"Why so angry Nik?" Kol said from the couch. "We were only having a little bit of fun."

I slapped his chest as I tried to smooth my hair, Klaus walking into the living room with his arms swaying. I couldn't help but get the feeling that even though he wasn't the oldest of his siblings, he was definitely the alpha male.

"I think you've had your fill for the night," he snapped. "Considering half the town is looking for her, including the Salvatores."

"That's not my problem." Kol stood up, meeting his brother's eyes.

"On the contrary, it's very much your problem." He looked down at the number of bracelets that lay on the floor. Quickly, his eyes cast to my wrists, where they widened. Before I could react, or gather the bracelets, Klaus pushed Kol back so hard that he sent him and the couch flying back for what looked like an entire meter. In my shock, my mouth fell open at the sheer strength that Klaus radiated. "What did I tell you?!" Klaus raged, walking forward to Kol, who got up so fast I barely had time to register.

"I didn't do a thing to her," Kol urged, his eyes narrowing. "Believe me before you make a complete fool of yourself."

Klaus breathed in and out before walking over to me quickly. If I had thought that Kol was ever a person to be afraid of, I had never properly looked upon Klaus Mikaelson. "Sorry love, party is over. I need to have a chat with my little brother."

"Hey—" Kol chimed.

"I wouldn't go there if I were you," Klaus turned to advise his brother. "Besides, Mr. Salvatore is already outside waiting for Lana."

"Don't ever do that again," Alaric snapped from the passenger seat.

"Alaric—"

"He's right," Damon put in as he drove at a speed I was quite sure was past the legal speed limit. "Do you know how dangerous this was?"

"Well it wasn't that—"

"You didn't even tell anyone!" Alaric turned to look at me, to really get the full effect of him telling me off. I decided to shut up and just let the two of them say whatever it was they needed to say. Deep down, no matter how annoyed I was, I knew that they were just looking out for me. On the other hand, I also knew that they were being completely irrational and overprotective. He was just a boy. Besides, Elena had Stefan sleeping in her room but you didn't see anyone complaining about that.

"That was completely irresponsible." Damon continued.

Alaric nodded his head vigorously. "If you ever do that again—"

"You'll do what?" I put in quickly. "What exactly will you do to me Alaric? You'll tie me up to a chair and never make me leave? You know if this was Elena—"

Damon put up a finger, silencing me, a deathly glare meeting my eyes as he looked at me through the rear-view mirror. "Don't even go there," he hissed. "You're lucky you don't know half of the terrible shit your sister does. Believe me, if this was Elena, she'd be getting the same damn speech."

After that, we were quiet. I knew they were upset with me but I couldn't find it in my heart to care. I knew also, that they loved me, but still I couldn't understand why they were suddenly so protective of me. Yes, I might not be completely stable but either way they had no reason to worry as much as they were. Why me being with Kol was such a danger, I didn't know.

"Get inside," Damon said as we got out of the car. "And stay inside." He murmured.

I did as told, not bothering to wonder why Alaric wasn't following me, unless Jenna wasn't home which was probable. I didn't expect her to stay home while Jeremy, Elena and I weren't there. Thankfully when I got inside, I wasn't greeted by any more yelling. Elena and Jeremy, from the looks of things seemed to still not be home, so I took advantage and immediately went up to my room, locking the door so the two of them couldn't waltz in at their pleasure.

I went over to my window, opening it up quickly to inhale some more fresh air to clear my head. Interestingly enough, I was greeted by the sounds of voices, one of which was British. I looked below to see Damon standing face to face with Klaus, Alaric facing the two of them on the side.

"I came to apologize on behalf of my ignorant brother," Klaus said, annoyance very clear in his tone. "He seems to not grasp the concept of lying low, but needless to say neither does my sister Rebekah."

"Apology not accepted. What did he do to her?"

"He can't do anything to her even if he wanted can he," Klaus said with a hint of a smile but it was not in the least bit friendly. "Not with the vervain strapped around her neck." I had heard of vervain before briefly in a conversation between Stefan and Elena, but once I had walked into the room, they had stopped talking about it. The farthest I knew about it was that it was a plant.

I looked down at my necklace, putting it in the palm of my hand. The ruby was, perhaps a little darker than a normal one, but it was not an amulet, so how exactly any herb was supposed to be inside my necklace, I didn't know. Much more so, why Kol would have to do anything to me, and how vervain would be a problem. My head was spinning.

The cocky smile I love so much from Damon was plastered to his lips. "Sorry to put a kink in your plans." Naturally, he didn't sound sorry at all.

Klaus' smile faltered, and he took a step towards Damon—Alaric tensed. "Don't try to act high and mighty with me, because I assure you it will not end well for you. For a man so keen on protecting the little prize you have up in there, you aren't afraid of using a little compulsion of your own aren't you?"

