Klaus' POV Chapter 10:

Arriving in Italy was unlike anything I'd experienced. We had no chance to see anything as we quickly went to rent a car. We sped through the single lane streets of the country side. Upon arrival we realized the hotel room was abandoned. Only a small duffle bag in disarray remained. She pulled out her phone, but there was no answer. Alice would not arrive until a little before twelve. She paced back and forth.

"He has to be in the city." She stated. "I have to go get him."

"Are you mad?" I asked her. "You're not going into the lion's den. We don't know what they have or what they can do." I told her.

"I'm not just going to leave him." She told me. She tried to walk towards me and I stood in her path. "Get out of the way!" she yelled.

"No! We are not going there to get you killed." I told her. "We have to think!" I said.

"You don't have to go." She told me.

"I will go where you go. Just wait to hear from Alice. If something is wrong she will reach out." I told her. She stared up at me frustrated. She sat down on the bed stared at her feet. We had sat in silence for almost thirty minutes when her phone rang. She put it on speaker and answered.

"We're here, he's not here." She told her.

"He went to ask them to do it, they are deliberating, but he should be back soon. Bella and I will be arriving at 11:30, if you can't stop him, I'll bring her there so he can see what for himself." She told her.

"Alright." Adrienne responded.

"We are going to do everything in our power to save him Adrienne, I promise." She said and hung up.

"What am I missing?" I asked her.

"What do you mean?" she responded.

"I know you care for him, but we are doing all we can. Why are you so hard on yourself right now?" I asked her.

"I went from having everything to losing it all to losing myself and after I regained control, I was lonely. I had no one. I didn't know where you were or if it was safe to contact you. I didn't know Marcel was a vampire. Carlisle and Edward found me and they showed me how to live again. Edward was one of my closest friends because we couldn't have secrets." She told me. Edward was a mind reader. "When my magic came back, I left them. It was too much too stressful to walk around on eggshells. I could have prevented this. I wouldn't have let him leave her, let alone react this way." She explained. "I guess I feel guilty."

"This is not your fault." I sat down next to her. "It's hard when you lose the person you love. We both know this." I told her. "I promise that we will save him. No matter what, I will make sure you don't lose him as well." I told her. She nodded. We heard the door knob twist and Edward stood there looking like the dead. He looked at her and turned to leave. She raised her hand and shouted.

"sceller la porte!" She had sealed the door. He turned towards her and took a calculated step, before spotting me. "Calm down Edward." She told him.

"What are you doing here?" he asked her. "And why did you bring him?" he looked at me.

"Bella is alive, Edward, she survived." She told him, but he raised his hand.

"Stop. I don't want to hear your lies." He told her. "What do you know about Bella anyway?"

"She's not lying mate, your girl is alive and well." I told him.

"I don't remember asking for your comments." He said to me. He took another step and I stood in front of them. "Leave here, now. I don't want or need your help." He said turning his back on us.

"Edward this is ridiculous." She said.

"No one asked for your help Adrienne!" he yelled.

"I think we should all take a breath." I suggested.

"Mind your business Hybrid." He told me. I smiled as I usually did when I was agitated.

"I see my reputation perceives me. So then you know that I can't be killed, do you really want to challenge me." I told him.

"I do believe that we have stumbled across some luck." The voice came from the doorway and Edward stiffened.

"Have they decided?" Edward asked.

"Aro requests your presence." The other one said and I pulled Adrienne more behind me. "And just to be safe, why don't you bring your friends along." The bigger man said.

"They have nothing to do with this." Edward said.

"But it's not every day an Original comes this close to the city. I'm sure Aro, Marcus and Caus would enjoy that very much." He said looking at me and I smiled back.

"No." Edward said.

"It's alright. If you're going, we're going." She said and stepped around me and him. I held onto her hand and she raised the other and said, "liberté." And the seal was down. She walked past them and waited for Edward, who looked hesitant for the first time. He stalked off and waited behind us and the one of them ran ahead of us. I wondered if I'd ever know their names or if they mattered enough to know.

