Chapter Ten: An Invitation

3 x 20: Do Not Go Gentle

With all the drama going on with the white oak stakes, Klaus had been focused on the fact that there was a way to kill him and the rest of his family, this meant that he often had to leave Calista alone at the manor. Given her recent outburst and the damage that it caused, he had been reluctant to continue leaving her but with the fact that he needed to get the location of the last oak stake out of Alaric, that was an unavoidable effect. He had hoped that once the former vampire hunter handed over the stake, he'd be able to take the brunette out on a proper date and begin to formally court her, however that was further derailed by the fact that when he returned to the manor all he found was a note on the table from Calista.

Klaus,

I apologise for not doing this face to face, but there are parts of Cassie that have rubbed off on me and this seems to be one of them. I want to thank you for the hospitality and generosity that you have shown me these past several days, you have shown me more kindness and acceptance than anyone else in my time at Mystic Falls.

However happy I have been here, I require to be alone for a while to try and understand the information that my mother has given me about what is wrong with me. When I come to terms with this I will tell you, but until then being alone is all I can think of too deal with the news.

Yours, Calista.

XO

P.S. - I'm not sure if you are aware, but you have vampire's looking to see if they are apart of your bloodline.

Underneath the letter was the photo of him that she had taken upon their first meeting with a note scribbled on the back, you should smile more Niklaus Mikaelson.

While he wanted to be angry at Calista for leaving without telling him, a small voice in the back of his mind knew why she had done that. Reminding him of how small and fragile the young woman looked, as she curled up in the corner of a destroyed room while fear filled eyes asked 'what is wrong with me', appearing more like a frightened child than the snarky photographer/bartender that he had come to know and become infatuated with.

…..

Calista had tried to deal with the bombshell that Cassie had dropped on her, she'd even contemplated talking to Bonnie about how she dealt with being a witch, however the young teen had enough to deal with given that Abby was now a vampire and had run off abandoning her daughter again. So, she spent every waking hour trying to deal with her being a witch and learn what it meant, reading and rereading every letter, journal and notes that were given to her. A part of her wanted to call Cassandra and make her explain everything to her, but until her mind was clear and she understood everything better, Callie wasn't going to do that because she knew that a conversation too soon would descend into an argument at some point.

The fact that her home was vampire proof, since no one apart from Cassie had been invited in, meant that she was left alone until the night of the Decade's Dance at the high school. Part of her was kicking herself for agreeing to be the photographer for the school dance, the other was glad to have a distraction from her thoughts.

As she worked Calista could see Caroline, Tyler, Bonnie, Stefan, Elena, Matt and Jeremy having fun, a nice distraction from the chaos that had come into their lives.

"Smile" Calista told Caroline and Tyler as she made it to the vampire and hybrid, seeing the two flirty as they danced. "You two look amazing"

"So do you Cal" Tyler told the brunette, as he let her take a photo of the two of them. "Are photographers supposed to dress up?"

"We can't have her being the only one not following the theme" Caroline scolded her boyfriend, playfully swatting his chest as she did. "He's right though Callie, you look amazing."

"Thank you, you look lovely as well"

"What's wrong?" Caroline asked the hybrid when he tensed up and stared behind the two females, who had turned to see what had caught his attention. "What is it?"

"Where've you been mate?" Klaus asked, as he stalked up to the trio.

"I just got back into town" Tyler responded, subtly moving so he was standing between the females and Klaus.

"That's funny, I don't recall giving you permission to leave in the first place."

"What do you want Klaus?" Caroline snapped at the original, drawing attention away from her boyfriend.

"I just want to dance with the lovely Calista. What do you say love?"

"I'm working Klaus, I can't just stop." Callie responded, her eyes meeting his sadly.

"I'm sure Tyler won't mind covering for you, do you Tyler"

"Yes! Actually, he does" Caroline defended her boyfriend, seeing as Klaus had taken the camera out of the human's hands and handing it to his hybrid.

"No, it's fine. Have fun Callie" Tyler ended the growing argument between his girlfriend and the hybrid as he tightened his hold on the camera, wrapping his arm around Caroline's waist and leading her away from the pair.

"Was there a reason that you went so far to dance with me?" Callie asked her dance partner as he led her out on the dance floor, his hand remaining on her lower back and never straying, only occasionally using it to bring her closer to him.

"Would you believe me if I said that I missed your company?" Klaus responded, a smirk on his lips as he saw a smile on her face.

"Would you believe me if I said that I missed yours? This must be a bit of a let down compared to actually living through this."

"I have better company now, so a point in your favour Calista. You would have loved the twenties though, love. The girls were reckless, sexy, fun. They literally used to dance until they dropped."

"That sounds like it would be fun."

"This life isn't enough for you is it Calista, a small-town life isn't for someone with a spirit like yours. I'm leaving town tomorrow and I want you to come with me. I can show you all the world has too offer"

As the song came to an end before Callie had a chance to answer the invitation, Caroline came back over the two pair and pulled Calista away from her dance partner. "You've had your dance, Callie has to get back to work now. So, skedaddle"

"Farewell, love. I'm looking forward to hearing your answer to my offer" Klaus said, actually allowing the vampire to drag the brunette away from him, before he went to leave the dance. Not fighting the hold that Caroline had on her, Calista let the implications of the chance to leave town with the hybrid fill her mind while numbly taking her camera back from Tyler.

…..

"Callie, thank god your still here" Caroline called out to the brunette who was sat on the edge of the bleachers, her fingers trailing over the words written on an old leather-bound journal, her camera on the row below her. "We thought you'd left when the dance ended"

"I needed to think about some things. Seemed as good a place as any." Calista responded, as she closed the book and slipped it into her clutch. "What's wrong?"

"Something's happened to Alaric"

"Is he evil Alaric again?"

"No, Cal. It's worse" Caroline hesistated on what to say, she knew that Alaric and Calista were closer than they appeared. Even if most of the time they spent together was when Callie was working at the Grill and Ric was drinking, they had developed a relationship that no one was sure if it was brother/sister or father/daughter with a dash of teasing and sarcastic humour thrown in for good measure. "He's dying"

Nothing else was said between them, as they rushed outside too the front of the school where Damon, Stefan, Bonnie and Tyler were waiting for them. The second the two neared the group, Bonnie and Callie were picked up and the vampires plus the hybrid ran them to the woods by the crypt.

As Tyler put Bonnie down, no one wanted to see what would happen if they let the Salvatore's touch her, and Stefan placed Calista steadily on her feet they could see that Meredith had arrived with candles and she, Jeremy and Matt were lighting them and handing them to everyone. The sight of Alaric coming around to the crypt he was going to lock himself in, was painful for all of them as he look resigned to his fate. Bonnie had a tight grasp on Callie's hand, neither where sure who was offering comfort to who, but it was the only reassurance that they felt knowing what was about to befall the former vampire hunter.

It wasn't until she got home that Calista finally allowed herself to come to terms with what had just happened to Alaric. As the front door closed she slid down the door frame and let herself cry for the loss of her friend, not bothering to even flinch at the destruction that was going on in the hallway at her unstable emotional state. In that moment, she realised what her next move was, she needed to get as far away from Mystic Falls as she could and not look back.

…

Authors Notes:

If anyone wants to know what Callie's outfit for the dance, it is A Beast's Queen 03 on my polyvore accounts. Link is in my profile bio.