus had had enough on their minds, but she had to know, especially since Jeremy was talking about actually killing the Hybrid. “If you don’t mind me prying, how do you actually know Klaus?”






Klaus couldn’t help but smirk when Denise handed her to go boxes to his walking meals behind them, and his smirk only grew as he listened to her speak of hell and earth. He had never felt much desire to try to get into hell, but he had wondered what it was like. He always pictures images of fire and brimstone, pain and suffering; never anything concrete. “It’s hard to imagine that hell can be dull – but then again, I truly have no clue who actually ends up down there. If my intel is correct, us magical beings,” he rolled his eyes, “go someplace else entirely. I’d be honored to learn more from an actual demon. In return, I would be happy to make it worth your while, sticking around in this little town of mine.”

Despite the fact that he never failed to seize an opportunity to talk about his powers, Klaus had to think of how he could succinctly explain it to someone who most likely didn’t regularly hang out with either vampires or werewolves. “I am the Original Hybrid, but for centuries, I was only a vampire; the witch who turned us into vampires also placed a curse on me to suppress my werewolf side. A few years back, I finally managed to fully perform the ritual to release that werewolf side, right here in Mystic Falls as well. The amount of necessary steps was about as ridiculous as the ones in the ritual on that scroll I gave you,” Klaus said, gesturing towards Denise as he shook his head. Even though it had succeeded, the anger stemming from those failed attempts could still flare up like hellfire inside him. Especially if he thought of the ones who had ruined it for him. “Since then, besides all my vampire powers – mind control, telepathy, insane strength and speed, instant healing, increased senses, etcetera etcetera – I can turn into a werewolf at will and create more Hybrids like myself. Unfortunately, that was quite the bust. They were nowhere near as strong as I am. Hence, demon army,” Klaus added.

Then, he finally saw his mansion doom up in the distance and proudly nodded towards it. “There’s my place. Another good thing that came from my stay here a few years ago. Compelled a crew to build it myself,” he said with a smirk, looking from his house to Denise and back again. They walked up the long driveway and he opened the front door. “If you want to explore before we sit down for our meals, be my guest. Also – do you actually have a place to stay besides in hell?”

 

[Insanity Awakened 18]

Jeremy Gilbert​

Jeremy wasn't sure what was going to happen when Isabella went home with him. He would obviously have some explaining to do if anyone else happened to be at home, but that was the least of his worries. Right now his main focus was to stop whatever Klaus was planning. Once the others knew what he was planning, he imagined they would be just as anxious about stopping the Original vampire as well. He ignored whatever debates or discussions he would get in with the others, however, as he and the female vampire in front of him were making final decisions on where they should go. Her hotel did sound like it was out of the way, but he would have been okay going there. It was finally decided, however, that they would go back to his place. He wasn't sure who would be there at the moment, but as soon as she questioned whether or not his living room had weapons on display, he couldn't help letting out a light chuckle as he shook his head.

"Oh no, you won't have to worry about that. I don't even think I have enough weapons in order to do that." Jeremy admitted with a light shrug before he started walking with Isabella. "Are there really vampires who decorate their houses with blood bags though? Wouldn't that cause it to go bad or something?" he questioned before letting out a light chuckle. At least that was what he thought anyway. Hence the reason hospitals kept their blood bags on ice or in the fridge. Either way, as they were walking, he couldn't help but get the sudden vision of the Salvatore Brothers suddenly decorating their living room with blood bags. Some of them surrounding the door while they would let some hang from the ceiling. He knew that Stefan wouldn't do something like that, but if Damon happened to catch what the female vampire said, he could definitely see him doing something like that on purpose.

