A/N: Hiii, thanks for the lovely reviews, faves and alerts! :D

After this chap we will speed up to around the beginning of season 3, so there will be some spoilers in the next couple of chaps for those of you who haven't watched the season 3 episodes yet :)

Enjoy!

xoxo

Chapter 7:

I walked around in the market alone with a basket, buying fruit and vegetables I did not need, but I had to look normal amongst the living, so I did anyway and at the same time I had the opportunity to get some fresh air and enjoy the beautiful weather. I was still enjoying my necklace and wished that I had gotten my hands on one way before I met Klaus. I had not talked with him after that night about two weeks ago, but my friendship with Elijah had grown and he was becoming more and more like a second brother to me.

As for my real brother, then he was finally returning from England today and I could not wait to tell him about what had happened while he was gone. Of course I was not going to tell him that I had nearly slept with Klaus, but I was tempted to do it just to annoy him or see his facial expression. He never did like whenever I was courting someone – especially, after what happened to me many years ago. Even though I never really showed it, then I did care about him.

Quite a lot actually.

"Meike!" I suddenly heard someone call loudly.

Speaking of the Devil… I turned around and faced my brother, who quickly jumped off his horse and ran to me in a normal speed. His dark hair had grown few inches longer, his dark brown eyes looked weary as if he had not slept for days and he smelled slightly different from what I was used to. I hugged him anyway, though, and was surprised by just how much I actually missed him.

"I am glad to see you walking out in the sun," he said, kissing my forehead softly. "Now what have you done to Niklaus? I trust he is still alive and not dismembered somewhere?"

"Oh, I would not give her the pleasure of doing that," a familiar voice said. Bastiaan and I turned and saw Klaus standing beside us with an intoxicated young woman under his arm. She might be under compulsion, but I still wanted to rip her head off and I knew that Klaus noticed this, because he looked at me and grinned mischievously. "Bastiaan, my friend, did you bring the witch?"

Bastiaan nodded. "She is locked up and ready to serve you. Now we only need a vampire, werewolf and of course the doppelganger, whom I believe I have located."

"Actually, I have found myself a werewolf thanked to the witch your sister found for me and the soon-to-be vampire will be this beautiful woman. But do tell me where the doppelganger is."

I continued to glare at the woman and she clearly found me intimidating, but the compulsion stopped her from leaving. So instead I left without saying a word and went home. It was no secret that I was jealous, but I knew that it was stupid to be jealous when I also knew that the woman would be sacrificed soon. It was the fact that Klaus did not seem to care about me anymore that hurt the most and especially after I told him to find out why I became a vampire.

When I returned to my new home I found Elijah seated in the living room, reading a piece of old parchment that looked more than a century old. I crept up beside him and took a look at what looked like Aztec writings. From what I could tell it was something about a werewolf, a vampire and an Aztec shaman.

"What is that?" I asked curiously.

"A way to find the doppelganger," Elijah said and looked at me, frowning when he saw something on my face. "You are upset?"

"I am not!" I grumbled.

"You are. I can see it in your eyes. Is it Klaus again?"

I was about to object, but I gave up trying and nodded. He sighed and placed the parchment roll on the table. "I think he does not care about me anymore merely because I would not spend the night with him. I told him to find out how I became a vampire before I would let him into my heart. But… he has not talked with me for two weeks now."

"Perhaps he is still looking for the answer."

I nodded. "Perhaps… Elijah, I need to tell you something only my brother and I know. It is the reason why I do not want to let Klaus into my heart yet. You see, I was once married in my human life to a very… cruel man, who only wanted me as a breeding machine. I refused to carry the heir to his fortune, so he became furious and… and he began abusing me. And one day he lost his temper so much that he killed me. Bastiaan had given me some of his blood earlier that day when he had broken my arm and… well, I became like him."

Elijah sighed heavily and cupped my face in his hands, stroking my cheeks gently with his thumbs. "You had every right to keep Klaus waiting. And if he does not see that, then he does not deserve you or your body."

I did not know why it was so easy for me to let my guards down around Elijah, but he just seemed so honest, so honorable and… like a true gentleman. I embraced Elijah and thanked him for listening to me, but I did not stay at home for long. I needed to get out and have some more fresh air and perhaps get kill a man or two. I rode to a remote place in the outskirts of Rotterdam on my new horse, which I had dubbed Niklaus for fun, and spotted a few couples walking together in the area.

After tying Niklaus to a nearby tree I went to a meadow of crimson tulips and found a clear spot where I could lie down and enjoy the weather. The sun was still shining on the blue sky and every now and then a strangely shaped cloud would pass by. I lost track of how many minutes or hours I spent in the meadow, but the sun was suddenly blocked by the shadow of someone, who stood hovering over me and after blinking a few times I could see that it was Klaus.

"You are blocking my sun." I grumbled.

