Chapter 2

Bonnie had to remain in hiding for the longest time. The others thought she was dead -the ones that could hurt her- so she had no choice and she hated it. She was bored. Having Jeremy with her and K too helped, but she wanted nothing more than to kill Klaus and put an end to all of the pain he'd caused. The vampires were becoming a bit too much for her to take.

At one point, Bonnie told K she had to go and talk with Elena and the brothers. She was a bit out of the loop and if K really was going to help them kill Klaus or protect Bonnie, she had to know what was happening. The witch had called Elena and told her K was in town -something Elena didn't know- and filled her in as best she could. She still didn't tell her everything and knew K would.

There was a knock on the door. Elena, Stefan and Jenna looked at one another for a moment. They were confused as to who it may be when Elena remembered Bonnie's phone call. She rose from her chair while Elijah stepped into the room just as confused as the others.

"Who is it?" Stefan asked as he followed. With Klaus on the loose, he was unwilling to let Elena answer the door herself.

"Bonnie's friend K." She replied. "Bonnie said she's going to help us."

"You know her?"

She nodded, but when she turned to face Stefan, Elena noticed his apprehension.

"Yeah." She answered. "I guess her family's known Bonnie's for a really long time. I met her years ago, but she moved. Bonnie said she's in town."

Elena turned again, but Stefan reached for her arm. His brow was still furrowed.

"She just magically comes to town the day before a full moon to help us fight Klaus?" he asked under his breath. "This doesn't bother you?"

She looked him in the eye. The same theory was beginning to work its way into her mind.

"You think she's working with Klaus?"

"I think there's something we don't know." He replied. "Look, don't tell her anything that can compromise us. Okay?"

Elena nodded and moved slowly towards the door. She plastered on a fake, reassuring smile and opened the piece of aged wood to reveal the young woman on the other end.

"Hey Elena." She smiled.

"Hey K." Elena greeted. Her voice was a bit stretched.

The young woman in the doorway only kept her kind smile as she pulled her sunglasses up onto the top of her head. Her eyes darted to Stefan who was just behind his girlfriend. Stefan felt recognition sweep through him. She was nothing too special, not really. K was a beautiful young woman like the others around them it seemed, with fair light skin, ebony black hair and a heart shaped face that made her look all the more innocent. Her clothing was nothing special, a pair of jeans and knee-high heeled boots, a simple t-shirt and a leather jacket topping off the look with some random silver jewelry, but it was her eyes that made everything snap into focus. The intensely green eyes that bordered on unnatural, shining through thick lashes made Stefan's back tighten.

"Well, Stefan Salvatore." She smiled wide. "Fancy running into you here."

Elena flinched.

"How do you two know each other?" Elena asked bemused.

"Long story." She said.

"Okay. Well come…"

"No."

Elena jumped slightly with K's quick words.

"Maybe we should talk before you actually invite me in."

Elena's brows pulled together as she looked at the young woman. There was only one reason anyone in Mystic Falls would refuse to be invited into a home.

"You're a vampire." she muttered in a quiet voice.

K just smiled and shrugged.

"When? How long?"

K took a few steps back to the ledge in front of the door that stretched between the two brick columns. She jumped up and sat on it, crossing her legs and looking at the two in the safety of the doorway.

"I take it Bonnie didn't explain any of this to you?"

The two shook their heads. K sighed and nodded, running her fingers through her hair and pushing it out of the way.

"Well, let's start with the easy stuff." She adjusted herself on the block slightly to face them better. "I am a vampire." She exaggerated the words and actually bowed as though presenting herself to them. It would have been funny if it still wasn't so new. "So Stefan, I guess this means you and Damon both turned?"

"Yeah." He answered as he took a few unsure steps closer to her. He crossed his arms over his chest. He still wasn't sure what to make of the situation. "You just missed him."

"Damn." She rolled her eyes and snapped her fingers in mock disappointment. "Guess this means he hasn't been staked yet?"

Stefan chuckled lightly.

"So how do you two know each other?" Elena asked, wondering whether or not she should leave the safety of the home.

