A/N: I just want to say a humble thank you to everyone who reviewed or followed or favourited this story. Whether you did one or all three of those, I really appreciate it that you are keeping up with this..:)

I know the suspense can be tiring, but trust me this story is going somewhere. I'm also sorry for changing the summary and title a couple of times. I figured that this will be my fixed title (A different Ending) because at least this story is centred around it. As for the summary, please let me know what you think... whether it is alright to keep updating it so you know what's in store for next chapter?;) Please let me know alright..:)

Just a little summary here: The plot involving Katherine and the plot involving Esther is about to overlap...:) Oh, and this is one of the chapters we get to see more of Kol..;) Of course, being Number One Troublemaker..

As the waltz had ended and died down to a slow dance, Bonnie Bennett was alone again after Elena had left. She had no idea where Caroline was either. Growing tired of the stupid ball her mother had urged her to come along with her, she planned on leaving immediately right after she found her mother. But she had a very strong feeling her mother was not going to listen to her, not after she had met Esther, their so-called long lost friend. To Bonnie, it was intriguing to meet another witch, especially one that was not of their time, but she was feeling too awful about her best friend Elena.

As much as Elena was quarrelsome and braver than she should be, Bonnie thought the poor girl must have lost it tonight. Messing with Original vampires were no joke, Bonnie learnt it the hard way when she tried to take Klaus' life by using enough power to kill herself. She sighed to herself, scooping up a glass of punch from the green crystal bowl using the ladle. Perhaps, as an afterthought, everything Elena was had to do with Jenna's death…

Then, as though she felt eyes on her back, Bonnie turned around to see the same boy, pale like snowflakes and dark-haired, who had been conversing with Elena just a while ago, his hands in his pocket, smirking at the surprised look on her face.

"Hi, pretty," said Kol, watching her, a smirk firmly planted on his face.

True enough, he was handsome but Bonnie knew better; she knew a flirt when she saw one. A moment ago, he had made Elena feel awkward, Bonnie could tell from the obvious way Elena's doe-like eyes were wide with anxiety although she could not hear what the conversation was like. What Bonnie firmly knew was that she was not going to be taken in with the likes of a flirt.

"Hi," replied Bonnie casually, about to walk away but Kol blocked her path very quickly, startling Bonnie.

An irrational form of fear flooded Bonnie; how did he move so quickly? Kol was still smiling at the girl but in his mind, he found her rather interesting. From her eye movements and body language and tone, he could tell she was trying to brush him off, but he would not let it up so easily.

"Excuse me," Bonnie said firmly, her eyes narrowing at him.

His eyes contracted slightly as he frowned down at her, still not budging out of her way. Her heart racing, Bonnie Bennett had no idea what game he was playing but she was not planning on finding out. After all, she was a witch and could take down obstinate, strong-headed boys like him with the flick of a finger. She step sided him hurriedly but his hand seized her forearm so quickly it startled him. But what had really startled her was the cold touch of death she felt when she made contact with a vampire.

Smirking when she gasped, Kol released his clutch on her arm. She stared at him, the pieces finally coming together: the English accent, the strange, shady aura he had, the hair-raising swift movements.

"You're a vampire – you're disgusting," hissed Bonnie, backing away from him.

His smile broadened, a confident light glint appearing in his dark eyes, not seeming worried at all that Bonnie knew what he was.

"And you're a witty little girl," grinned Kol eerily, obviously enjoying himself.

Sensing that he was stronger than normal vampires, Bonnie knew that she could not incapacitate the Original vampire with her powers alone so she would be a fool to try and play dirty with him. Instead, she walked away. In her mind, she knew she needed to find her mother – quickly. This time, Kol did not stop her but trailed behind her closely because he was not quite done with her yet.

"So what brings you here?" asked Kol boldly as though Bonnie wished to have an urbane conversation with him.

"Your mum invited my mum here," stated Bonnie fiercely. "Listen, can't you leave me alone?"

