A/N: thanks for all of the subscriptions and reviews as always! Im glad most of you guys are receptive to this idea I've been toying with, it may seem a little twisted but I couldn't shake it lol. Re-reading this last chapter made me realize that I made a few typos and errors, one being that I switched Aleksandra from being a cousin to an aunt. My bad! She's def. is a cousin, but that's the thing with creating new characters lol you try to think of what way to incorporate them, and somewhere along the way you get confused yourself! Hahaha ill try to be a more careful proofreader next time. This is a slightly shorter chapter, but one thats needed in order to flow into what I have planned for the next one ;-) Well, on with the show…
"Well, that's not what I was expecting to walk into…you really screwed up this time Niklaus," Aleksandra rubbed her temples in anguish as she sat further back into her seat. Klaus was pacing slowly around the room with his eyes closed, while Rebekah remained standing with a faint look of remorse as she gazed out the door which Elena had taken off out of.
"Well, what are you going to do?" Aleksandra questioned irritably.
"Yes Niklaus, what is your plan at this point? Had you at least given her some time to acclimate to the idea…" Rebekah looked at him, miffed.
"I wish you'd both shut up and stop questioning me…" Klaus growled low, stopping his pacing to glare at the two women.
"Don't get an attitude with me! I wanted to tell her! I told you to tell her!" Rebekah was pacing the floors now, running a hand through her hair before turning her glare to her brother. "But no, my loyalties always lying with you, and you screw up yet again…."
Klaus blurred over to Rebekah and got right into her face.
"I said, shut up," he threatened menacingly. Rebekah wasted no time slapping him across the face as hard as she could, actually causing him to stumble back. Both of the siblings faces shifted into evil as Klaus leaped onto Rebekah, knocking her to the ground and towering above her.
"Enough! I've had it with this childishness!" Aleksandra roared, standing now. "Do you plan on going after her Niklaus?"
"Yes Klaus, do you plan on dragging her back here and raping her to get what you want?" Rebekah spat at him.
"I'll do it whether she's willing or not!" he roared back, eyes gleaming dangerously gold. Rebekah shoved him off of her and stood up, tears running down her face now as Klaus regained his composure.
"You fucking monster! You're just like Mikael!" she took off out the door.
Klaus was breathing erratically, once again pacing the floor as Aleksandra looked at him. What a sight. Two of the most powerful creatures in the world tussling on the floor like 3-year-olds. She approached him tentatively and reached out to grab his arm gently. "Niklaus, listen…"
He snatched his arm away from her, rubbing his hands through his hair. "Why should I give a damn what happens to her! Because she's Charlotte's doppelganger! Because my sister likes her! She's the sole reason why all this mess is the way it is! It's because she exists, because those idiots she called friends wouldn't give her up in the first place, now they're all dead and so are my family!" He took out his rage on an unsuspecting vase, throwing it at the wall.
"She didn't asked to be born like this and neither did you, Niklaus. You two have more in common than you think. Born into a curse, losing the ones you love. You both have hurt each other and caused each other pain. But there's nothing left now. Nothing left to do but to move on and stop this cycle while you have the chance. Look at me," she once again stopped him, and grabbed his face in the palms of her hands. "This is not what my father would have wanted for you. You've done a lot of damage, caused a lot of pain to someone who never deserved it, but was cursed with it anyway. Now it's time to end it. I've seen you do better. You can be better if you let yourself."
He took a moment to look at her with open eyes, but then smiled sadly and shook his head, pulling her hands away from his face slowly. "…no. Im not better than this. This is exactly what I am. The monster in the dark. The 'abomination', always was and always will be." He turned away from her slowly walking towards the front door.
"Then by all means, continue to prove Mikael right. Keep being that pathetic impulsive child that he'd beaten down for so many years. Keep feeling sorry for yourself. I was willing to help you, but I won't be here to witness you destroy yourself anymore Niklaus," Aleksandra spoke with a finality that made Klaus stop and turn to look at her fully, then continued out the front door.
