Le notes: (hides) I'm so sorry lovelies, all I can say is that I had no idea where this story was going for a very long time and now, I sort of have a better idea of what my goal is. So, to clear things up, Klaus and Rebekah's storylines are AU after 3x05. So it's before he is shown to have feelings for Caroline. This is just so his feelings for Lydia, in my story, are more justifiable. Also, as for the TW characters, I will only consider the events of s1 and s2. And now, without further ado, on with the show!

Summary: Lost in the woods, within the darkness of the night, is a broken and beautiful youth, with a mysterious monster inside of her.―-KlausLydia

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in the land of gods and monsters

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iii:

[i'm] screwed up, scared,
doing anything that i needed
shining like a fiery beacon

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/ / /

The sun blazes liquid gold, bleeding in through the glass window as Stiles rolls out of this unfamiliar bed. He pushes the cotton white sheets out of his way and quickly proceeds towards the bathroom. It takes him a while to realize that this is some expensive hotel room, like the ones that the senior kids rent for afterprom events. There's a moment before he has a chance to question himself on how the fuck he got here. Of course, this is all because he's still half asleep. Sort of. Rebekah releases a shriek as Stiles walks in to the washroom.

Before this though, he gets a good look at her; the water running down her back, making nonsensical patterns and swirls. The liquid droplets venture further down and he dares to continue looking. Her pale skin is flawless, he thinks, like virgin, paper white sheets.

("What are you doing? Get out of here!" She shoos him away. Still very tired, Stiles ends up awakening because of her god damn screams. He doesn't blame her though; he should have heard the water running. But, to his defense, he had just been knocked out for almost two days).

And then, he remembers―

("LYDIA!")

He runs towards a phone because his cellphone is conveniently missing. Just then, Niklaus shows up, at the speed of light. He takes the phone right out of Stiles's hand and almost crushes it between his fingers. Or, perhaps, Stiles has seen one too many horror flicks and now, he thinks that this is the part where the villain kills the useless sidekick.

"Stiles, was it?" Klaus questions, staring directly in to the young boy's eyes. Almost daring him to look away. He nods his head, quite nervously. "Such an odd name. I've lived for over a thousand years, never met a 'Stiles' before."

The hybrid walks closer towards the human boy. "That's quite a feat you've accomplished, wouldn't you say?"

"No," he answers, without thinking. "My parents named me so I'm not technically responsible for that. And, for the record, 'Stiles' isn't actually my real name."

To Stiles's surprise (and relief), Niklaus chuckles at his comment. "Rebekah," he calls, as she walks out of the shower in her cotton white towel, coincidentally.

"What is it now, Nik?"

"This boy," Klaus's grin stretches wider. "He's quite something, isn't he?"

Unexpectedly, Stiles feels a bit special, mostly because he's so used to being invisible. So, the fact that two one thousand year old magical beings not only acknowledge his existence, but appreciate it, is really something quite surprising.

Still, things cannot be this simple. These diabolical siblings are up to something, for sure. "Where's Lydia?" He questions, worriedly. "What did you two do with Lydia? Where the hell is she?"

"She's fine Stiles," Rebekah says, sounding almost jealous. Then again, this isn't the first time that she's chosen a boy who's so clearly in love without someone else. "She's sleeping in the hotel room next door. She passed out after she saw you when you were unconscious."

"She did?" Stiles questions, confused. Klaus nods. "I'm going to see her." He runs towards the door, in quite a rush.

Niklaus then offers Rebekah this worried look, one that he does not wear quite often. "What is your business with this boy?" He asks, once Stiles exits the room.

She smiles, proudly. "That's none of your concern, Nik. You lost the privilege to question my actions not only when you fled town, but when you decided to choose power over family, over and over again."

"C'mon now sister," he sings, impatiently. "Are you still bitter about all this? It seems to have benefited you, considering the fact that Stiles has caught your interest because of my so-called mayhem."

"Keep Stiles out of your drama." She warns.

"You're the one who snapped his neck in order to find me. You brought him in to this."

"He was worried about the girl you've been manipulating." Rebekah specifies, glaring at her brother. "I was trying to help him."

Klaus rolls his eyes. "I haven't been manipulating Lydia Martin." Apparently, that is the only comment of hers which catches his attention.

"You compelled her." She reminds him.

"I hadn't done it before you showed up." He admits, quite honestly. "I was honest with her; I even told her what I was. She accepted me. She wasn't afraid of me. Actually, she wanted to know more about me. Her curiosity was quite charming, really."

Now, it is her turn to roll her eyes. "You've grown soft." Rebekah comments, finally grabbing her clothes and heading back towards the washroom. ("You better check up on those two, before they decided to run off together.")

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/ / /

Stiles walks in to Lydia's room and she awakens with a bright smile on her face.

