Though they were in the car, Chloe heard her friends as soon as the car turned onto the driveway.

"Chloe!" Amy yelled as she pulled at the door, forcing Meredith to stop the car.

Chloe looked at her mom. "Please?"

Meredith kept her face fairly hard, but nodded. "It's late and it's a school night. Five minutes, but inside - with me there."

Chloe nodded gratefully, knowing that was as much slack as she was getting tonight. She left the car and started to say "Are you guys OK?", but found herself being hugged tightly before she got very far.

"You're OK." Amy said breathlessly. "They were going to kill you."

"I am," the Mai girl agreed, turning to look at her mom who was just exiting the car. "We have to go inside. My mom is not happy right now – you can't stay long."

Paul was suddenly grinning. "Then maybe you'd better thank me now."

Amy shook her head as Chloe glanced at her mom, then back to Paul with a questioning look.

"Jackals," Paul said, grinning even bigger.

"He's so proud of himself," Amy muttered.

"You got them to help me?" Chloe asked, a little surprised. She had wondered why they were there, how they had known she needed help.

Paul just grinned and nodded.

"Paul!" Amy said, giving him a bit of a shove.

"No, Amy, he's right." Chloe said quickly. "I think they saved me - us. Me and Alek and…"

"Chloe!" Meredith yelled, still standing next to the car in the garage. "Inside!"

"We'd better go." Chloe whispered, leading the way for the others.


Paul was still animated as they sat at the bar in the kitchen. Amy had already told him that the jackals rescued her, now to hear that Chloe was saved by them just pumped him up even more.

Meredith was nearby, listening and watching. Her expression had changed – no longer hard, but nowhere near soft, not even curious.

"I get it and I'm grateful," Chloe told Paul, trying to get him to speak softer around her mom. He hadn't really said anything, just his enthusiasm was getting to her. Then she turned to Amy.

"What did you do during all of this?" Chloe asked.

Amy glanced at Meredith before answering. Chloe could tell she was finally glad to be the object of attention, and was going to make the most of it. "Waited for you. Got kidnapped by hunters, freed by jackals, left alone in the middle of nowhere in the dark, then waited for you some more."

Meredith's face was suddenly shocked as she gasped, but she didn't speak.

Chloe bit her lip and spoke very softly. "I'm so sorry."

"And" Amy continued, with a nod, "I left my cell phone at some shop near your work. That's my third this year. I don't know if they'll give me another if I can't get it back."

Chloe let out a relived laugh knowing that, whatever had happened, Amy was still pretty close to normal.

"We'll get it back," Chloe said. "I'll put my people on it."

Meredith was suddenly up, speaking sharply. "That's it. It's after midnight. You two have seen her, you're fine, she's fine, time to go!"

Chloe wasn't sure why her mother was suddenly upset, she just nodded as Paul and Amy told her they would see her tomorrow. She didn't even try to talk herself out of the discussion this time.

Her mom's serious talk face was on as she sat at the table. She just looked at Chloe for a few minutes, making the teen even more nervous. "I don't know where to begin," she finally said, her voice steady.

Chloe had to take a breath. Knowing this was coming didn't help at all. "How did you get to Jasmine's?" she asked.

Meredith closed her eyes and decided this was as good a way as any to start. "I got a call from someone – he said you were in danger, told me to go there."

Chloe nodded. "He was trying to protect you."

"He? Who? One of your 'people'?"

Chloe took another breath to steady herself. "I don't have people."

"Really?" Meredith challenged, standing now though remaining by the table. Chloe was still at the bar, thinking she was referring to her comment to Amy.

"It was a joke, Mom."

"Not according to Valentina."

Chloe sighed and looked away. "What did she tell you?"

"A lot less than you're going to tell me." She suddenly switched to concerned mother mode and came close to Chloe, gently touching the bandage on her neck. "What happened to you, Chloe? How did you get this?"

Chloe shut her eyes, trying to push away the tears that were starting to form. It didn't work.

"Chloe, please." Her words were so gentle, Chloe pulled her into a tight hug.

"They tried to slit my throat…to…to kill me," she managed to get out, her voice breaking, finishing in a whisper.

She felt her mother's gasp before she heard the word. "Who?"

"I don't really know who. Some just want…" She let her voice trail off. She still hadn't decided if she was going to tell everything…or anything.

"But you stopped them?" Meredith asked.

Chloe spoke into her mothers shoulder, still hugger her tightly. "Alek and Vicente stopped them."

"Alek," her mother repeated, letting another breath escape. Chloe nodded as her mother continued. "And Vi.."

"Vicente," the daughter finished. "He was there too, protecting me."

"Thank god," she said, sounding relieved. "I'd like to meet him."

Chloe had thought she was over it, she had managed to calm down on the trip back from where she had been fighting for her life. Alek held her close the entire way, Valentina just remained silent. She thought she had control of herself by the time she saw her mother Alek's, but any self-control she had was gone now. Chloe just sobbed and tried to breathe normally.

"Chloe!" Meredith said, tightening the hug.

"He's dead, Mom," the United managed to say between sobs. "He died to save me."

Chloe quit trying to control her sobs. She just let herself cry.

When the tears had stopped, Meredith pulled away to give her daughter room to breathe. "Did you call the police?"

Chloe shook her head. "They can't do anything."

"But his family…"

"Is in Brazil!" Chloe interrupted. "Valentina's taking care of it. The police can't do anything about this."

"And what about you, and Amy? Was she really kidnapped?"

Chloe nodded. "They can't do anything about that either."

"There's witnesses…"

"Who won't say anything. Neither will Amy. They can't do anything about this. Only Valentina can."

"And exactly who is Valentina?"

Chloe was exhausted. She looked at her mom with a tired expression. "She helps me, she tries to protect me."

Meredith could see that Chloe was tired – she was as well, but she wasn't ready to let this go just yet. "Then I guess the real question is, who are you?"

Chloe looked into her mother's eyes, tired of the lies, the deceptions, but knowing that her answer could change everything. She had said a lot, but nowhere near everything. There were lines that had not been crossed, bridges that had not yet been burned.

The Uniter closed her eyes, thinking that this is not what the life of a 16 year old should be. "I'm just your daughter, Mom, and I'm really, really tired."

-The End- (for real this time…)


I didn't intend to do an epilogue, but you were so nice and some asked for more. If you know my Vampire Diaries stories, you know that when I added an epilogue, the story line would continue. Not this time. The finale has knocked off half the characters in this story, and I like to make the story pretty believable in the show's storyline… so I don't think I can continue along this line.

I didn't know if my brand of story would appeal to the Nine Lives of Chloe King readers here, but this has been very well received, and I am grateful to you for that.

I don't think this story-line can go on, but my mind has been on the finale quite a bit. Maybe I can do something starting from that. If you'll read, I'll write, (though I might write whether you read or not…). I might want a Beta, though (I had a superb Beta for the last couple of Vampire Diaries stories, but this is not her game). Anyone know a good Chloe Beta?

Thanks for coming along on this…

John Reed