"K was friends with Emily." Stefan answered. "Longer than Katherine if I remember right."

K nodded grimly.

"Yup." She nodded. "I've been friends with the Bennett witches for a long, long time."

"So, what does that mean? Does that mean you're here to help us?" Elena asked.

K smiled warmly again and crossed her legs. If Elena was trying to put on a brave face, she was failing miserably.

"I can understand why you're skeptical of my being here and I get it. With the big bad Originals running around, any new faces would probably put me on edge too, but yes I am here to help."

"Why?" Stefan queried.

"I can't let anything happen to Bonnie." She answered bluntly. "I know the risks of this, what it could do to her and I'm not going to let her get hurt."

"But you're barely around. You haven't even been around for over a year." Elena defended. She seemed to take K's words as the young woman saying she was Bonnie's bestest buddy, not Elena.

K and Stefan could easily hear her insulted tone.

"Elena," she said calmly as she slid from her perch and approached calmly. "I'm magically bound to the Bennett coven, to protect them."

"What?"

"It's a blood spell. A long time ago, one of Bonnie's ancestors bound me to her family, to protect the line and make sure nothing happened to break it through the centuries. I will always protect the youngest member."

"How did she do something like that?" Stefan asked curiously. He was generally confused as to how the hell a vampire could be bound to a coven of witches.

"I offered." She answered simply.

Both couldn't hide their shock. K had answered so easily, it took a minute for either of them to understand what she had even said.

"Okay… why?" Elena finally asked.

"A Bennett witch saved my life so I offered to do anything I could to help her. She asked, I agreed, so I'm bound to the family until they release me." K explained.

She wasn't willing to tell them Bonnie had already done so. In her mind, it didn't matter. She still felt the need to protect the little girl she'd watch grow up, especially now that her Grams was gone. If anything, she would protect her during what was going to easily be a trying and dangerous plan. After that, maybe she'd finally live her own life, but not before.

"Wow…" Elena mumbled, uncertain of what to even think at the moment let alone say.

"So what does this mean?" Stefan asked while he took another step forward. "Are you going to help us kill Klaus or what?"

"It means that I'll do anything needed to make sure Bonnie doesn't over exert herself or get hurt." She said simply for the third time. "If that means killing that thing, then yeah, I'm going to help you any way you need me to."

They nodded. Stefan felt he could trust her a little more than Elena could for the simple fact he knew her from so long ago. But he was still skeptical. He didn't like how convenient everything was, that she showed up so quickly and right before everything was supposed to happen. After everything they had gone through with Isobel, he was suspicious of anyone offering their help so freely.

"Call me if you need anything." She said kindly. "I'll be with Bonnie and Jeremy until everything happens. I'll see you later."

