The Original Daughter

It had been two years since he lost her. Lost everything. Dalia had won; Klaus and his army had been unable to protect his baby girl. Dalia had killed almost every vampire, witch and werewolf in New Orleans and those who had survived had fled the city. She had taken Hope and sacrificed her, consuming all of his daughters power and youth. His family had been torn apart. In his grief Klaus blamed Elijah and Rebekah for not standing by him, for not doing enough to save their niece and he pushed them away. But deep down he really only blamed himself, what kind of a farther was he? He who was the most powerful creature in the world, the hybrid and the kind of New Orleans could not even save a baby. She was gone forever and with her had went the last bit of humanity in him.

Klaus was in the bayou, he liked to come out here sometimes, to transform into a wolf and run wild through the swamps. It was his escape. A chance for him to forget everything and just be an animal for a little while.

This particular night he was racing amongst the trees along the roadside when he heard sobs, slowing down he transformed back into a vampire and stood lurking behind a tree, watching the figure approach. This would be tonight's dinner.

As she grew closer, he noticed that this young girl was in a great deal of distress. He felt immediately interested in this peculiar girl, who was walking alone, barefoot down a dirt road in the middle of the night covered in bruises and her clothes all ripped and torn. Her long dark hair was in knots and tangles, bits of twig sticking out of it. Her heartbeat was fast. Too fast and her breathing was loud, almost a pant. She couldn't be any more than fifteen of sixteen. He couldn't tell why he felt the way he did, but as she neared him, Klaus could feel his inner wolf kicking in; he could no longer hunt and have her for dinner. No he wanted to know her, to protect her from whatever it was she was clearly running from.

Lily was so distracted by her own thoughts and trying to gather herself to together and calm down she did not notice the handsome man until she had almost walked right into him.

Sniffing and wiping her tears to try and hide the fact that she had obviously been crying she looked up at him and grasped. Those eyes. Those bright ocean blue eyes. They were identical to her own.

Who was this girl? Klaus thought as the pair stood staring at one another. She was beautiful, fair skinned, a few freckles on her nose and little dimples at the side of her mouth. But those eyes! His eyes. How? Why did he feel an overwhelming urge to help her, to make her feel safe?

The silence was beginning to get awkward. The girl quickly dropped her glaze and glanced down at her feet embarrassed.

'Oh I'm sorry. I, I didn't see you there' she mumbled nervously.

'And were could a young lady like yourself be heading in the middle of the night?' he quizzed her with a thick English accent.

'I emm, I…'

What could she say to him? Oh hey there, I'm just running away from my family who have held me prisoner and kept me as a slave for most of my life? He would think she was just some spoilt rich kid and have her back home in an instant. And she could never go back there, they would kill her this time for sure, they had threatened to enough times.

'Well if your just going to stand there suturing all night, you may as well walk with me. My cars nearby and I can't just leave a kid out here alone. I have a warm home and a spare room in the city and perhaps we can find you some shoes? Klaus said with a cheeky grin on his face. Why was he being so nice to this stranger he wondered as he waited for a response. She looked terrified; weary of his offer as she should be but he could see she needed help and had no other offers.

Lily desperately wanted to say yes, to be taken to the city, to safety but her overthinking brain made her hesitate. After all this man was a stranger. He could be a murderer or worse. But she didn't feel in any danger now, infect for the first time she actually felt safe.

Klaus could see that the girl was clearly conflicted over what to do but he couldn't let her continue to wander through the bayou in this state. He turned and held his hand out to her; she hesitated but then smiled shyly and took it, letting him lead her down the road towards his car.

What did she have to lose she thought to herself, nothing that lay ahead could be as bad as the hell she had just escaped.