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xoxo Ascha

Chapter 4:

"If you eat one more pizza then you're going to throw up…" Damon said, watching as Viktoria took another bite of her twelfth slice of pizza.

So far she'd eaten almost two whole pizzas and she didn't look like she was full yet, which scared Damon the most.

Just how much could that woman eat?

"I wish that this 'pizza' was invented in my century, because I am sure everyone would have loved it," Viktoria said with her mouth full. She took a sip of her water, but when she went to take a last bite of the slice she heard someone enter the house. She looked up and smiled brightly when she saw Elijah return. "Elijah! You must try this pizza! It is absolutely delicious!"

Elijah stopped dead in his tracks and raised an eyebrow, then looked to the empty pizza boxes on the coffee table and shook his head lightly.

"You should not be eating fast-food, Viktoria. It's very unhealthy and–"

He stopped talking when she began glowering at him and sighed. "Fine, eat all you will. But do not say that I did not warn you."

Viktoria rolled her eyes and finished the second pizza. "Now that I have fed, been cleaned and dressed, then I believe I am ready to know where Klaus is. Will he come soon?" she asked, biting her bottom lip nervously.

"I sure hope he doesn't," Damon said, making Elijah and Elena glare at him. "What? She'll probably figure it out soon anyway, so we might as well tell her."

Elena groaned, but she knew that he was right.

"Viktoria, there's something important we need to tell you about Klaus. He… he's pure evil. He isn't the Klaus you remember anymore, but he's filled with hatred and a need to create more hybrids, so that he can do whatever he wants to do. A couple of months ago he turned my aunt into a vampire and killed her as a sacrifice to break his curse." she said.

"It's a luck that Elena didn't die as well after she was sacrificed, but all the things she mentioned is only the tip of the iceberg. Klaus stops at nothing to get what he wants. Elijah can confirm that since Klaus did steal all of his siblings and daggered them – along with himself."

Viktoria gasped and couldn't believe what she was hearing. Her Klaus – her sweet, caring and protective Niklaus – was like the Devil himself? She looked at Elijah, hoping that he would deny any of what they'd said, but he didn't do it.

"It is true, Viktoria. Klaus… he has turned into a coldhearted and cruel monster. He does not care about his family anymore and has lied to my face repeatedly to get what he wants. After he nearly lost you he turned mad and he has never recovered from it. I know you love him and do not want to believe it, but you trust me and know that I would never lie to you. Klaus has to be stopped before he kills more than he already has." he said.

She felt sick to her stomach and the thought of Klaus turning into a monster like his stepfather had repeatedly called him, made her feel so broken inside. She loved him so much, but she couldn't just ignore that he had lost all of his humanity and didn't care about anyone besides himself.

"How… many?" she asked quietly, almost too afraid to hear it.

Elijah sighed heavily and then answered: "Thousands."

Viktoria stood up and was about to say something, but she was struck by an overwhelming and nauseating feeling and quickly hurried towards the nearest bathroom instead, emptying the content of her stomach within a couple of minutes.

Klaus… a monster.

It couldn't be real… or could it?

She did trust Elijah with all her heart, because she remembered how honorable a man he was back when he was still a human and even a vampire, but what if he had changed as well?

With this doubt in her mind she knew that she had to meet Klaus in person before she would believe that he truly had turned evil. She wanted to confront him and hear his side of the story first, because she'd known him for too long to let go of him just like that.

Or to believe that he was purely evil…

"I need you to go to Esther's home with these and return straight home before it gets dark, understood?" Ayanna said, handing her a basket of all sorts of herbs.

"Of course, aunt," Viktoria said. "I will be back soon, I promise."

Ayanna smiled at her now 22-year-old niece and gave her a kiss on her forehead before letting her leave. Viktoria left the house with the basket held protectively in her arms and began walking towards Esther's home.

The sun was about to go down over the horizon and cast a beautiful light in the sky that made Viktoria stop and stare at it for a moment. The sky was bathing in the warm glow of the sun and the more she looked at it the more she began thinking about her old life in France.

Viktoria took one last look at the sunset before continuing walking through the woods. She was halfway at Esther's home when she saw a pair of young trouble-making men who walked towards her. She had talked with one of them before and knew that at least one of them was very bad company, so she felt her heart beat a little faster as she came closer to them.

