Experience A New Life || Klaus Mikaelson [1]

New Family Member

Today was finally the day. I had been adopted by Gray and Miranda less than a year ago. The doctor had, as soon as it became clear that I needed psychological help, looked for a suitable child psychologist. Dr. Killian Mayer was amazing. He never pushed me to speak about something I didn't feel ready to talk about, instead, he encouraged me to indulge in something I loved. Most notably this turned out to be art. Ever since he told me to try and draw my memories and nightmares, I had developed a passion for both drawing and painting. The longer I tried, the better the end result looked and I was really proud of everything I drew, no matter how bad the memory attached was.

I was on the way to recovery when I had a huge setback. As soon as I started school, I constantly had panic and anxiety attacks. I couldn't explain why, but there were just so many people, so much noise that my brain went into overload and I freaked out. After every attack, I was so exhausted that I would fall asleep almost instantly. It has really impacted my recovery and Elena wasn't helping. She laughed at me behind my back and her friends weren't much better. They were two-faced... all of them. This might have something to do with the fact that they just didn't understand what I was going through, but it mattered little to me. Their behaviour hurt and certainly wasn't helping me at all.

The attacks got worse and worse, no matter what we tried and in the end, I was barely sleeping and dreaded going to school every day. Dr. Killian – as the last attempt – got into contact with one of his friends who trained Service Dogs for people who needed them. From what he told me they got talking and his friend offered one of his trained puppies for me. All of the adults around me had high hopes for this experiment since it was one of our last resorts. They hoped that I could live normally with the help of a Service Dog. The dog in question could alert me to any attacks and help me with life in general, calming me down before the panic got too bad.

As soon as my new siblings heard about the new family member, the drama was huge. Elena threw a gigantic fit, complaining about me getting a pet which she had been asking about for ages. Jeremy, on the other hand, was just as excited as I was if not more. The younger boy and I had gotten impossibly closer and whenever we were together, no one dared to try and come between us. I loved Jeremy like a brother and even though he was younger than me, he was incredibly protective.

The trainer was already waiting for us when our car pulled up at the house "Hello," she smiled cheerfully "My name is Laura."

"I'm Grayson," Gray introduced himself "These are my children Jeremy and Angel." Elena had stayed behind with Miranda and Aunt Jenna. Jenna was Miranda's sister and she as well as Uncle John – Gray's brother – treated me like family. The adults were always looking out for me and talked me down when I was panicky. One incident was when Elena turned nine in August. She was several months older than me, but I was still in her grade at school. Anyway, at her party, she and her friends teamed up against me and Jeremy and were screaming and shouting, which threw me head first into a flashback.

Flashback

Elena, Caroline and Bonnie were running towards Jay and me, screaming nothing in specific. They came closer and closer and I couldn't move anymore. I was gripping Jeremy's arm in a death grip, staring at the floor absentmindedly. The only thing I could hear were the screams.

I'm sorry, Uncle Vernon. I'll be better. Please don't hurt me... I didn't mean to...

Suddenly, I felt myself being scooped up by a pair of strong arms. It happened so quick for me that I freaked out. I didn't see who was holding me, so I struggled as much as I could.

"Shh, Angel," Uncle John hushed, hitching me up higher on his waist "You're fine. You're safe."

I sniffled and burrowed my face into his neck "What happened?"

"You had a flashback. Do you remember?"

"Yes," I nodded tiredly, closing my eyes "'M sorry, U – Uncle John." For the few times of Uncle John staying with us, I had a huge problem with calling him Uncle, because I had so many bad memories attached to it, but the more time I spent with him the more I like him.

Flashback End

Laura smiled down at me and gestured for us to follow her into the house "Please, sit. I want to talk things through with you first before I'll take you to meet the puppies." I scrambled into Gray's lap, extremely uncomfortable with the strange place and curled up into a tight ball "I'll introduce you to the puppies – we have five at the moment. All of them have completed their training and can do simple commands. They will be professional when you tell them to 'work' and basically do everything in their power to keep Angel from a panic attack. We have also trained them to come when called, so I advise you keep the name, otherwise, you'll just confuse them."

I blinked at the woman and nodded in understanding "They can go everywhere with me?"

"As long as they are wearing their vest, yes. I'll give you the vest later. Any other questions?" Laura asked.

Gray cleared his throat lightly "You said that they're trained. Do they need additional training?"

"All of our pups can do the basic commands like 'sit' and 'down' and some more specific ones. There's always more to teach them, but it's completely up to you." She got up from the sofa across from us "Let's go meet the puppies."

Once we were outside – with Jeremy bouncing in place excitedly – I stared at the dogs insecurely. What if they won't like me? How do I choose the one I want? Laura whistled lowly, catching the attention of all five of the puppies. They were different breeds, but I couldn't really place them. I only knew about bulldogs and Fluffy "Here we go. In order, we have Lucky, Dash and Pepper. All three of them are Labrador Retriever." She pointed at three yellow dogs with huge eyes. Actually, all of their eyes were huge. They looked so cuddly. Next, she pointed at a black and white dog "This is Blue, our Border Collie and Nara, a Husky."

Jeremy squealed with excitement "They are so cute. Which one will you take, Angie? Which one?"

I swallowed several times, completely overwhelmed with the situation. To my relief, Laura spoke up again "How about the three of us leave Angel alone for a few minutes? I think it would be best if you can get to know them without interference."

Minutes later, I was alone with the five puppies who were all sniffing around me. My hand trembled as I reached out to touch the black and white one. Blue, was it? He soaked up the attention and immediately bullied his way onto my lap. I giggled quietly and buried my face in the warm furry coat "Hey," I greeted Blue shyly and smiled when he turned his head to lick my face gently. Iran my hand over his coat with wonder.

I wasn't aware of how time passed, but suddenly I was attacked by Jay, who fell to his knees next to me, reaching out for the dog happily "He's cute. Which one is that?"

"That's our Border Collie, Blue. He is one of the calmest here and learns incredibly quickly. If he's the one you want," Laura spoke up, standing off to the side with Gray "I have given your Dad several vests for him in different sizes, since he'll grow quite fast."

I cradled the puppy to my chest and nodded in acknowledgment of her words "Will we go and buy the other stuff we need, dad?"

Grayson beamed down at me and I only now noticed that I called him dad. It only happened a few times now, but every time it did, they always made sure to praise me "Of course. But not today. You three had an exciting day and I'm sure you're tired?" In response to his words, I let out a huge yawn which was mirrored by Blue. I giggled again and squeaked as Gray picked me up along with the dog "Then off we go. Thank you so much for this, Laura. I'm Dr. Mayer will let you know if it works out."

She grinned "He surely will. If not, I'm going to beat his ass," Laura joked "Goodbye, Grayson, Jeremy and Angel. Take good care of Blue for me."

"We will," Jeremy promised, skipping next to his father to the car.