Chapter 4

Ep. 21

The Sun Also Rises

The trees bowed to the will of the young witch as she continued her assault on the hybrid. Klaus screamed and writhed on the ground in pain. His body twisted in unnatural angles as she continued to chant her spell. The wind surrounded them whipped through the camp ground and forced the fires to wane. But still she kept going.

K walked to Stefan's side and helped the vampire stand as they watched Klaus scream. The sounds of his agony echoed through the woods.

Bonnie commanded the elements. Nature itself bent to her will as she called upon every fallen woman in her bloodline, every witch that had ever heard of the hybrid, and the one that had cast the original spell. K ripped the stake chunk from Stefan's back as Damon reached their sides. He still cradled Elena, but Stefan forced his brother to leave. He was unwilling to have Elena wake while Klaus was still alive. He couldn't risk it.

The assault continued to the point the unimaginable pain was bordering on torture and they were waiting for it. It made them smile and after a while, Klaus was sufficiently drained of any energy he would have had. He leaned against a rock when Bonnie stopped chanting. The thunderous lightning had faded, but the wind still bellowed.

Elijah walked forward. He looked down at the man on the rocks with a face indifferent to the situation. Without warning, he plunged his fist into his brother's chest, securing Klaus's heart in his grip. He squeezed as Klaus screamed from a whole new degree of pain.

"On behalf of our family…"

"I didn't bury them at sea!" Klaus yelled. He had to say anything just to loosen Elijah's grip.

Elijah hesitated, still elbow deep in his brother's chest.

"Elijah, don't listen to him." Stefan pleaded when he saw the uncertainty cross Elijah's eyes.

"I can take you to them." Klaus breathed. "I give you my word, brother."

The others could tell they were losing the eldest Original.

"Do it and I'll take you both out." Bonnie warned.

"You'll die."

"I don't care." She growled.

Elijah looked from them to his brother. His mind raced as he tried to think of the best option.

"Elijah, you gave us your word!" K yelled. She took a few steps closer as she spoke. She felt her heart begin to break. "You promised me!"

Klaus's brow creased tightly at the new voice. His eyes were set on the newcomer, the one that hadn't been there while he was in Alaric, and the one that spoke to his brother as though she had been in on the plot. She froze suddenly when his eyes fell to her. She felt the hatred and murderous rage that seemed to always linger beneath his relatively charming exterior.

"You." he growled.

K took a few steps back until she was standing behind Bonnie's left shoulder once again. The anger in the man's face was inescapable to the three watching him near death. Each was silently praying it would happen though Elijah's conviction seemed to wane.

After a moment, Elijah looked at the three. His face was blank as they shook their heads silently pleading with him.

"Don't do this." K begged. "It's the only way."

"I'm sorry." he replied before disappearing from their sights completely.

The three were left behind, horrified and shocked at what had happened.

"Oh god…" K gasped.

The weight of what happened began to sink into those remaining. They made Klaus stronger. They gave him everything he wanted and now there was nothing that could stop him. Klaus would kill them all and they knew it. Klaus needed nothing but to gain strength and when he came back with his revenge, it wouldn't be swift. They all knew that he would string it out, make it last for as long as needed or until he got bored. The latter would be the most desired, but least likely. If he got bored, he'd just flat out kill them but his boredom may not come for decades or longer. Hell, he would probably turn all of those who weren't already vampires to ensure he had centuries of it before he killed them.

~!~

Later, everything began to even out better than they had thought, but the damage was done regardless. Jenna was still gone and now so was John. Everyone it seemed was dying except the person that they had wanted to. Hell was raining down on them and they knew it.

At the moment, they were standing at the cemetery while Elena placed roses on the graves of those she loved. Tears still streamed down her cheeks as Stefan led her away with everyone else. K remained in the background -there for support and nothing more- watching as Damon walked off on his own.

Damon heard footsteps behind him as he stared at the running creek. He glanced over his shoulder and sighed when he recognized the young woman.

"Go away." he replied simply.

K sighed but wasn't about to listen to the young man. She instead continued her approach and soon stood beside him as they both watched the babbling creek. Neither spoke for awhile and Damon was partially grateful, though he wanted to be alone.

"Look, it's not that I don't love our little chats, but would you mind…" he began.

"Shut up, Damon." she interrupted the vampire quickly. Damon looked at her in light surprised while her gaze remained on the water. "Have the hallucinations started yet?"

His eyes narrowed before wiping the surprise from his features. He did his best to make it look like she hadn't unnerved him. K wasn't as ignorant as he had thought, but like every other time someone pegged him right, he shifted their focus.

"Sorry kid, I don't know what you're talking about." He answered in the same tone of arrogant-uncaring he tended to use with everyone.

