Story Info

Title: An Eternity of Misery

Fandom: The Vampire Diaries

Rating: T

Spoilers: Season 02x17+

Main Pairing: Klaus/OC

Side Pairings: Stefan/Elena, Damon/Elena, Bonnie/Jeremy, Caroline/Tyler

Summary: [semi-AU] Klaus Mikaelson had once been in love with Aila Bjornsson (eventually Mikaelson), but just over a hundred years after their transformation, she was killed by Mikael. Klaus was devastated and it was that act that truly spiraled him down into the life he is now living. Instead of making him weak like Mikael planned it, it just made him that much more desperate to fight and become the strongest man he could be. And he never said it, but deep down he knew he was doing it all for her. When 2009 Mystic Falls rolls around, he is a completely different man than the one that once loved Aila. He's never forgotten about her, but he knows that she is no longer the foremost thing on his mind. At least that is until he meets Arlie Gilbert, older twin sister of Elena...and an exact match for his Aila. While he knows she can't be a doppelgänger, it isn't clear exactly what she is. Is it a coincidence? Is it a cruel trick of fate? Or is she his Aila come back to him? Only time will tell, as Klaus finds himself on the opposite side of his war from her, despite the fact that he finds himself drawn to Arlie and wants to find out how she's connected to Aila. And how, exactly, she has much more power than she seems to be letting on, or even seems to know about.

Disclaimer: If you recognize it (names, dialogue, etc) I do not own it. I do own my OC Arlene Gilbert/Aila Bjornsson-Mikaelson and her backstory.

.x.x.x.x.

Chapter Info

Title: The Last Dance (part 1)

Number: 1/?

Warnings: Language, angst, fire, violence, death

Author's Note: Hello, all, and welcome to my new semi-AU story! I've been wanting to write an Klaus/OC story for AGES and just got around to it! So I have started watching The Originals, however, I have seen all of The Vampire Diaries. Since I know TVD more than TO, I'll be using TVD characters so I'll be putting this in the TVD category. Maybe once I watch more of TO, maybe I'll add more of those characters and change it to a cross-over, but for now it's just TVD. Couple notes: one) the rating is subject to change depending on where the story takes me. And two) the story info will only be on this chapter as it will never change, but the chapter info will be different each one so it'll be on each chapter. Thanks everyone for reading! Hope you all enjoy! I would love to hear your reviews, thoughts, comments, and questions about this story!

-Mystic Falls, Virginia 2010-
-Klaus-

Niklaus Mikaelson truly loathed the body he was currently inhabiting. While he wasn't incredibly vain in his own looks, he was still rather partial to the skin that he spent over a thousand years inhabiting. Plus, it was far more durable than the human he was wearing. He actually sneered at his reflection in the rearview mirror of the car he was driving, deciding he also hated the piece of junk that this history teacher deemed suitable to drive. Klaus had no problems affording the finer things in life after a thousand years of saving money, and always spent the most that he could on luxuries presented to him.

Sighing slightly, he finally pulled up outside of the Salvatore Boarding House where Katerina had said the local "Scooby gang," as she put it, usually congregated. He checked his outfit choices and the way his hair sat in the mirror one last time before he exited the car and headed inside. He rapped on the door twice, and then twice more before he opened in. Lucky for him, most of them were there, all standing in the foyer. Their eyes moved to him and his gaze lingered for a second on Elena before he looked to Damon as he spoke.

"There you are," Damon said.

"Sorry I'm late," Klaus/Alaric said, turning to shut the door behind him and hide the grin that threatened at the deliciousness of the situation. He could eavesdrop as much as he wanted to without worrying that they were going to get suspicious of him.

This is far too brilliant, he thought.

"Hey, I need you to put me down as a chaperone at the dance tonight. Klaus made his first move," Damon said, taking a couple steps closer too him. Klaus faltered for a split second before giving a sight nod.

"Okay, so we find him and then what, hmm? What's our plan of attack?" Elena wondered, arms crossing over her chest as she looked between her friends.

"Me." Bonnie shrugged. "I'm the plan. He has no idea how much power I can channel. If you can find him, I can kill him," she said.

