Chapter 7

Klaus sighed and looked at his watch. How long could it take to find some clothes for a little girl? The saleswoman was pacing back and forth, taking all kinds of clothes to Prim who was in the fitting room. Klaus was sitting on the couch waiting for her; he was bored but unfortunately this had to be done, the girl already draw enough attention without the oversize clothes he had picked up for her. Not to mention the t-shirt and the pants had been dirty, thanks to her eating habits. Klaus looked up when Elijah entered the store with two coffees.

"Thanks," Klaus said when Elijah handed him the other one. His brother nodded briefly and sat down next to him.

"Are you sure that it's a good idea to take her with us?" Elijah asked.

"Why wouldn't it be? She's harmless, just a little…"

Klaus didn't have time to finish his sentence when the saleswoman screamed. Klaus and Elijah were on their feet in a fraction of a second, the woman marched to them looking quite upset.

"I'm sorry, sir, but I must ask you and your mons…daughter to leave," she said.

Klaus frowned.

"What happened?"

He didn't really have to ask, the woman was rubbing the bite marks on her arm.

"She bit me. Please take her out of here before I'll have to call the police."

Klaus sighed and marched to the fitting room.

"Prim!"

The girl opened the door and looked at him defiantly. She was wearing beige jeans, a pink shirt and floral print sneakers. She looked surprisingly…normal, like any young girl.

"You bit that woman?" Klaus asked.

"She touched my special place," the girl replied tensely.

For a moment Klaus was too stunned to speak.

"She touched your…what?"

Once again Prim looked at him like he would have asked something incredibly stupid.

"My neck," she explained.

Klaus wasn't sure if he should laugh or cry.

"I see…You bit her because she touched your neck?"

"Of course, that's not…" she paused and looked thoughtful. "Appropriate," she added, clearly proud of herself for remembering the word.

"Uh huh…And why's that?"

She looked at him disbelievingly and sighed.

"She's not a member of my pack and I haven't accepted her," the girl explained like she would be talking to a small child.

"Right… You don't like people touching your neck; I'll have to keep that on mind."

"That doesn't mean you, you're my pack," she said and tilted her head on the side, exposing her neck. "You can touch if you want."

"That's…good to know, maybe later," he murmured. "Come on, we're leaving."

Elijah was already waiting for them; he was carrying a big plastic bag.

"Is that the rest of her clothes?" Klaus asked.

"Apparently," Elijah replied looking at Prim. He had been quite cautious with her; obviously he had trouble deciding how to handle her. She was a child and Elijah's moral code would have never allowed him to harm a child, but she was also a werewolf, his natural "enemy". Clearly he needed some time to get past this contradiction. Klaus on the other hand had never had any problems being around werewolves, although normally they didn't want to be anywhere near him. Prim was looking at Elijah suspiciously when the three of them headed to the car. She went to the backseat as soon as Klaus had unlocked the doors, she probably didn't want to turn her back to Elijah. Klaus couldn't help but smile, he was really starting to like the little werewolf. Elijah sat on the front seat, but he seemed a little tense. They were all quiet a long while after Klaus had started the car.

"Why do you smell so different than your brother?" Prim finally asked.

Klaus didn't know if she had addressed the question to him or Elijah, but he replied anyway.

"We're different."

He saw through the rearview mirror that she looked very observant.

"What do you think he smells like?" Klaus asked, he couldn't control his curiosity. Elijah certainly didn't look pleased by his question.

"Like a bloodsucker," Prim replied calmly. "They all smell the same."

"What do you mean?" Elijah asked, suddenly he seemed curious as well.

She shrugged.

"Blood, coldness, death. But there's something more about your smell, not your cologne, something else."

Elijah seemed surprised when she leaned towards him and started to snuffle him from the backseat.

"She likes to do that," Klaus explained without bothering to hide his amusement.

Clearly Elijah was uncomfortable, but he didn't move.

"Lemon tea," she murmured thoughtfully. "And apricots."

"I can assure you that I haven't eaten any apricots," Elijah said.

She shook her head.

"No, your shampoo. Your hair smells nice."

Elijah looked stunned before clearing his throat.

"Thank you."

She looked at him thoughtfully before bumping his head softly with her forehead.

"What…"

"I will accept you for now, a bloodsucker or not," she stated calmly. "But if you try to harm my mate, I won't hesitate to harm you."

For a moment Elijah was unable to speak, that was something Klaus hadn't seen before.

"Prim, I'm not your mate," he sighed, but she ignored him, she was looking at Elijah, or the back of his head to be exact.

"Well…" Elijah muttered. "That sounds fair."

She nodded firmly.

"You may sniff me, but not my neck; you're not a pack member."

Klaus bit his bottom lip trying not to laugh; Elijah's expression was simply priceless.

"That's very…kind of you, but maybe some other time," Elijah managed to say.

She shrugged and leaned back on her seat.

"Can we listen to some music?" she asked.

"Sure," Klaus replied and turned the radio on.

Prim seemed a little more relaxed now, but she was still vigilant, keeping an eye on him and Elijah. Klaus had certainly never met anyone like her before, what kind of pack had she grown up? And what had happened to her pack? Those were definitely things he needed to find out, right after this trip to Virginia.

I looked outside through the window when we arrived to the centre of a town called Mystic Falls. If I wasn't mistaken this Mikael who we were looking for was my mate's father and also his enemy. That was all I needed to know, I doubted that either my mate or his brother would tell me more. They didn't like their father, so I didn't like him either, it was that simple. If someone threatened one member of the pack, he was the enemy of the whole pack; that was how things had always been.

"I called some of my witches," my mate said. "Apparently a very powerful witch called Sheila Bennett lives here; she was probably the one who neutralized Mikael."

"Hmm, I think I better talk to her," his brother stated. "No offence, Niklaus but your people skills aren't very good."

My mate rolled his eyes.

"Fine, talk to her, but if she gives you any problems…"

"I think I manage. Do you have her address?"

I wasn't paying much attention to the rest of their conversation; I wanted to stretch my legs. They didn't say anything when I got out and inspected our surroundings. Everything seemed peaceful, there were few people walking across the street, nothing special. Then I noticed a foolish little human who was toddling straight to the road. There was a car approaching her and I heard someone screaming before I ran to her and yanked her back to the sidewalk. The little human didn't seem to realize that she had almost been hit by a car, she was laughing.

"Elena!" a woman's voice shouted, she came to us running, carrying a little male human in her arms. "Oh God, are you alright?"

The female toddler was still giggling.

"Yes, mommy," she said.

Her mother seemed relieved and kneeled next to her.

"Don't ever run away like that, do you understand?"

She nodded.

"Yes, mommy."

The woman hugged her before standing up.

"Thank you so much," she said to me.

"You should train your cub better," I replied. "A night in the hole should help."

The woman was staring at me with her mouth open, had I said something wrong? Cubs acted foolishly without training, papa had used all kinds of training methods, like the hole. I remembered that I had cried when he put me in there, but I had learned my lesson. The woman scooped the male toddler up and took the female toddlers hand. She waved at me when they walked away.

"Prim!"

I turned when I heard my mate's voice.

"Come on, I need some coffee."

That sounded good, I was hungry.