Inclining his head deliberately, Kol thought about it for a moment. He certainly did not like angering his mother – no matter how belligerent and fire-eating he was most among his brothers and sister, getting into either of his parents' wrong books would pay off dearly on his part. In truth, he had to admit he did secretly like being the troublemaker in the house – he was not like his poor excuse of a brother Finn, he did not grow softer or weaker simply because of his mother. He fancied himself as an unrestrained beast, not quite an obedient one.

A part of him warned him riotously that he was going to regret it, "She's Mother's friend, Kol, Mother will NOT have you jesting with Mother's friends – she will be very upset! No, she will be more than upset! YOU KNOW THAT!", but that was the part of him that feared and dreaded his mother's wrath. He knew what he would regret more was letting go of the opportunity to toy with what he supposed was a family friend.

"C'mon, you look quite by yourself," teased Kol happily. "I took pity on you."

"I was looking for my friends," snapped Bonnie. "Leave me, go find someone else. I don't talk to vampires!"

Her heart was pumping fast with fear but she did not think he was going to get angry; in fact, she had a hunch that he seemed to be enjoying the insults she hurled at him. Reaching out the back of his hand to lightly touch the strands of her hair at the side of her face which fell from her hair bun, he narrowed his eyes, a serious dangerous gleam in them. But Bonnie smacked his hand away angrily, but still transfixed in her position, not daring to move as they exchanged their meanest, most unfriendly stare showdown.

From the corner of her eyes, Bonnie noticed Elena walking towards them with a new spring in her steps. Bonnie was feeling just as much glad as dread to see Elena; for a fact she did not want to be alone with Kol but he was obviously dangerous and could hurt her best friend too.

"Elena, we better go," said Bonnie hastily, giving Kol an icy stare.

His head turned to see Elena before turning back to take relishing pleasure in the alarmed look on Bonnie's face. He smirked a little although he did not want the fun to be over. But then Elena said something which startled him more than it amused him.

"I think I'm staying," simpered Elena at Bonnie. "I have a dance I can't miss."

Her eyes lingered on Kol before turning back to Bonnie who seemed like someone had doused a pail of ice water on her. A myriad of shock, anger and shame crossed her face before she stalked off, fuming away. Had Bonnie touched her, she would have felt the same cold touch of death she would have felt when she had touched Kol…

Because it could not be Elena, who was trapped in a box, in an isolated part of the mansion. It was Katherine, the shrewd, strong doppelgänger who was a tigress in comparison to her human doppelgänger.

"So are we going to dance?" purred Katherine, stepping closer towards him than Elena would have.

She twirled the bowtie on his collar, a giggle in her doe-like eyes. Kol simply gazed at her for a while, his eyes narrowing slightly but he did not move away. There was something different about the girl; she did not seem so plain or dull; it was as though she was an entirely different person.

"What are you doing?" said Kol, a half-amused small smile on his face but he did not move away from her touch.

"I like it better this way," whispered Katherine into his ear.

Perhaps she was drunk, Kol thought. Whatever it was, he did not care. The girl asked for a dance, what are you waiting for, Kol Mikaelson?

Kol put his arms around her as they joined the circle of partners who were in a slow dance since the waltz had ended. If Elijah and Nik had seen him, they would have broken his neck right after the guests left. He was sure of it. What he would have given for Elijah or Nik to be around, watching.

Katherine, on the other hand, was no fool. She knew Klaus well enough to know who his brothers and sisters were and what they were like; that was what five hundred years of running did to you. This was definitely Kol. The youngest Mikaelson son, the foolish and reckless, fun-loving one. He had never met her but she certainly knew him. She reckoned it was easier to be undetected around him rather than Elijah or even worse, Klaus, the hybrid who was hardly played for a fool.

With any luck, she was hoping that Johnny would be done soon and they would be able to leave the ball in a hurry before they put themselves in more danger. But Katherine had to admit, there was something enticing about Klaus' younger brother. It made it more bearable for her to keep him at bay and avoid being caught as much as possible.

