The moon was high up in the sky, shining brightly and casting eerie shadows among the trees I was hiding behind in the woods. The moon would soon reach it's apex, meaning that the sacrifice would soon begin.

My hiding spot was just a few feet away from the sacrificial alter. Greta was in the clearing along with an unconscious Jenna. All that was missing was the werewolf, my uncle and the doppelgänger.

As if on cue, my uncle appeared in the clearing with Elena, setting her down by her unconscious aunt.

Klaus was speaking with Greta, telling her he needed to take care of a few things and that he'd be back at midnight.

I take a step closer, trying to get a better look, but regret it the second I do. A branch snaps under my foot and my uncle looks in my direction. I slip behind the tree again, trying to hide from him. As soon as I take my first step to run, Klaus is there, blocking my path.

"Aria," he says in a eerily calm voice. "You wouldn't be running, would you?"

"Um…" I was rendered speechless, completely taken off guard. You would think since I was almost a thousand years old, I'd be able to come up with an excuse as to what I was doing there and why I was running, but words escaped me.

For the first time in my existence, I was terrified of my uncle. Of what he would do to me if he knew that was on my father's side. He would see me as a traitor and most likely kill me. He killed anyone who betrayed or displeased him. This was why Finn, Kol and Rebekah were being carted around in caskets where ever he went. They had fallen out of his favor.

However, I was different. I wasn't like my aunt and uncles. I wasn't an Original. If I was daggered, I would stay dead.

"It seems as though words have escaped you," Klaus says, smirking.

I gulp loudly, praying that he doesn't compel me to tell the truth.

"Uncle Klaus, please," I beg, finding my words and sink down to my knees, making it look like I was begging for mercy. Which was exactly what I was doing. "Forgive me. I was only doing what my father was asking of me." I was only doing what I thought was right.

If Klaus killed me, so be it. At least if I died, it would've been for a cause. A cause to save an innocent Petrova who didn't deserve this. Elena deserved to live. Forget my prejudice against the Petrovas, Katerina was the only reason I hated them. Elena was different. She stood up for what she believed in, even if it angered the ones she loved in the process.

"What exactly did Elijah ask you to do?" Klaus puts a finger under my chin and lifts my face so I'm looking at him.

"To keep the doppelgänger safe from you," I answer, my eyes trying to avoid his gaze. "And when that didn't work, I was supposed to help them find a way to keep Elena alive after the sacrifice by not turning her into a vampire."

He nods his head, taking in what I've said.

"And did you?" he asks. "Did you find a way?"

"No," I lie.

Klaus switches his grip on me, this time grasping my throat with both of his hands, so I couldn't breathe.

"Tell me the truth!" he yells, tightening his grip on my jugular.

"Yes," I gasp, struggling to breathe. "The elixir my father procured for Katerina over five-hundred years ago. But they were unsure if it was going to work because it was so old."

Klaus frees my neck and I lean over coughing, sucking in as many lungfuls of air as I could to catch my breath. My throat was on fire and my muscles were sore.

I lean back on my knees and look up at my uncle, waiting for the worst. He was contemplating my death, I could see it in his eyes. I prayed that it would be quick and not drawn out.

Klaus leans down in front of me, taking my face in his hands once again. I try to shrink away from his touch, but his grip is strong.

"You're afraid," he whispers, registering the fear in my eyes.

I nod, tears threatening to fall.

No. I can't let him see how weak and vulnerable I can be. I try to build up the walls that nobody but my father has been able to tear down, try to be the unbreakable, strong Aria that everyone sees, but fail.

Never in my life would I think I'd be afraid of my uncle. I knew other people had felt his wrath, even died from it, but not me. I had always been in his favor, doing what he asked of me. Yes, I was terrified. I was terrified of how it felt to be out of his good graces and I was going to pay for defying him.

I stare back at my uncle, trying to measure his mood towards me, but his face is impassive. Almost as if he's made of stone.

A tear falls down my cheek and he wipes it away with his thumb.

"Don't be," he continues to whisper. "I'm not going to kill you. Well, not yet anyway. You're still of use to me."

I suddenly hear a crack and everything around me goes black.

I'm jarred awake by a door slamming shut and Katerina looking down at me, a smug smile on her face.

I was laying on the couch in Ric's apartment, dazed and confused as to how I got there. My mind also noted that my wrists were slightly burning.

Klaus snapped your neck, my brain reminded me.

Right…

Damn it.

"What are you looking at, doppelgänger bitch?" I sneer at her

"Just enjoying the view of you tied up," she smirks.

I glance down and my wrists, which were bound in rope and bleeding. I move my wrists and the burning increases.

"Vervain," I groan and lay my head back down on the couch. "Dammit!"

"I'm sorry about that, love," Klaus says coming into the room. "But I couldn't risk you leaving. It's only temporary, I promise." His attention turns to Katerina. "Where's Maddox? He should be back by now."

Klaus walks over to his computer and pulls his phone out of his pocket.

"I don't know," Katerina answers, sitting backwards in a chair, resting her chin against the back. Klaus connects his phone to the computer. "What are you doing?" When he doesn't answer, she tries another approach. "Where's Elena?"

"I sent her off with Greta," Klaus answers, engulfed in whatever was on the computer screen. He turn the volume up and I hear a girl struggling. "It's almost time," I could hear the smile in his voice.

The door suddenly burst open and I jump at the sound, realizing that Damon Salvatore had just burst in.