"Stiles!" She shouts, happily. She runs towards him and wraps her arms tightly around his frame. "You're okay, you're all right! Oh my God!" She says, in relief. "Are you hurt? How are you alive? I remember, you had no heartbeat and there was blood all over you!"

He's literally bombarded with questions, questions he forgot to ask Rebekah or Klaus, mostly because Stiles is an idiot.

"There was…" he nervously begins, "vampire blood in my system. Rebekah, she fed it to me. So it kept me from dying when she got pissed at me for not telling her where you went. I actually healed up pretty quickly because of it."

She raises both brows. "How do you know all this?"

"Rebekah told me." Stiles reveals. "Listen, she's not a bad person,"

"She practically killed you."

"I know," now, even he sounds confused by his own actions. "I know but, she's just trying to get to her brother." It sounds far-fetched, but he's known about her for a while now. Rebekah's sad past starts to get to him, surprisingly enough.

Lydia widens her eyes. "So that justifies killing you?"

"That's not what I meant."

She begins to think that perhaps, he is compelled, just like she was. Manipulated and distraught, by a supernatural being. "Forget it," Lydia orders, grabbing her purse. "Let's just get out of here. Before those two show up and try to ring our necks."

"Lydia."

"I can't believe I trusted Klaus. I should have seen this coming, I mean some hot British guy just walks in to town and wants to 'study' me? I should have guessed that he was some evil psychopath, trying to murder all my friends."

"Lydia, wait."

She takes his hand in to hers before he can utter another word.

"I'm so stupid, sometimes." She sadly admits, heading out the door.

Stiles frowns, disappointedly. "You're not stupid." He reminds her, tightening his grip. "You're the smartest girl I know." His eyes light up at the sight of her, strawberry blonde hairs and courage and confidence, her smile really gets to him. And this so-called 'hot British guy' shows up to ruin the moment.

"Lydia," Klaus says slowly, Stiles releases her hand, gently. "Might I have a word with you?"

She crosses her arms around her chest. "No." She answers him, rudely. "You may not; you are a liar, Klaus Mikaelson." She points her finger at him, in what she thinks is a threatening way. "I never should have trusted you in the first place."

"Now now love," he reaches for her face, to trace the side of her cheek with his too-soft fingers. "Don't be so hesitant. I spared your friend. My sister's quite fond of him, actually." He meets Stiles's frightened gaze. "Stiles, you're a smart boy aren't you?" He questions, curiously. Stiles nods his head, without thinking. "You know that Rebekah's waiting for you, why don't you go see her?"

"No." Lydia insists, before Stiles gets to utter a single word. "Stiles stays here, with me."

"Sweetheart―"

"What? Are you going to try to 'hypnotize' me again?" She mocks his actions.

Klaus understands that he had lost her trust in him. And she was already this girl who had very few friends to begin with. He really shouldn't have compelled her; it just messed everything up and got rid of all that progress they made so far. "Actually, it's not so much of a hypnosis technique as it is more of a way of compelling people in to doing whatever it is that I desire."

She's sort of had enough of his controlling nature and the way he thinks that he's stronger than anyone. Sure, he might be the strongest being she's ever met, but perhaps there are others out there, just as strong. Just as dangerous. Just as volatile. "Whatever it was, it didn't work to your advantage. Now, if you'll excuse me―"

Klaus surprises himself when he lets her leave, without a second thought.

He supposes only time will heal such wounds. Besides, he can still hear her heartbeat and quite honestly, it tends to beat quite fast when she's around him.

He can't help but think that it's not just fear.

There's still a lot of admiration and curiosity going around. He is just as interested as she is. As a result, he doesn't think he minds waiting. At least, not for now.

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/ / /

A few days later, the drama has died down quite the bit and before long, Stiles sees a thousand year old, original, blonde vampire walking down the hallways of Beacon Hills High School. He widens his eyes in disbelief. For a good five minutes, he merely stares at her as she prances around the school in her too-short skirt and too-low-cut top. Finally, he takes a good breath and fast walks towards her.

"Aren't you a bit too old to still be in school?"

When Rebekah sees him, all she does is smile. "Never ask a lady her age, Stiles." She comments, opening her locker in order to grab her books. "Are you, by any chance, taking AP English?"

He shakes his head in response.

"That's a shame," she says, "I'm really not so good at making new friends."

Stiles starts walking her to class, without even being asked about it. "We could hang out at lunch, if you want." He suggests, kindly.

"I'd like that actually."

He scratches the back of his head, mostly because she not only makes him really nervous, she gets his heart racing like a drumming song. And sometimes…sometimes…his heart races so fast that he can't even think straight. "I think I owe you something," he admits to her.

"For what?"

"For helping me get Lydia away from your brother. I really should have trusted you more. I guess I could forgive you for snapping my neck since you did save Lydia and all."

Rebekah sighs, realizing the extent of Stiles's feelings towards this 'wailing woman'. "You don't owe my anything, Stiles. It's not your fault. You hadn't a clue what type of monstrosities my brother was capable of."