"You were rather nasty to your friend over there," remarked an impressed and smiling Kol as they danced slowly.

"I can be very nasty sometimes," said Katherine in a low voice, her head resting on his shoulder in a calm manner.

"Abigail Bennett…"

She heard a soft, low moan as she was searching for her daughter in the ballroom. Spinning around, she felt some kind of emptiness fill her when she found no one speaking to her. Everyone was dancing slowly, pressed against each other but she could not find her daughter in the pretty, alabaster white dress.

"Help…"

Again, the voice sent a shockwave deep inside her, the kind of shockwave that only a witch could feel.

"Help! Please!"

The moaning was more vehement now but as soft as ever. Trying to find the source of noise, Abigail closed her eyes to shut all other senses except for the ones that could hear and feel the pitiful moaning. With her eyes closed, she began to walk in the direction unknowingly to an isolated part of the mansion. The moaning got louder and louder, an indication that she was walking the right way.

Then, all of a sudden, as though someone had turned off a switch, the moaning stopped. Abigail opened her eyes to see herself in a room she did not recognise. She spun one round to only see that there was none other than her in the room.

Without warning, the lights went out. Abigail almost screamed but the blood-curdling scream never left her throat for she was thrown off balance across the room. She banged against the wall and dropped to the floor. Recovering as quickly as she could, she began to withdraw the power from deep within her reserves, determined to fight back whatever monster was attacking her.

She could hear and see a blur as the creature moved from one spot to the other. Shutting her eyes and chanting wordlessly to herself in the hopes that she would stop the creature in its tracks, she felt herself weakening as though her powers were being drained away. Gasping to herself, she had never experienced such force that she had to fight against.

The locked glass windows of the room burst open as strong wind blew in. Confused, she looked around to see where the enemy was going to attack from next. But there was no attack. She only felt a deep, searing pain from within herself as though there was hot liquid inside her stomach threatening to burn her from inside. Her throat was on fire, burning with pain that the air did not seem to be able to enter her windpipe anymore. She felt needles poking at her lung as she coughed out dark red blood, feeling something within her dying. A part of her was dying – the magic part of her.

The agony was over after a few minutes. It seemed as though the attacker was not bent on torturing because he had fled ten minutes later, leaving a lifeless Abby Bennett on the floor, lying in a pool of her own blood.

Esther and Finn moved around the high-ceiling mansion, searching for the Bennetts after they had long waited for them in Esther's room to find that they were only testing their patience. Abigail had promised to meet Esther immediately right after she collected her daughter but since then, Esther had not heard from her. Something was terribly wrong, Esther's witch-like instincts told herself (Ayana had taught her foreshadowing too a thousand years ago when she had been Esther's mentor).

When Esther and Finn reached the room at the corner on the third floor, they almost choked from shock at the sickening scene of Abby lying on the floor, basking in her own blood. Finn recoiled involuntarily, his eyes turning an ugly beady black as he looked away, a retched look on his face. The smell of blood wafted over his nose like the aroma of chocolate to a small boy.

"Ayana," cried Esther softly as she bent down to place her fingers below Abby's nose which was running like a broken blood tap.

The sound was terrifying enough to Finn to turn around, appalled by his mother's breakdown. Trying to fight the dizziness from the sweet smell of blood, Finn pinched his nose, holding up the end of his sleeve to cover it.

"I… I can heal her," uttered Finn throatily.

"No, no," refused Esther adamantly, shaking her head. "She's still alive, I can heal her myself."

It stung Finn a little to know that Esther hated vampires that much, even refusing to save someone's life with the blood of a vampire. Then, out of the blue, Elijah flew into the room, moving past Finn. Stepping towards his mother who was kneeling down by Abby's side, Elijah took note of the astonishment that was written all over Finn and the motionless figure of Bonnie's mother. There was no kindness in his eyes as he gazed down at his mother.

"Elena has left, Mother," said Elijah simply with a cold edge. "Whatever you are up to, Elena will not be part of this."