::~ The Originals

I buried your fangs in the heart of a deep well, your mouth was on fire and bone sore - Fangs, Little Red Lung

::~

His body fell to the ground with a sickening thud. Klaus could hear Tyler's heart stop for just a second and the sound brought him more pleasure than anything he'd known all day. "You've grown bloodthirsty," He said with a sneer. "Perhaps it's best your mother didn't live to see you like this!" Klaus's laugh rang loud and dark. He elicited the exact response he wanted from Tyler: the hybrid's eyes flashed, full of pain and sorrow. The expression was wiped clear from Tyler's face as he reigned blow after blow on Klaus's face, the original taking the punches with a grunt.

All it did was fuel the fire in Klaus's veins. He wanted Tyler to suffer, he wanted to bring him pain. For what reason, he didn't know. Perhaps it was because he'd finally won Caroline, or perhaps because he tried to kill the woman bearing his child. Or perhaps, it was because Klaus wanted Tyler to suffer the same way he was suffering now.

Klaus grabbed Tyler's fist and turned them over, embedding the stake that was in his side deep underneath his heart. It wouldn't kill him-if Klaus wanted him dead he would have done it a long time ago-but it would bring him pain.

"It's sad really. I though I made you better, turns out you're quite the disappointment," Klaus's eyes looked down on him, cold and distant. Tyler wrenched the stake from his body and spat.

"I guess I'm another one of your failures! Like how you failed to make hybrids. Like how you failed your family?" The thought of Hayley being captured flitted through Klaus's mind. In a way, Tyler was right. He failed to protect her. His child's mother. Who knew where she was, left alone in the woods, trying to keep herself safe since he couldn't do so?

And Elijah. Klaus intentionally turned his brother over to his enemy. If that didn't scream failure, then what did?

"Now it looks like you're even gonna fail your own kid," Tyler said, and the words rang true. Klaus could bear to hear it no longer.

He would not fail his child. He would rather fail all else, but not his own blood.

"Thus ends your tedious little life," Klaus said, his words devoid of all emotion. "At least it was brief."

::~

He'd willingly left the mother of his child unprotected in the forest with his brother, who he bit, bedridden with hallucinations. What if Elijah snapped and killed Hayley, thinking she was someone else? The thought crossed Klaus's mind, but only when it was too late. He was far too stubborn to go back and get her-no, it would show weakness if he did.

Why should he go get her, anyway? She willingly sided with her brother against him and held little regard for his feelings. He should have no regard for her life, then.

But she was carrying his child.

Just then Rebekah entered the room and his thoughts scattered. "Elijah's home, and there's only one dagger. Which one of us will you be punishing today?" Klaus turned to face her. He thought his anger would surge once again, that he'd have the courage to hurt his siblings the same way they were hurting him. Rebekah with her betrayal, and Elijah with his lack of faith.

But no, he could not keep playing this game any longer. He couldn't keep hurting others just because he was hurting inside. It brought him merely a fleeting moment of satisfaction, but at what cost? At the cost of his family? At the cost of his child?

::~

When he stepped through those doors, he felt invincible. He was going to find his own happiness, his siblings be damned. He had a child to look after, and the child's mother, nuisance she may be. "You're coming with me, Little Wolf." Klaus said as he descended the steps.

"And why would I go anywhere with you?" He heard her say haughtily. He turned around, his eyes blazing. "Because Hayley, that child you carry is the only thing on this earth that matters to me. Now you can fight me on this, but you will lose." If she was to be with him she would need to learn quickly that his word was law. Especially now that he'd taken Marcel's throne.

"As will anyone else who tries to stop you getting in this car," he said over his shoulder as he opened the door. She had no choice, and he knew it. If she refused he'd become rampant.

::~

On the drive to their new home the car was deathly silent. More than once Klaus had tuned into the beating of their child's heart, the sound calming to him. He felt better than he had in a while, knowing that for once he made the right choice, not what he had deemed as right on his own terms. He would no longer allow sweet moments between Elijah and Hayley-the woman and the child were his, and like that they would remain.

"The house is lovely," He said in a low voice, breaking the silence that had engulfed them for so long. His hand gripped the wheel tighter when she didn't respond after a few moments. Hayley's eyes cast down to look at the subtle movement and she knew she had to speak.

"How long until we get there? I feel like I'm in a moving oven," She said pressing a light hand over her belly. Klaus's gaze snapped to her, and she did look a little pink. How could he have been so stupid? Of course her body temperature was sensitive, he should have been more careful. He turned on the air conditioner and cracked open the driver's side window to let more air in. The pleased smile that spread across her lips was the only reassurance he needed.

::~

A/N: Yup, I'm at it again, and with The Originals this time. Please leave a review!