Elena found herself balled up under a bridge beside a river as dusk began to settle. Her feet throbbed, her head ached, and she was muddy and bruised from slipping and falling multiple times on her journey to…wherever the hell she'd made her way to. She stared dully over her knees and toward the water, watching as the fireflies began to flicker and the crickets began to chirp their night songs.
'I don't know why I'm so surprised that this is how it'd end up….what did I expect? That'd it'd be as easy as death, or getting turned into a vampire…' she swallowed dryly, pushing her knotted locks back from her face as she crawled over to the edge of the river. She dipped her hands in deep and cupped some water up to her chapped lips. She opened her eyes slowly to see the reflection of the hybrid standing behind her, and turned abruptly to face him, backing into the water waist deep to distance herself from him. He looked at her tiredly, before sitting down in the grass next to the river, plucking up a long weed and twirling it between his fingers.
"I wouldn't back up much more than that…it gets pretty deep," he stated, focusing more on the weed than on her.
Elena looked down into the water she was mucking up with her shuffling feet. "I'm starting to think death is my best option at this point."
"And what happened to all that determination and resolve to save your brother and his lover?" he continued speaking to the weed, watching the way the wind picked up and pulled it in its direction.
Elena winced. She started this whole thing by agreeing in order to save them. Did it make her selfish that all she wanted to do was save herself at this point, even if she wasn't much to be saved?
"I…I…" Elena stuttered, speechless and ashamed that she couldn't answer him. He looked up at her, letting the wind have its way with the weed to carry it away.
"It's okay to say you don't want to, that you want to preserve yourself…." He started, and she looked up at him now. "I've taken a lot away from you, Elena. I give you my word, no harm will come to your brother or the witch regardless of what you choose to do…but…"
He stood slowly, walking to the edge of the water and stepping in until it reached his ankles. "This curse was placed on your bloodline. If you ever hope to have a normal life, a human future…to actually own your face, and not have to be just another doppelganger that's a part of this cruel joke, then this is a way to end it."
Elena looked at him, wary of his words. He was looking at her, actually looking AT her, with a look of pure honesty and desperation. He could be lying, deceiving her into trusting him before dragging her back to his quarters like a slave and having his way with her regardless. But there was one thing that she knew the Original valued almost more than anything, it was trust. And honesty. Besides…everything he'd just said had been completely true. No matter what the future was to hold for her, she'd decided that she'd make a way to survive for her brother. He couldn't lose her, too. And if she was to attempt to have a normal, human life….how could she, knowing that she wouldn't be the last one wearing her face and carrying this Petrova curse? To free herself meant to free him. There was no way around it. The question now was, did she care more about revenge against him than freeing herself?
Elena stood there for a minute more, staring at the hybrid. He closed his eyes and exhaled, turning away from her. "I can arrange a flight for you tomorrow." As he began to walk up the hill, he heard the sloshing of water as Elena made her way out of the river and back onto the bank. He turned, and watched her as she sat down once more, signaling him to come over with a head gesture. He walked slowly over and sat in front of her, crossing his legs in an Indian-Style fashion like she had. She plucked a weed from the ground and twirled it, her eyes glistening slightly as she contemplated her next words.
"When this is all over…I never want to see or hear from you again. I want you to compel me to forget it all, compel me to forget this time in London, this…arrangement. I don't want to remember any of it. I simply want to remember that I hate you, and that you are gone from our lives for good," she looked up from the weed and into his steely blue eyes.
Klaus took the weed from her and looked straight into her. "If that's what you wish."
"It is," Elena answered with no hesitation. "Now give me your word."
He looked at her, and couldn't help but smirk. "You have my word, Elena."
She exhaled heavily in relief, then shivered slightly as another brisk breeze went by. Klaus stood and took off his jacket, handing it down to her.
"No, I'm okay," she stood up, brushing her behind off and walking past him, up the hill.
He rushed up behind her and wrapped his arms around her, securing the jacket around her small frame.
"Trust me, you're going to want it at the speed we'll be going," he whispered hotly in her ear, sending hot chills up her spine before whisking them both away back to his home.