"I can't help but worry though." They stop in front of her class as the bell is just about to ring. "Klaus is…still in town. What if something happens to Lydia?"

Rebekah can't believe her next words. Still, as much she may love her brother, Stiles was still too kind towards her. It honestly made her a tad too soft. "Don't worry," she tells him, placing a hand on his shoulder. "I won't let anyone hurt Lydia Martin."

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/ / /

It takes Niklaus approximately a little more than a week or so before it's two in the morning, and he's slightly drunk, and he ends up back at her door with the rise of the full moon.

It takes Lydia approximately three seconds before she ends up slamming her front door right in his face.

"You're acting quite immature, my dear." He announces, noticing the light from her bedroom window. He knows she's not sleeping, not even pretending to sleep.

"Oh, and you're not?" She questions, peaking her strawberry blonde head out of her now open window. "You show up and my house, drunk, at two in the morning and you think that I'm the immature one?"

Unexpectedly, he is not offended by her tone nor is he amused. He simply realizes that opening her window was her mistake as he uses his supernatural speed to his advantage and jumps up to her roof. He ends up hopping through the window and is inside her room before she even has the time to blink her eyes.

"You were saying?" He quirks his brow, comfortable sitting on her bed as she only offers him an angry glare.

"You do realize that my parents are home?" She retorts, intelligently.

"You do realize that I could just compel them to leave us be?" He only answers back with an even sharper answer.

"You're such a nuisance!" She shouts, exasperated. Then, she notices something else. "What in the world is that God awful smell?"

She can't believe that she had yet to notice the dead baby wolf, rotting in Klaus's arms. He approaches her disgusted face in quite a nonchalant manner. "I have a theory I'd like to test." He reveals, placing the bloodied wolf corpse on to the ground.

"Did you do this?" She questions, in disbelief and fear.

Klaus only rolls his eyes. "You know, Lydia, I'm not as monstrous as you presume me to be. I actually found this poor unfortunate animal, already dead, lying on the street." He explains and honestly, he looks a little hurt. Maybe it was the fact that they were both wolves. Either way, Klaus felt pitiful towards the animal.

Lydia thinks herself foolish when she crouches down to get a better look at the wolf. "A car must have hit it, or something."

"Very observant." Klaus notes. His eyes then travel around the exposed areas of her legs. Lydia pulls at her too-short night gown, feeling a bit self-conscious. "There's something you can do, you know?" He speaks as if he already knows all about her powers. "This is, merely a theory, of course but perhaps, there is a slight chance that you are―"

"Stop beating around the bush." Lydia orders, furious. "Just tell me what you want so I can rid myself of you as quickly as possible."

He takes her hand in his, in what she's always assumed to be something romantic. Yet, for some reason, the action is nothing like a lovestory because she is currently holding hands with a monster and not some prince charming. Then again, girls like her never were destined for happy endings or fairytales alike. She wonders why she's so surprised. She really shouldn't be. Her life has never been a romance novel.

It's always the story of a pretty and sad girl and a pretty and sad monster.

"You're gifted," he reminds her, moving her hand towards the deceased animal. "You're a necromancer. I've heard of your kind. You can bring the dead back to life. Like animals and such creatures alike." And if, she works hard enough, perhaps she could also bring people back to life.

Or, one can always hope.

"That was a long time ago," Lydia says, taking her hand back. "I can't do that kind of stuff anymore. All I do is scream now, and find dead folks. That's about the extent of my so-called powers."

"C'mon now love," again, with those useless nicknames he probably gives to every girl he sees. It's not jealousy though, it can't be, Lydia thinks. Because, for there to be jealousy, there must once be caring. And she'd rather die than admit to herself that she ever cared about such a monster. "Have a little faith." At the sound of his words, his eyes glow a little golden.

Lydia Martin doesn't know how much longer she can keep this up. How long can she play his game? How long can she get away with simply playing dumb?

"If this works," she begins, moving her hand back towards the wolf, quite nervously. "When this works," she repeats, with more confidence this time around, "It doesn't mean that I owe you something. I hope you know that."

He smiles, again, looking far from innocent. "I'm aware."

"Good."

They stare at one another for a while before she sees a little too much in to this useless little staring contest of theirs. Lydia breaks their gaze and concentrates on healing the wolf. She closes her eyes and all Klaus sees is a golden yellow glow. And then well―

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/ / /

Tbc

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Le more notes: sorry again, it's more of a filler chapter to get the plot going a little more. And the end of ch2 was a flashback, for those who were still confused about that. I had to write more about Rebekah and Stiles in this one since I decided to include them in the plot and now, I have to offer them more purpose in this story. I'll try my best to pick up the pace with the rest of this fic. You can yell at me on tumblr (munea-dances-with-wolves) if you want. Thanks for reading!

―Xoxo Carter