The witch sounded incredibly confident and his eyes flickered over to her, casting a gaze along her. He knew of the Bennett witches, of course. The woman who had been a friend of his mother back in the day was an ancestor of Bonnie's. They were incredibly powerful, more so than even his mother, and he honestly didn't doubt that this young one had that kind of power, too. Not that it sat well with him, of course. Klaus took pride in the fact that he was invincible, and had no plans of dying anytime soon. He had a curse to break, hybrids to kill, and eventually a father to find. Mikael disappeared nearly twenty years ago, but Klaus wasn't ready to give up on finding him and ending him.

Just as he promised his siblings; Mikael had a war on his head raging for a thousand years now.

Ever since he killed her.

"That's not going to be that easy," Klaus/Alaric said with a slight laugh. "I mean, he is the biggest, baddest vampire around." He scoffed and forced his thoughts away from that particularly rough subject, the one he hadn't allowed himself to think about or feel for going on five centuries now.

"Alaric has a point. I mean, what if he—" Damon stopped as he rushed at Bonnie in a flash, but she caught him as he was about two feet away. With a quirk of the eyebrow, she flung him to the other side of the room without breaking a sweat. Klaus resisted the urge to smirk and congratulate her as he raised an eyebrow, glancing at Stefan—Hello, old friend, he thought—who mimicked his expression.

"Well, I was impressed," Stefan said, crossing his arms over his chest as he shrugged.

"It doesn't matter if he's an Original." She stepped closer to her friend. "I can take down anyone who comes at me. I can kill him, Elena. I know I can," Bonnie said, nodding to Elena and putting a hand on her arm.

Elena and Bonnie jumped when the door opened yet again, both of them freezing until they saw the girl currently entering the house. The fact that she didn't bother to knock or ask permission to enter seriously amused Klaus, but he didn't let it show as he saw Damon glower at the girl's back as she shut the door. She had her back to them and all Klaus could see was the wavy brown hair flowing down her back, the light denim skinny jeans, and the tight plain grey tank-top. She was shorter than Elena, but only by a couple inches, making her around the same height as Bonnie.

While he had heard a lot about some of these people from Katerina the night before after he compelled her to tell him, he didn't get the chance to see what they looked like. Other than Stefan and Elena, the others were all new faces to him. But he did know that the girl now entering was Arlene Gilbert, Elena's fraternal twin sister. He also knew that she liked to be called Arlie—and would punch anyone who called her Arlene—and she was the valedictorian of her class, maintaining her grades even with all the supernatural craziness that entered her life when the Salvatores came into town. The fact that Katerina knew so much about this group told him that she either observed them for a great amount of time, or simply did a lot of homework before interacting with them herself. Either one impressed Klaus even a little, but he would never admit it out loud.

"Thanks for waiting for me," Arlie bit out sarcastically and he knew it was directed at her sister.

Elena made a comment, but it was right then that Arlie spun around, a frown over her face and hands on her hips as she glowered at her sister. Klaus's body—or rather, the one he was using—went completely rigid, frozen as he stared in mute, almost horrified shock at the girl standing there. Not because she was terrible to look at or something to that effect, but rather because of who she looked like...who she was identical to, and it wasn't her twin sister.

Large brown eyes flickered between those standing there, and apparently whatever Elena said made her huff, roll her eyes, and say, "Unlike some people, I have extracurricular activities that I actually still go to." She flipped her long hair over her shoulder, crossing her arms over her chest, and strode over to stand by Bonnie and her sister, her arm brushing the sleeve of Klaus's coat and he was glad that he was wearing it as his arms prickled out in goosebumps. His heart pounded and for the first time in a millennia, split open and out spilled all the grief and despair he felt that day, all the guilt for not being able to save her.

Aila, he thought to himself breathlessly, his eyes unable to leave her as his mind melted to the days when they were together. When she was alive, when she was breathing, when she was in his arms.

.x.x.x.x.

-Ancient Northern Germany, 1113-

"Come with me, Niklaus."

The sound of his wife's voice drew him out of his thoughts and into the present. The Original vampire had been so focused on where to next run from Mikael that he hadn't even heard her enter until her voice met his ears. Blue eyes flickered up quickly and he couldn't help the adoring smile that crossed his lips as he took in her beautiful features.