Stefan nodded and with a final smile to the two, K raced off. She was gone in an instant and on her way to rejoin the littlest witch.

~~~!~~~

Ep. 20

The Last Day

The group congregated in the living room and tried to come up with some kind of plan when there was a knock on the door. Elena knew K was on her way over. Jeremy had text her and told her to expect the young woman so she could help with whatever they came up with to battle the Original bastard. So she stood and opened the door, not willing to keep sitting and have nothing to do.

"Hey," Elena said heavily.

K forced a smile as best she could. She knew nothing good was going to happen any time soon.

"Come on in." Elena offered before K could stop her.

The vampire sighed and closed her eyes briefly at the invitation, but eventually nodded and entered. She hated when people invited her in. Honestly, K felt like that was the one thing humans deserved, a sanctuary from her or her kind. But evidently, some people didn't mind.

Elena waved for her to follow and she did. The two made their way into the living room where everyone sat listening to Alaric retell his time under Klaus's spell.

"Jenna, you remember K right?" Elena asked as she regained her seat.

"Hi." Jenna nodded with little enthusiasm.

"How's it going?" she asked rhetorically.

The air within the manor was tense and stifling. It made K feel like she might choke.

"Impossible."

The word was barely whispered, but drew the attention of everyone in the room. Elijah stood behind the couch Jenna was seated on. He stared at K, horrified if they had to guess the emotion. K's brows pulled together in confusion along with everyone else in the room. Elijah slowly pushed himself away from the plush, leather surface he was leaning against and took steps towards the young woman.

"Excuse me?" she asked apprehensively.

She was being ogled and didn't like it. There was something off about the way Elijah eyed her and it made K's back tense on reflex.

"Who the hell are you?" she asked as she took half-steps back so there was space between them.

He stopped his advance abruptly. The young man's eyes narrowed marginally and his head tilted ever so slightly as he stared at her.

"You don't remember me." He said. It wasn't a question, just a simple observation. He sighed briefly to himself when he understood. "Of course not. Then again, after the dagger… perhaps."

Elijah's words meant nothing to any of them and only added to K's unease.

"No," she replied sarcastically. K finally met his eyes fully for the first time. "Should I…"

No sooner than she saw his chocolate brown eyes did K's body seized and she collapsed to her knees. She gripped the side of her head and screamed in pain. Those who'd been sitting shot to their feet, everyone else jumping from the unexpected reaction. Elijah only continued to watch her as though he anticipated the response. Still K screamed as her brain was forced to see things she didn't understand. Images, conversations, situations and memories of things passed swarmed her mind and flooded her consciousness all at once. It hurt. A decade of things she'd been forced to forget had suddenly come swimming back without warning.

After a few seconds that felt like hours, K finally stopped screaming. Her head was down and her palms were planted against the hardwood floor while she struggled to catch her breath. Suddenly, everything that had been fighting to be noticed, to be remembered, was as clear as the day it happened. The nightmares… everything was back.

Slowly, her head moved up until K was staring through the few tendrils of her hair that had fallen into her face. When they gained focused, they fell only to Elijah.

"You," she hissed wickedly through her teeth.

"Ah," he sighed heavily. "You do remember me."

As suddenly as she had collapsed, K launched herself at Elijah. The composed young man barely managed to dodge her violent swipes. Still looking as though she was nothing more than a bothersome fly, Elijah managed to grab hold of K's wrists and spun her around until her back was planted squarely to his chest. He wrapped himself around her the best he could to try and speak before she caused proper damage.

"Calm yourself." He told her as he struggled to keep the fighting vampire under control.

"I'll kill you!" she screamed. K's face suddenly twisted with the demonic image of her vampiric self.

Those gathered watched in shock at the sight before them, none knowing how to try and ebb the obvious hatred.

"You need to calm down child." He said tightly. Elijah was beginning to lose his already thin patience.

"This is all your fault." She continued as angry tears gathered in her eyes. "Everything that's happened, all of it is your fault you sadistic piece of…"

"Enough." He snapped angrily in a language the others couldn't understand. K bit down on her lip and stopped struggling briefly. "There is a time and place for this discussion and it isn't now. Not here."

K spun herself in his grip, forcing Elijah to let her go. She stepped back quickly and squared herself on him. She glared hatefully at the calm and collected young man while she breathed heavily with unanswered rage and her fangs on display as a result.

"It would be wise of you to put those away." He told her as he straightened his mussed jacket.

Slowly K calmed enough to let her features shift back to normal, but the glower never left nor did the extreme rage she felt for him.

"I will kill you for what you've done to me." She said so evenly and so coldly, for a split second everyone listening believed her.

"No child," he said easily. "You won't."

"Give me one good reason why I shouldn't,"

"Because I'm here to help you kill Niklaus." He said simply. "You remember him, don't you?"

K lost a shade of color or two and bit her lips again to keep from speaking. She began to back away from him until she hit a wall and there she remained, silent and fearful. Eventually, after moments of silence, the others began to revisit the plan to destroy Klaus.

But while the others spoke briefly about what they planned to do, K and Elijah kept their eyes glued to one another. One had trouble believing his path was crossed with hers, while the other thought the world was against her because of it.

"I'm leaving." She finally said, interrupting someone, but she didn't care. She only wanted to get out and away from Elijah's stare. She began to step away -back away really- because it was the only way she felt safe. "If anyone cares, I'll be keeping a friend safe until tonight."

And with that she was gone.