Jeremy knew that he would have to tell Isabella at some point or another how he knew Klaus. As they were walking towards his house, however, he didn't expect her to ask him. He could feel the bad memories at the back of his mind, but after letting out a deep sigh, he knew that it would be best to tell the female vampire the truth. "No, I don't mind. Its just a little hard to talk about." he said, his memories of his late aunt causing him to rub the back of his neck before he continued. "He used my sister and my aunt in a ritual to undo the curse that kept his werewolf half locked away. He turned my aunt in a vampire and then killed her before he drained my sister. Thankfully we thought of a way to keep her alive...but my aunt wasn't so lucky." he said with a shake of his head. "Klaus has been causing trouble ever since he got to this town. Not only for my family, but my friends too. I know that if we don't stop him now then there is no telling what might happen. If you were right about him trying to open the gates of Hell, then we need to stop him now more than ever." he said, one of his hands balling up into a fist before he opted to shoving his hands in his pockets. At this point he wasn't entirely sure how they would stop him, but with the female vampire's help, he was sure that they could come up with something.

"There is something else I should let you know. My sister is a little weary of new vampires coming to the house. If she or her boyfriend happen to be home, explain to them whats going on." Jeremy reassured Isabella with a reassuring smile. "If she happens to be home though, the only thing you'll need to worry about is her boyfriend. I'm not sure if you happened to cross paths with Damon or Stefan before, but Damon can tend to get under people's skin. Hes gotten better over the years, but he can still be a bit much." he added, knowing it was best to warn her now than wait until she got to the house. While he did want to get to work on stopping Klaus, he knew they wouldn't be able to do that if Elena's boyfriend went and started causing trouble. He knew that they would most likely need his and his brother's help in order to stop the Original completely, but either way he hoped that he would be civil with the female vampire next to him.

 

[Insanity Awakened 18]

Denise Royal Rockoff​

Denise gave a light shrug when Klaus mentioned he thought it was hard to believe that Hell was boring. She guessed more of the sadistic demons wouldn't find it boring, but she thought it was total snooze fest putting souls through the same tortures day in and day out. Thats why she liked to spend most of her time upstairs. Granted it was cloder, but she thought it was more exciting. As soon as the vampire next to her referred the the both of them as magical beings, however, she couldn't help letting out a light snort as she shook her head. Referring to them as magical made it sound like they were bound to receive letters from Hogwarts or that they went around and granted wishes. She failed to point this out, however, as she grinned when he mentioned he would make it worth her while if she taught him the ins and outs of Hell. She wondered if she might get into trouble if she shared details with someone that wasn't a demon, but she didn't dwell on those thoughts for very long as she quickly agreed.

"I will teach you everything I know. I'll make sure to leave out all the unnecessary details just because I'm so nice." Denise told him with a light grin. Of course she wouldn't expect anything in return, but if he would be willing to show her a good time, she certainly wouldn't turn it down. As they were still walking, she listened to Klaus as he started to share some details about himself. She wondered why the witch who changed him would suppress his werewolf side, along with what he had to do in order to unleash the werewolf half, but she kept those questions to himself as he shared the details of all of his powers. While she didn't share in nearly half the powers he did, she thought that they would make an excellent team. Of course, that partnership would only become better once they were able to get the demon army that the Original wanted. For now, he would have to deal with just her. With the way things were going, she didn't think that was something he would mind in the slightest.

Denise imagined that Klaus' place would be nice when he mentioned that he lived in a mansion. As they walked up, she didn't expect it to be this nice. Why hadn't she thought of manipulating a crew to do that for her? That was most likely due to the fact that she doubted she could manipulate that many people at the same time, but she ignored it for the time being as she walked into the mansion, a grin on her face when he said that she could explore. She paused, however, so that she could answer his question. "I don't have a place of my own. I usually stay where I want, when I want, and with who I want." she said, a light smile coming to her face before she continued. "If I could have though, I would have done what you did and get a crew to build a place like this." she said before she took to exploring. She wasn't sure what she would find during her exploration, but it would be fun to find out.