Klaus paid no attention the handmaidens leaving the room as soon as the woman had entered, and he ignored the way their pulse jackhammered in their throats. While it had been quite a long time, so it seemed to him then, since he and his family were changed into vampires, it still was sometimes hard to control the urges. The worst of the lot was Kol who had spent the better part of a century slaughtering village after village, forcing them all to run. While Klaus wasn't necessarily against the slaughter—as he would have been previously to being turned—the only reason he didn't participate in the rather fun looking activities because of one single person.

Aila Bjornsson.

Well, most recently Aila Mikaelson. It had occurred to the siblings that they had not had the chance to marry before all hell broke loose and because she did not share their last name, she was introduced as Klaus's mistress, which none of the Mikaelsons liked to do. So after nearly a hundred years at their sides, they finally married in a small gathering—with a compelled priest, of course—and she was able to become his wife rather than just his mistress, just like they should've done a century ago.

"For what, love?" he wondered, reaching his hand out for her. She took it without complaint and he drew her onto his lap, nuzzling into her neck softly as she settled there, smiling wider as he felt her sigh of contentment.

"Do I honestly need explain it to you?" she said teasingly with a matching grin. "Finn has already left with Elijah in tow, and Kol and Rebekah are leaving shortly to visit the village. This means, this entire castle is ours for the night." She leaned over and her blunt human teeth nipped his throat and he groaned softly. "So...come. Let us retire to our chambers and take advantage of this rare occasion."

And Klaus would like nothing more than to do so—after all, his wife looked absolutely beautiful in the new dressing gown she was wearing, probably courtesy of Rebekah—however, if he didn't finish planning this, and Mikael caught their scent, they were all dead.

"I need just a couple more hours, love," he said, and immediately her bottom lip jutted out in a pout. Klaus chuckled deeply and reached up to push it back in. "It is but early, and if you allow me to finish this task, I am yours for the rest of the night."

Aila seemed to be thinking about it, chocolate brown eyes searching over his navy blues, before finally she sighed. She slumped a little for a slight second, but then perked up and grinned at him. "Well, at least then I can get a bath around for us." She leaned in close to him. "Do not be late, dear husband." Her breath fanned over his ear and he shivered. The giggle she let out was full of so much innocence and so many wonderful promises. She leaned in and kissed him deeply, fingers winding into his shoulder-length blond curls, before she pulled back. With a quick wink, she vanished from the room, leaving him a bit shaken and more than a little distracted, so he had to force himself to get back to work.

It was Aila that he sought out after he was done, so late at that time of night, drawing in strength from the lack of sun. While, as Originals, they could withstand the rays of the sun unlike the other vampires that they made, Klaus felt his strongest at nighttime when the sun was gone and darkness swamped the land. It was his favorite time of day, especially when his siblings were elsewhere and he got the entire castle alone with his beloved, beautiful Aila. Not to mention, they could be as loud as they wanted with their love making without worrying about one of the others—usually Rebekah—making a fuss and yelling for them to be silent.

More than anything, he wanted to follow her after she had come to him earlier, but he had to finish. He finally made a plan and made a note to go over it with his family, but right then with them gone and the wait staff sworn to never speak a word of it, he sought out his wife to make good on her promise of having the night to themselves, starting with the bath she mentioned.

But to his surprise, she wasn't in their chambers when he entered. A deep frown overtook his face as he quickly flashed around the room and to nearby chambers to try and find her, even breaking into his siblings' rooms, but she was nowhere in sight. While part of him wondered if she was playing some type of game with him, deep down he knew that wasn't it. Dread, livid anger, and desperation curled in his stomach and his heart as he wildly ran through the halls until he finally ended up in the foyer.

Immediately his feet came to a halt, his heart beating roughly as his mind filled with denial and for the first time in over a hundred years, fear crept into his veins. He found Aila alright, but he also found someone else. Standing there holding his wife, one hand around her tightly by the neck and the other holding a white oak stake over her heart, was the very last person he ever wanted to see again, the only person who was ever in his nightmares.

Mikael.

The look on his face was grim, but almost content as he finally got his hands on one of his illusive children. Well, close enough, because Aila was Klaus's heart and if Mikael had her, he might as well kill Klaus as well. Because he knows if she died that night, he would want to die as well.