Damon's response was quick, much too quick. "I don't know what you're talking about."

But I knew this was a lie, it was clear on the uncomfortable expression on Alaric's face. Klaus apparently knew better as well, for he smiled and this time it was full of arrogance. "Oh Kol filled me in just before I came here on how you magically stopped the girl from cutting her wrists." He tilted his head lightly, mockery plaguing his tone. "Do you still not know who I'm talking about? Poor girl should have been wearing that necklace way before Kol became a problem."

Damon stepped forward; they were nearly nose to nose. "Tell him to stay away." He growled.

Klaus sniggered, walking backwards with his arms stretched out. "Do you really think that my reckless brother will do what you like? Try to keep them apart and he'll only want her more."

"This isn't a game!" Damon called.

"You're right," Klaus said seriously, walking over to the car that had brought him in. "But if it was," he opened the front door, sending a look so terrifying to Damon that a shiver swept through my spine as well. "You'd be losing."

I shut the window once I couldn't see Klaus' car anymore. What Damon and Alaric said after that was beyond my knowledge. In fact, everything that Damon had said tonight was beyond my knowledge. All this stuff about vervain and compulsion made no sense. Finally, deciding to not be kept in the dark about something that involved me, which according to Klaus, I was a "prize" which, was again, beyond my comprehension—I went over to my laptop and turned it on. I knew compulsion meant compelled, but I had to see the relation between that and vervain, clearly, considering a lot of their conversation was based on that.

I decided my first bet could be Wikipedia, so typing that in my search engine I researched vervain and immediately went to the category of human culture. Once I got there I began to read, interesting words like vampires, werewolves and something called the Nephilim turning up on my screen. Considering it was thought to be a medical herb by people back in the day, according to some myths, vervain was also called "Devil's bane"—it was something that could weaken a vampire, and act as protection for a human. The equivalent for a werewolf apparently was Wolfsbane, but I had already known that from common legends I had heard as a child. I didn't know what the term Nephilim was and deciding to not look it up since it was against my time frame, I just read on, noticing that it mentioned vervain only worked for the protection of a Nephilim who is untrained. Once the powers of a Nephilim would be awakened, they could train the mind to resist compulsion.

I closed the computer, shaking my head. Compulsion and vervain...

"This is ridiculous," I muttered, shaking my head. "Vampires?"

Something good to know about Mystic Falls is that you can't live here without being a part of either the founding families, or being related to someone who apparently had "died" at the hands of a vampire so many years ago when my home was founded in the first place. Vampires were not unheard of in Mystic Falls; they were the tales we were told at night to scare us into being cautious. Rational people like myself and my aunt Jenna didn't believe in it. As far as I know, Elena didn't either, and while I know Jeremy laughed in the face of these legends, he secretly wished for the supernatural to be true.

Still, said a voice in the back of my mind, something was wrong. So I did what any normal person would do. I went to Elena's room and opened up her diary. If anyone would know anything it was her, and since I knew she would never say it to my face, the only place I could find out what I needed was in her diary. I flipped to the last entry and began to read,

Dear Diary,

I gave Lana the necklace today; I practically forced it on her. She's starting to like Kol; it's quite obvious even though she won't say it, least of all to me. Still, at least the vervain can protect her. Vervain has never been entirely necessary for her—while I tried to force it on her when Stefan and Damon came to town, she still had no use for it. The only time Damon compelled her was, from my understanding, for her own good. He never did tell me what he made her not do, saying that I needed to trust him, and from the looks of it, he was right, because Lana hasn't been harmed since.

I'm worried about Kol though.

These Mikaelson's aren't just regular vampires—they are Originals. What's worse, Stefan knew Klaus during his ripper days, which makes me uncomfortable, seeing as Stefan wasn't exactly the nicest of people in the 1920s. As for Damon, well, if Damon is worried about a vampire, that means we should all worry.

Alaric has a theory that they want to awaken the Nephil inside of Lana. None of us particularly understand why a vampire would want to awaken someone who is the offspring of an angel, especially since a Nephilim usually disposes of creatures like vampires and werewolves. Originally, Stefan thought that they were coming for me, but somehow Klaus managed to break whatever curse he was under and is already a hybrid. They say they come in peace, but how can we be sure? Kol is definitely too old to be in school, he died at the age of twenty-three. He can pull it off, only just, looking as young as he does, but why enroll if he doesn't want to wake the Nephil?

There's so many questions but the Mikaelson's are unwilling to answer most of them. Damon tries to reach out, but they don't respond. Hopefully they come to the dance, and then, maybe finally, we can understand why they are here.

I closed the diary slowly, feeling my head pound with confusion. My legs, numb from sitting crossed so long undid slowly, feeling entirely separate from my body. I tried to get up, so I could go back to my room to try and call Elena, but I never made it there. The darkness came for me before I had a chance; everything went black.