Denise took off up the stairs soon after answering Klaus' question, curious about what she might find. As she explored each room, she wondered which one she would end up staying in. She imagined that she would have free reign to stay where she wanted, considering the Original did tell her that she could explore. After a while, however, she made her way back downstairs where he was, a grin still on her face. "Okay I don't know which room I'm allowed to stay in, but I definitely found more than a couple of rooms that I'm going to call dibs on while I'm here. How come some of the rooms are locked though?" she asked, making her way to over one of the couches and laying across it, letting out a content sigh. While the two of them were in a partnership, she imagined that the Original wouldn't be sharing all of his secrets with her. She imagined that there must be a good reason he was keeping some of the rooms locked up, but if she was going to stay there, she would want to be able to explore the locked rooms at some point or another.

 

[Saltwater Bound]

Isabella started laughing at the idea of a vampire stapling blood bags to the wall or putting a few in a bowl on the table as art. “Okay, pretty sure you're right, and I haven't actually seen anyone do that. But immortality does strange things to people, so I wouldn’t be surprised,” she added, recalling the many times she’d visited Rebekah when Klaus’ lunch would literally be sprawled across the table. Then Jeremy answered her question and Isabella's eyes grew wide in horror. She was quiet for a moment as the gravity of his story sunk in. “I'm so sorry,” Isabella finally said, watching as one of Jeremy's hands balled into a fist, after which he shoved both into his pockets. And meanwhile, Klaus couldn’t care less. A flood of anger rushed through her; her eyes started turning into a deep shade of red, and the veins right underneath were darkening. Quickly taking control, Isabella took a long breath and as the air passed her lips again, her face changed back to normal. “I want to say I can’t imagine he did that – but we both know that’s not true.”

They made a left into a residential street, a long row of beautiful houses with big porches. Isabella was still internally debating if this was a good time to share her own history with Klaus when Jeremy mentioned a familiar name. “Damon from Mystic Falls,” she slowly said as it dawned on her that they indeed had crossed paths. “We spent the better part of the 80’s together. As friends,” Isabella added quickly, ignoring the little voice in her head that wondered why she’d felt the need to clarify. “A bit much sounds about right. He tried to steal like, two months worth of blood bags from our loft in Brooklyn – I literally met him when I walked in on my friends getting ready to kill him. Instead, I made him our blood bag delivery boy for a while.” As they continued walking down the street, Isabella looked up at Jeremy and flashed him a smile. Despite the fact that she wasn’t worried about Damon, Jeremy sounded like he'd have her back, and she appreciated it regardless. “I think I have more to fear from your sister. I bet—”

“Izzy!” a booming voice suddenly interrupted her. A dark-haired figure emerged a porch on their right, and as soon as the streetlights hit his face, Isabella saw the icy blue eyes and trademark smirk. “With little Gilbert. Let me guess what happened,” Damon said as he headed towards them. “Jeremy here was cruising for vampire friend number three, and you,” he tapped Isabella’s nose, “got tired of your blood bag-hogging friends and came looking for your old buddy. Still into rock ‘n roll, I see,” Damon continued, poking at Isabella's leather jacket and the graphic tee underneath.

“Still always mouthing off, I see,” Isabella answered, grabbing his finger and bending it back until Damon was forced to sink to one knee; he excessively groaned as he went down. She raised her eyebrows, grinned and let go. Then she glanced at Jeremy for a moment, reminding herself that he had suggested explaining what was going on. “I came here because of the rumors on Klaus' next grab for power – and it’s true. We took pictures of his creepy source material,” Isabella said while Damon got back up. “And we came specifically here,” she gestured towards the house, “to see how much we could decipher on our own.”

Damon rolled his eyes. “I guess that clarifies where you found each other. Elena is inside, grabbing some clothes before we head back to the boarding house – but you bet she’s going to have an opinion on your little suicide mission,” he said, gesturing from Jeremy to Isabella and back again. “And Jer, you can go ahead and explain it to her so the yelling will be directed your way. Elena!” Damon called as he turned back to the house, "are you ready?”