"Klaus," she breathed out, her beautiful brown eyes wide with fright, but then she squeaked as Mikael shook her a bit and tightened his hold on her.

"Aila," he whispered right back, but his eyes hardened and turned blood red, veins appearing under them as he faced his father. "Let her go," he growled.

"This is your fault, Niklaus," Mikael said, ignoring what Klaus just said. "If you had not run, Aila would not be in this predicament. She could have been at peace a century ago." Klaus growled. "She deserves that. You see that, do you not? She is kind and smart, and very beautiful. She does not deserve to live the life of a monster because you are too selfish to let her go." He paused as Klaus growled again and stewed in his own guilt that Mikael kicked up.

Of course Klaus thought about that. He always thought about that, every time he saw blood staining her lips or her clothing. Before they were turned, she refused to even eat meat because it harmed the animals. Eventually she grew ill and had to start again, but she cried each time she did it. With vampirism, eventually she grew used to it, at least Klaus thought so. She no longer cried, but in those one hundred years, she hadn't once killed anybody, unlike the rest of them. And Klaus didn't want to disappoint her, which is why he had held back his own impulses to join Kol on his rampages.

"She belongs with me," Klaus finally hissed, refusing to admit to Mikael just how much his words hurt, and the fact that he was right.

Mikael sighed. "Oh, Niklaus." He shook his head. "No, she does not. Because you do not deserve her. She deserves peace...and you deserve loneliness."

And with that, Mikael struck, bringing his arm up as Klaus roared, the stake shredding through the soft skin of her chest, breaking her sternum, and eventually burying in the strong muscle that held everything Klaus loved about this world. Her scream would forever haunt him, the same way her skin immediately began to grow grey. But the worst part of it? The way flames began to sprout from her body as if Mikael had tossed a flaming stick on her. But the man tossed her to the ground and backed away, flashing from the house as Klaus leapt after him.

He had to fight every instinct to go after him as he spun around and watched helplessly as his wife burned. Her eyes were wide with fright and pain, her body writhing and back arching as the flames spread from her chest and down her torso to her bottom half, then to her arms, and finally her face. A moment later her screams stopped and she was still, even as the flames licked her. Oddly, they didn't touch the floor she lay on, despite the fact that he could feel how hot the inferno was as it slowly began to die.

Tears crept down his cheeks, his beating heart breaking over and over again before being stomped under the hooves of horses and being dragged for miles, only to be blended under the heel of Mikael's boot. He didn't make a sound, though. Didn't say a word as he watched the flames slowly flicker out. Aila's body was still and silent, the stake that killed her just a burned out husk sticking from her chest. But despite the flames, she still looked like her, just much more fragile. Her eyes were closed, her clothing merely dust, the rest of her body charcoal. And yet, he could still see the lips he kissed so many times, the nose that he always annoyed her with by poking, the eyelids that always fluttered as they joined together in pleasure.

If Mikael wanted him broken before he killed him, it worked.

Klaus was shredded and he knew that he could never be whole again.

Slowly he moved closer, dropping to his knees and pulling her onto his lap. Her body creaked and cracked, but stayed together as he pulled her onto his lap. "Please," he whispered, his shaking fingers coming up to stroke over her chin softly. "Please, come back to me, Aila. Please, leave me not."

But of course, she didn't answer him. She was gone, his wife was dead, and now he was facing an eternity alone.

Klaus didn't know how long he sat there with her in his lap, his eyes eventually closing as he softly sobbed into her shoulder. The only thing that brought him out of it was the sound of Rebekah's scream. And even then he moved slowly, bringing his head up to see all of his siblings had come home together. Rebekah—the one closest to Aila besides himself—stood at the front. Her hands had flown to her mouth, tears beginning to fall down her cheeks. His three brothers—even Kol—were standing behind her in varying stages of confusion, shock, and grief.

"Niklaus, what happened?" Elijah breathed.

Klaus sniffed and ever so gently, he set Aila back on the ground. He stroked back her burnt hair, tucking it behind what was left of her ears, kissed her lips one last time, before he finally stood. "Mikael," he hissed. The others were rightfully angered as Kol snarled and even Finn's eyes turned crimson. Klaus began to pace then, careful not to step on the hand that lay on the floor as if trying to reach for him, before finally stopping and looking at his siblings. His eyes were more angry than any of them had ever seen; they were livid. Aila had kept him calm and sated, but now that she was gone, Klaus's primal instincts were waking up. Despite the fact that the wolf was dormant in him, it was still very much apart of him, and it howled for vengeance for its mate.