"Well, hello there!" the youngest – Jacob – said as she reached them.

He was the one she had met and even though it had been almost six months since they last talked, then he still looked too brawny and wore a smug smirk as always that with his dark hair and dark eyes made him appear dangerous.

"Hello, Jacob." Viktoria said, forcing on a smile.

"What is a fine woman like yourself doing out here alone? Do you not know that the woods can be dangerous?"

Viktoria didn't like what he was insinuating and wanted to leave, but she had been taught not to leave in the middle of a conversation with a man who was of higher position.

"I know, but I was merely heading to visit a friend of my aunt."

"Oh, I see. You need us to escort you?"

Viktoria shook her head. "That will not be necessary, but thank you for offering."

"No, really, it is no problem. Here, let me carry your basket."

Jacob grabbed the basket from her and as he did Viktoria suddenly felt his older friend grab her hands from behind and tying them together faster than she could stop him, while Jacob tossed the basket aside and held a knife close to her throat.

Viktoria let out a scream, so Jacob quickly clamped a hand over her mouth and signed for his friend to pull her out of the stone path. The friend did as told, but Viktoria still fought to break free from his grip and to call for help.

They were nearly at the waterfalls when the two men finally stopped and pushed Viktoria down on the ground, going to rip her clothes off when the friend suddenly let out a scream of agony. He'd been hit in his leg by an arrow and it wasn't long before Jacob was hit as well in his shoulder.

"What the…" Jacob growled and looked around to see where the shooter was.

Viktoria looked around as well and gasped when she saw Niklaus run towards them with his bow still in his hand. He tossed the bow aside and pulled out his sword, making the two men wince back and groan of the pain they were feeling.

"Leave or I will cut off your limbs slowly and painfully!" Niklaus snarled, his eyes blazing with fury.

Jacob snorted and went to pull out his own sword, but Niklaus swiftly unarmed him and tackled him to the ground, holding his blade close to the man's throat.

"I said leave! And if I see you doing this again I will not cut off only your limbs!"

The two men seemed to know that Niklaus wasn't kidding and therefore decided to run away – or rather to limp away from the area. Niklaus let out a feral growl and turned his attention to Viktoria, who was trying to untie her hands. He sighed, bent down and used his sword to cut the ropes open for her, making her smile and embrace him.

"Thank you, Niklaus. For a moment I thought that…" Viktoria shook her head, not wanting to think about it.

Niklaus chuckled. "I will always protect you, Viktoria. You are my friend and I will not let anyone harm a friend of mine."

Viktoria blushed and let go of him, letting him help her get back up and realized that she was missing something important. "Oh, the basket!"

He frowned, but followed her as she ran back towards the stone path to gather the herbs before they disappeared. It was very important that she got all of them back in the basket, because Esther needed them for a spell and there were a couple of them that had been very hard to find.

"You were on your way to my home?" Niklaus asked, helping her pick up the small bags.

"I was, yes," she answered and placed the last one back in the basket. "Your mother needs some herbs for a spell, I believe."

"Oh, yes. Well, let me escort you then. It is getting dark soon and I really do not want you to get hurt again."

This time Viktoria didn't hesitate to accept his offer and she even let him take the basket without fearing that he would drop something. She trusted him and after this day she knew that he was much kinder than he appeared to others.

"Viktoria?" Elijah said, taking her attention away from the old memory.

"Yes?" she said, wiping her lips clean with a piece of toilet paper.

Elijah sighed. "I asked if you were all right. I know it must be very overwhelming for you to take in on the day you woke up."

"It is, but I refuse to believe that my Niklaus has turned evil. Let me talk with him. Perhaps I can make him stop all this killing and–"

"No."

The answer was so abrupt and the tone was so harsh that Viktoria flinched. Elijah had definitely changed as well and that made her worry just how much Klaus had.

"Elijah, please… I need to see him. I have waited for a 1000 years and now that he has finally broken the curse that tied us together, we can have the life we planned for us to have."

The more than thousand years old Original seemed to be considering it, but he eventually shook his head, stood up and left the bathroom. She sighed heavily and just closed her eyes, wondering - was she ever going to see Klaus again?

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