Klaus smirked and sat down next to me much to my annoyance. I did not want to talk with him or know how he had even found me in the first place, because he was beginning to get on my bad side again. But although he could tell that he was not wanted, then he stayed anyway and looked up towards the beautiful sky with me.

"Have you fallen in love with me?" Klaus asked bluntly.

Had I? I was attracted to him, yes, and wanted him for sexual reasons, but could I truly be besotted? I had never been truly in love before and especially not after I became a vampire. But I could feel that Klaus stirred something inside me and made me want more than just a sexual relationship. I mean, why else would I deny him my body in the first place?

"I suppose I have," I said, turning my head to look at him. He looked thoughtful for a moment as if he was considering something and then he suddenly met my gaze. "I greatly dislike you, Klaus, but you make me feel… alive."

"And you wish to join Elijah and I in my quest?"

I nodded. This I knew for sure and it was much better than sitting at home all day or going on pointless killing sprees alone.

"If that is the case, then I want you to have this…"

Klaus took off a ring from his right hand and gave it to me. It was a ring with a family crest, but it was not the same ring I had seen on Elijah's hand.

"It belonged to my biological father. He was a werewolf and was killed by my stepfather."

I was speechless and did not know what to do or say. He was actually giving me his father's ring…? We had only known each other nearly a month and in that time we had been constantly bickering with each other and I had done everything to make his life miserable.

"You never fail to amaze me, Meike."

I smiled and placed the ring on my left ring finger and tugged myself close to him, pressing my lips softly against his. He never failed to amaze me either and I wanted so badly to push away my past, so I could enjoy the present and the future. So I took a chance by letting go of my worries and gave myself fully to him.

We kissed tenderly at first, but as the minutes flew by and the sun began moving slowly down over the horizon, the kisses and hungriness inside us became more and more intensified. I let Klaus undress me, touch me, kiss me and make love to me, and enjoyed every bit of it.

It felt like forever since I had ever felt so alive and the mere touch of his lips on my bare skin sent pleasurable shivers through my body. I buried my fingers in his hair and let my lips collide with his once more for a passionate kiss. I bit my bottom lip and in one swift movement he did not expect, he suddenly lay under me with his teasing hands pinned to the ground.

"I am forever yours, Nik."

Klaus smiled and our lips collided once again in a kiss so deep and passionate that it unleashed something inside me that felt stronger than my ripper side had ever felt. I let my fangs extend and bit into his neck, and soon after he did the same thing to me. His blood unleashed a warm sensation in my womb that spread to throughout my entire body, sending me in a blissful state that could not truly be explained with words.

Everything around us disappeared and when the world around us reappeared once again, we were both staring up at the beautiful and starry night. Klaus let me rest my head on his shoulder and I tugged my body close to him, wanting so badly to stay out here forever and never go home…

Bastiaan!

I had completely forgotten about him and the minute I realized this I suddenly heard my horse let out a loud shriek. We both jolted up from behind the tulips and saw a dark shadow move from one tree to another. Klaus immediately stood up and pulled on his trousers and shirt, whilst I swiftly pulled on my chemise, wondering just what had happened to my beloved horse.

"Stay here," Klaus said, pulling on his boots. "If you see Mikael then run as fast as you can. He is much stronger than you and will take any vampire down to find me."

I nodded understandingly and watched Klaus run off towards the area where I had tied Niklaus to a tree. I sincerely hoped that nothing had happened to him, but I knew that if I had to leave him here to save myself and Klaus, then I would.

In the time I waited in the meadow everything around me became eerily quiet and I began dreading that Mikael would attack me at any minute now. I knew that Klaus had told me to wait, but I wanted to help him if he was in danger, so I began walking towards the mass of trees.

I suddenly heard an unrecognizable noise and swiftly turned around just before a familiar man pierced my chest with a stake. I could feel the wood scratching my heart, but it did not penetrate it, because out of the blue I saw Klaus appear and tackle Mikael to the ground.

As I fell I felt the stake push deeper into my chest and the pain was too unbearable for me to handle. I could feel that the stake was not only made of wood, but the end of it had been soaked in vervain, so it still burned my heart. I lost consciousness and everything seemed to go dark around me.

There had been so many times where I had said or thought that I did not care if I died or not and now I knew that this was not true. I was not ready to die yet and knew that I deserved a better death than this. Sure, I had brutally killed many people in my life, but it was a part of my nature and if the nature did not approve of that, then it should never have created vampires in the first place or even humans for that sake.

However, all these things did not seem to matter anyway, because just as I felt myself slipping towards that divine bright light I felt something being pulled out of my chest and jolted awake, finding myself on the floor of a dark tomb-like cellar. Before me stood Mikael and there was something in his eyes that told me that I was not going to suffer an unworthy death.

I was punished with a fate far more worse than death.

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