For that's what she was; Aila was his soulmate.

"Mikael killed my wife," he hissed. "Your sister-in-law. She is apart of our family, she is a Mikaelson." He paused and his face turned devastated for a moment as he gazed down at her broken figure. "Was a Mikaelson," he whispered. He swallowed thickly and wiped away that look before he looked back up to his siblings. "Well, if Mikael wanted a fight, he has got it now." His eyes grew critical as he looked around.

"It is time to go to war."

.x.x.x.x.

-Mystic Falls, Virginia 2010-

Klaus was drawn out of his thoughts when his name was repeated for the fifth time. Well, not his name, but the name of the body he was wearing. He blinked once and then twice before he finally glanced away from Arlie—who was staring at him with a raised eyebrow—and over to Elena and Bonnie who looked concerned. For a moment he didn't know what to say and that frustrated him to no end; a thousand year old Original didn't get tongue tied. But then again, it wasn't as if it were every day that they came face to face with a girl who was a spitting image of their dead wife.

Forcing himself to push it away, he cleared his throat and locked his arms behind his back, raising an eyebrow at the others, forcing himself to keep his gaze impassive and away from Arlie. "I was just thinking that this can all go horribly wrong," he explained, his gaze moving to Damon who rolled his eyes. "Think about it. We have no idea what he looks like, or if he will be alone."

"It's the chance we have to take," Stefan said. "It's now or never. If we don't, he'll go after Elena, and I won't let that happen."

"Here here," Arlie said and Klaus's heart jumped, though he furiously shoved it back down as he gazed at her, though he wouldn't lie and say he didn't take that moment to drink up her beautiful face.

Just like the doppelgängers, every part of her was the same. The shape of her nose and lips, the roundness of her eyes and the deep chocolate setting of them, the way her hair fell across her forehead and cheeks, the gentle jut of her chin, and the cute little mole just to the left of her lips. Every inch of her face and body, he knew. There wasn't a part of her that he hadn't sampled those nine hundred years ago. And even though it had been so long, there wasn't a part of him that didn't remember vividly every touch, every caress, every noise, every word that she bestowed him with the honor of hearing or feeling.

And he wasn't stubborn enough to pretend that he didn't miss her. He missed her with every part of himself; he ached with it. But he was stubborn enough to push those feelings away and focus instead on the issues at hand. Arlie might look like Aila, but she wasn't. Just like Elena wasn't Katerina. There had to be some odd doppelgänger power going on here, but he wasn't sure how. Still, he knew that Elena was who he as supposed to kill. It was the Petrova line that made them and put the curse on him, and it would be the Petrova line that took it off.

And even if it was Arlie that was supposed to die, he was fairly certain he would live with his curse for the rest of his life rather than kill her; he couldn't watch that face die, not again, not after the sight of Aila burning haunted his nightmares so many thousands, hundreds of thousands, of times over the years.

"So what's my job in all this?" Arlie asked, turning to Damon who snorted.

"Staying home like a good little human; there's nothing you can do to help, so stay home and keep out of it."

Arlie squawked and glared at him, uncrossing her arms to put her hands on her hips. "I don't fucking think so!" she snapped, her eyes blazing. "My sister and best friend are going to be there risking their lives. I'm not going to stay home and 'stay safe' and 'keep out of it,' Damon. I'm going, even if I can't help, I'm going to help." She glared the younger vampire down, her eyes practically begging him to argue, before he finally groaned and rolled his eyes.

"Fine. But if you die, I'm gonna bring you back and kill you all over again for being stupid."

Arlie huffed. "You're such an asshole," she mumbled, turning on her heel and stalking off towards the kitchen.

"Stay out of my bourbon!" Damon yelled.

"Fuck you!" Arlie yelled right back.

Klaus couldn't help but smirk.

That's my girl.

Author's Note: Hello, all! If you'd like to see Arlie/Aila's outfits for this chapter, just head on over to Polyvore and search for alysalvatore (that's me!) and you can view them. Thanks for reading, comments are love!