Klaus couldn't help but laugh when Denise enthusiastically disappeared up the winding stairs and out of his sight. Instead of stalking her every move, he turned and gave his walking meals a light shove to guide them towards the living room. He wasn't too concerned. Sure, he hadn't known Denise for very long, but he had no trouble trusting the fact that this girl - woman - would be intelligent enough not to break into any of the locked rooms upstairs. Controlled as ever, Klaus' eyes grew a dark shade of yellow and dark marks appeared underneath as his fangs grew longer and sharper. He grabbed the closest of his meals, jerked it towards him and in one smooth motion, sunk his canines into its bare neck. It had been a while since he last fed and he was drinking more quickly than usual; Klaus could already feel the pulse significantly slowing down and he could see the skin become a more sickeningly shade of pale by the second. He tore his fangs away right when the heartbeat stopped entirely. Klaus tossed the body towards his still living and breathing meal; she was staring at him in shock, seemingly unable to speak or move. “Go – take him with you into the kitchen. I'll have someone take care of you in a bit. Go,” he irritably repeated himself when she continued to stand there without moving, aside from some trembling.

By the time Denise came back from traversing his home, only her take-out was left. Klaus had just cleaned the blood from his lips and texted one of his lackeys to come handle the body in the kitchen – and have a snack of his own, if he so pleased – when the dark-haired demon flopped down on one of his large leather couches. He smirked at her as she commented on the rooms. “You’re free to call dibs on any room you want, but if you can, kindly refrain from etching your name into the door to indicate that the room behind it is yours. Kol did that when he briefly moved in and I wasn’t as pleased with his woodworking as he was.”

Klaus crossed his arms and raised his eyebrows when Denise point blank asked him about the locked rooms. Then, he shook his head and grinned. “Well then, if we’re going to work together, I might as well divulge a few of my secrets. I did say I would make it worth your while,” he admitted, beckoning Denise to follow him down the first corridor. “This room,” Klaus said after a few moments as he unlocked an ornate wooden door, “is for all the things that we’re going to need in order to rule the masses with our demon army.” He pushed the door open and gestured towards a big safe in the corner. “The code is 1-0-0-1. I also keep some of queen Victoria’s jewellery in there – when you’re immortal and always on the move, the souvenirs you keep have to be worth it,” he said with a grin.

“But the pièce de résistance when it comes to secrets in this house…” Klaus gestured for Denise to follow him again as he walked over to a mahogany door at the other end of the same room. “What's behind this looks like a regular old empty space. But when you do this…” he closed the door, drew a sigil on the mahogany and opened it again. Now, the room revealed multiple caskets. “I’ve tried storage spaces, moving trucks… they’re always found. This time, I had one of my lackeys with magical powers cloak my siblings, right here in my own home.”

 

[Insanity Awakened 18]

Jeremy Gilbert​

Jeremy couldn't help laughing along with Isabella. He wasn't sure if or why a vampire might want to decorate their house with blood bags, but it was just like she said. Immortality could do strange things to people. Not that he knew from personal experience, but still. As the two of them continued towards his house and he told her the truth about how he knew Klaus, he could tell that she got angry at what the Original had done. He couldn't say that he blamed her, but all he could do was nod at her words. He knew this wasn't the first time that Klaus had done something evil, and if they didn't stop him now, then he was going to end up hurting a lot of people.

Jeremy was surprised to hear that Isabella knew Damon. Then again, maybe he shouldn't have been so surprised at the fact. With how hold she said she was, they were bound to cross paths at some point or another. As she mentioned that he had tried to steal from her and her friend, however, he let a light smile come to his face as he shook his head. "Sounds like something he would do. I'm sure he would outright deny it though if we were to ask him." he pointed out as they were getting closer to the house. He wasn't sure if her already knowing one of the Salvatore brothers would be a bad thing, but before he could suggest that she didn't have to worry about his sister, it seemed the blue-eyed vampire they were discussing picked the opportune time to show himself.