Instead of speaking, K grabbed his elbow and squeezed. The force never would have hurt the man before, but now there was a shooting pain. Damon snatched his arm back from her quickly and fought the urge to rip her throat out. K remained stoic with her eyes on the creek.

"That's what I thought." she said simply.

Damon glared openly at her as he tried to will the pain away, but it was getting worse by the hour. With a resigning sigh, he turned his attention back to the river.

"I don't want Elena finding out."

"Have you told anyone?"

He shrugged indifferently.

"Doesn't matter."

She scoffed.

"You're a strange one, aren't you?"

He cocked a brow to her. "I've been called worse."

A smile tugged at her lips.

"So, how'd you figure it out, Sherlock?"

She said nothing and lightly tapped her nose. He eyed her skeptically.

"Bullshit."

She laughed lightly.

"How?"

"It's necrotic, Damon. Once you sift through the smell of all that bullshit you're always spouting, it's easy enough to smell rotting flesh." she replied with a slight smile. "So, when were you bitten?"

"That Taylor kid nipped me last night." he sighed. "I don't know if I'm more pissed that I'm going to die, or that it wasn't even a real bite that did it."

"Definitely that it wasn't a real bite." she smiled as she finally turned to look at him.

Damon smiled to himself before facing her. He could see faint sadness in her eyes at his inevitable demise and couldn't keep the skeptical look from touching his face. Her smile turned genuine which only added to his confusion. Without warning, K suddenly moved forward and kissed him lightly on the cheek. When she pulled back, there was nothing but utter shock on his face. K lightly touched his cheek. He scowled at the pity he saw reflected back at him.

"Too bad. I was hoping to have to put up with you for a while." she teased.

Damon scoffed. A smile touched his lips.

"Don't worry. I'm pretty sure I would've killed you soon."

"Yeah well, rather you than Klaus." she sighed, turning to make her way back to the streets. Damon only watched. "At least you'd have made it quick."

There was nothing about this chick that made any sense. With everything that had been happening, he barely had time to register that this was the same young woman he knew from back in the day and even less time for them to bury any hatchets they had slung in the past. She and Damon hated each other, launched insults back and forth, each threatened the other with empty words and that was fun. But this, this was just… wrong. He didn't like her being kind and sweet to him. It made him uncomfortable.

Shaking the feeling away, Damon stayed where he was for awhile before heading home. He didn't much want to be there while everyone was still gushing over the loss of yet another person. Though he had to admit, he felt horrible for Elena. Her adoptive parents, the ones that loved her since the day she was born, died little over a year prior. Her real parents died the day before, Damon having technically killed her biological mother years ago. Then her aunt Jenna, the one that had raised her since her parents died, just died the night before. Everyone she loved and cared about was gone and he knew the longer she stayed around him or his brother, the list would just get longer until there was no family left.

As selfish as it sounded, he was glad he wouldn't have to be around to see her in all that pain when the last member of her family was finally taken away from her.

~!~

Back at their house, everyone sat around, no one spoke and most if not all of them had tears in their eyes. They didn't know what to do or how to make Elena feel better.

Jeremy and Elena sat side by side with their hands interlocked, Stefan on the other side of the young woman and everyone else scattered around the room. There was a knock on the door. A few people perked while Elena still stared at the coffee table reeling.

Stefan rose to answer. When he had, K was on the other side smiling warmly to the young vampire. He nodded to her.

"I need to talk to Bonnie." She said quietly.

He nodded and turned to the living room. The young witch could see her friend on the porch and rose to meet her. Stefan smiled weakly at K before walking off.

"Stefan," she said quickly as Bonnie approached. He looked to her and saw worry on her face. "You need to see Damon. Now."

His brows came together. He wanted to ask why, but she wiped the serious look from her face as Bonnie stood before her.

"Can I talk to you outside?"

Bonnie nodded and walked onto the porch, closing the door behind her. The young women stood silent for a moment, both feeling the heaviness of the situation, though one more than the other.

"I need to ask a favor."

Bonnie tilted her head slightly.

"Is there a way for me to keep vampires out of my home without an invitation?"

"Why?"

There was worry stretched along the young vampire's face, but within the concern was an intense fear. Never had Bonnie ever seen K look so terrified of something.

"My own sanctuary." She joked with a weak smile. "Is there anything to mock the 'living owner' thing?"

"You want to be able to let in only the people you want in?"

"Basically yeah." She nodded.

"I can look. I think so, but I don't know." She answered unsurely. "I think there are herbs and stuff you can use."

"Thanks." She smiled. "Um, I should probably go."

"Wait." Bonnie called. K paused half-way down the steps. "What's going on?"

"Nothing." She lied. "I'll talk to you later."

Bonnie nodded slowly as K walked down the steps and disappeared.