"This is Felix and Demetri is up ahead, we're supposed to follow him." Edward spoke to us. Could he read my mind as well and he nodded. Great, I thought. Still joined hand and hand we ran after him and tried to follow him. He knew the path he was taking, we did not. Edward seemed familiar enough. As we entered the city we took elaborate tunnels and back alleys. It was daylight and there was no foliage to keep them hidden from the sun. They wore dark cloaks and Edward stuck to the shadows. We finally ended up in the sewer below the city. The tunnels turned less gritty and classier as we ran. We stopped in front of a grand door. When we stopped the door opened from the other side and a woman stood there waiting. She didn't look at us, only at her feet and we were allowed to walk past. In this room a few dozen vampires stood. They watched us as we walked and I pulled her closer to me. Who were these vampires and why had I not heard about them before.

"They are the enforcers to the rules. Our number one rule is to keep the secret, make the world pretend we don't exist." Edward whispered. This reading the mind thing was going to get old fast. He smirked. I looked down at Adrienne as she stared at the three thrones in front of us. Three figures walked slowly towards them and two of them sat down.

"We asked to speak with Edward, what is the meaning of this?" The blonde man asked. Felix walked over to the man that remained standing and took his hand. It was curious but not anything to frighten me. Adrienne seemed relaxed. At least we were together.

"For now." Edward whispered.

"Stop invading my mind." I whispered back.

"It's not something I can help." He responded. The man stood there watching us. "Aro." Edward nodded. Aro came down the steps almost gliding. He stood in front of me and then looked down to Adrienne.

"Welcome Niklaus. It's not every day that we have an original join us in our fair city." He said. I was surprised that he knew my name, but he people usually did. "And you must be Adrienne." He said to her. We stared at each other and then at him.

"How do you know our names?" she asked him.

"Through Edward of course." He said. We looked at him.

"Aro's gift is that he can hear every thought a person has ever had, by just touching them. So he's seen you in my memories and I know about him from you." Edward explained quickly. I nodded.

"I would say I've heard so much about you, but the truth is I've never heard of you before a few days ago." I told him. He laughed out loud, but the other two remained sullen.

"Well allow me to introduce us. These are my brothers Caus and Marcus." He gestured as he spoke. "And I am Aro." He said. The others began clearing out of the room, which gave me a bad feeling. Those that remained looked innocent enough. Felix and Demetri stood by the back door with a disciplined face on. The other two that remained were petite in size and young looking. If not for their pasty skin and bright red eyes, I wouldn't think they were anything. "You've met Felix and Demetri and these are two others that are part of the guard, Alec and Jane." He gestured towards the two.

"What brings you to our city?" Caus asked curiously.

"I come to get Edward and take him home." I told them.

"It seems Edward doesn't want to go home. Perhaps you should be on your way." Caus said to me.

"Peace brother. He is welcome here. We have so much to ask him." Aro responded. "But first the matter at hand. Edward." He said looking at Edward.

"And that is your decision? You know I'll get what I want." He told them.

"Not without provocation." Marcus says.

"Wasteful." Aro muttered. "If you're unhappy with your lot, you can always join us here." He said. Edward had shut down. In his mind he must have been thinking of ways to provoke them. How sad, If Bella was here instead of racing here, it would not be necessary. I looked down at my watch. Her flight should have arrived twenty minutes ago. Perhaps she'd appear here to save him. He looked up at me and I couldn't read his expression. If Bella came here, she would die. He nodded.

"No thank you." Edward said.

"Very well. You may go if you wish Edward." Aro said.

"What about my friends?" he asked.

"We're just about done." Edward stood frozen; he crossed his arms over his chest and waited. "Very well."

"What questions do you have for me?" I asked him.

"For you just one, we've wanted to reach out sooner, but that could have left us exposed." Aro said.

"You and your family are very careless. We hear about your careless acts from here." Caus interjected. "If you don't provide restraint then we will have no problem-"He ranted.

"Are you threatening me? Who are you to me? You are no king of mine." I told him.

"Peace brother. All he means to say is that when you are discovered it won't be long until they discover our kind as well." He said to me.

"I don't take orders from anyone." I said simply.

"Perhaps, but if you're not careful the people closest to you, could get hurt for your carelessness." This hit a nerve with me, were they threatening the people around me now. I felt my hands shake, but Adrienne squeezed it.

"He hasn't made it a thousand years by being scared. There is a reason the vampire world knows who Klaus Mikaelson is." Adrienne said. "If I were you, I would be very careful that the people closest to you don't get hurt by your arrogance." She told them. Caus rose from his seat but Aro waved him off.

"Now you Adrienne, I have some questions for." Aro said.