Jeremy watched the exchange between Damon and Isabella with slight amusement. As he let out a light chuckle, however, he knew that the real challenge would be in talking to his sister about what was happening. There was no way she was going to be happy when she learned what he was doing, but he knew that it was better coming from him than Damon. As he heard his sister call out to the blue-eyed vampire, he turned his gaze towards the female vampire as he nodded towards the house. "Come on in. It'll probably take some time for me to talk to my sister about whats happening. If you do hear any yelling though, don't worry." he told her before making his way upstairs. He was sure that Elena was going to be pissed when she heard what was going on, but once he met up with her and explained the whole situation, he didn't expect her to be so pissed that she started throwing pillows at him.

"What is wrong with you Jer? Do you know what he could do to you if he found out what you were doing?! This is suicide!" Elena shouted, causing Jeremy to let out a deep sigh as he nodded. "I know this is dangerous, but if we don't stop him now, then a lot of people are going to end up being hurt. Mystic Falls hasn't even dealt with demons, let alone a whole army of them." he said as he walked over, placing a comforting hand on her shoulder. "I'm aware of the risk I'm taking. I know that Isabella and I can stop whatever he is planning. If it gets too dangerous, we'll get help okay?" he asked, watching as she gave a light nod. She wasn't happy with any of this, but if he was going to go through this, she wanted to be able to talk to the female vampire that he was working with. If only to make sure that her brother would only have to worry about one killer vampire instead of two.

 

[Insanity Awakened 18]

Denise Royal Rockoff​

Denise had only just noticed the meals that she had brought for Klaus were missing, but she could only guess that was because he had his fill. She would go and get more if need be. All he would have to do was say the word. For now, however, she was wondering which one of the rooms she had seen earlier she would make her own. She didn't have much that she would leave in the room per se, but when he suggested that she not etch her name into the door, she crinkled her nose slightly as she shook her head. "Nope, I wouldn't do something like that. I may be a bitch, but I'm not that big of a bitch." she told him, taking a moment to look through the takeout boxes that they brought before turning her sights back onto the Original. At that point, she wasn't sure if he would divulge her in the secrets of the locked rooms, but as soon as he motioned her to follow him, she ignored the takeout boxes for the time being so that she could follow him.

Denise glanced around the first room that Klaus brought her to, looking at the documents that were on the table for a moment before looking over towards the safe in the corner. When he mentioned what was inside, she let out a low whistle as she grinned. "Very nice. I might have to see some of those jewels at some point." she said before they went onto the next door. She raised an eyebrow when he revealed nothing behind the doorway, but after he drew the symbol on the door, her eyes widened slightly as she saw the caskets appear. She hadn't seen a trick like that before, but either way, it was slightly impressive.

"Thats a nice trick. They aren't going to suddenly spring out of the caskets or anything are they?" Denise asked, glancing at the caskets in the room, deciding against venturing inside to touch any of them. She knew that he said that he had desiccated them, but alas, she had no idea what that meant. For all, she knew that meant that they were only asleep for a while. She was sure that he wouldn't have them hidden away the way they were if that were the case, but she didn't want to take any chances. Before she could make any Pet Cemetary references or anything, she decided it was time to go back to the takeout boxes that she had left behind in the next room.

"We don't have to worry about any other siblings suddenly showing up, do we? That was a nice trick you did earlier, but that room doesn't look like it could hold too many other caskets." Denise said as she walked back over to one of the couches, having a seat as she was now having a good look at the meals that Klaus had managed to get her. Whatever she didn't eat now she was sure that she could have it later. While it wasn't necessary for the demon to eat, she was sure that she couldn't eat everything that he had gotten her either. She did appreciate the gesture, but she wasn't about to go and make a pig out of herself either.