"I wasn't aware you'd been invited in," my uncle slouches back in his chair, pressing pause on his computer, not bothering to look at Damon.

I eye him warily, taking in his backside. Damn, his backside was just as fine as his front side.

"I've come to tell you that you have to postpone the ritual," Damon answers.

"Didn't we already have this conversation?" Klaus sounded bored, but somewhat amused.

"Yeah," Damon says. "But that was before I rescued your werewolf and vampire…and killed your witch."

My uncle gets out of his chair and turns to face Damon. He looked absolutely pissed.

"Excuse me?" he was beyond pissed.

"And you can kill me for it," Damon says, unflinching. "I don't care. It was all me."

"Katerina," Klaus says, not taking his eyes off of Damon. "Give us a moment." I guess I was too much of a liability for my uncle to care what I heard. I was probably going to die soon anyway. "I've heard about you. The crazy, impulsive vampire…in love with his brother's girl." Klaus smirks and walks away. "I knew one of you would try to stop me." Duh, they're both in love with her. "It was just a fifty-fifty guess on who." Klaus leans down and presses play on his computer and the screaming girl starts up again. "The nice thing about werewolves is they tend to travel in packs." Klaus shuts his computer and throws his phone to Damon. "Need a closer look?"

Damon snatches the phone from the air and looks at the woman on screen.

"Jules," he says, no emotion in his voice.

"When you spend a thousand years trying to break a curse," Klaus walks towards Damon and starts to circle him like a shark. "You learn a thing or two. First rule: always have a backup. Backup werewolf…backup witch…"

"Backup vampire," Damon sighs, finishing Klaus' sentence.

"I've got that covered too," I didn't see what Klaus did, but the next thing I knew, Damon was on the floor of the apartment knocked out cold.

I'm being pushed through the woods to the sacrificial spot, Klaus' hand on my arm, propelling me forward, my hands still bound in the vervain soaked rope. I can see the rings of fire getting closer and closer as we near the clearing.

I look up at the moon, not a cloud in sight. The moonlight is shining down on everything, making the quarry look like a mirror. It would've been a beautiful night given different circumstances.

"Keep moving, Aria," Klaus says in my ear. "Or so help me, I will kill you."

As we grow near, I can hear voices.

"Greta," Elena was pleading with the witch. "Witches are supposed to maintain the balance in nature. It's your duty to them to keep this curse sealed."

"My duty is to Klaus," Greta responds arrogantly as we enter the clearing. "The new order."

"Glad to know I still have a dance partner," my uncle smirks, then looks around at the three women restrained by the rings of fire. "Hello, my lovelies. Are we ready?"

Klaus dragged me over to where Greta was standing.

"Stay here," he demands. "Don't move." He turns his attention to Greta. "I've got the moonstone. I spent five-hundred years looking for this. I hate to part with it." He pulls the ugly rock from his coat pocket and hands it to her.

"The moon is past it's apex," Greta smiles. "Remember everything you need to do?"

"I remember," he answers.

Greta drops the moonstone into a pit and it catches fire, and she starts to chant in that hypnotic magic language all witches use.

The fire around the werewolf disappears and Klaus steps towards her. She tries to escape, but he catches her and rips her heart out. The look on my uncle's face was that of triumph. He was finally getting what he'd been waiting a thousand years for. I could barely stand to watch.

Taking the werewolf's heart, he walks back over to Greta, who was still chanting, and the fiery pit and squeezes the blood of the heart into the flames.

"Does that mean it's working?" Klaus asked.

"It's working," she reassures him and continues the incantation.

Klaus walks over towards Jenna, stake in hand, the fire diminishing as he approaches.

"Hello, Jenna," Klaus says, face impassive.

"Let her go," Elena pleads. "I understand that I have to die. But she doesn't-" Elena steps forward and the fire flares up.

"Careful," Klaus admonishes her.

"Elena," Jenna warns. "Don't."

"No, Jenna," Elena says with fierce determination. "We can't leave Jeremy without a family." She looks over at my uncle. "I followed your rules, I did everything you asked. I didn't run. Please?"

My uncle's face remained impassive.

"Well, well," he finally speaks, turning around. "I don't recall you being on the guest list."

I look behind me and spot Stefan, my uncle's unwelcome guest.

Stefan stands up on the ridge looking down at us.

"I'm here to talk," Stefan explains.

"Very well, then," Klaus says and is standing by Stefan in a matter of seconds. "What can I do for you, Mr. Salvatore?"

"You don't need to kill Jenna," Stefan said. "I'll take her place."

I glance over at Elena, who was no doubt trying to hear what they were saying.

"Oh, I don't know," Klaus' face giving nothing away. "I rather appreciate the symmetry of three women…three goddesses sacrificed at nature's alter."

Klaus was circling Stefan like a predator about to pounce on it's prey.

"Don't play games with me," Stefan was saying. "You'll get what you want anyway."

"You're quite the hero, aren't you?" Klaus says sardonically. "Yeah, I've heard that about you."

"Just make the trade," Stefan pleaded. "Me for Jenna."

My attention turns back to Elena and Jenna.

"Elena…" Jenna trails off, trying to calm her.

"I have to do something," Elena says, pacing around her fire-enclosed space. "This can't happen. None of it."

"Quite the predicament," Klaus' unruffled voice interrupts her rant. "You know, it's funny, all this talk about preserving family…and here's Stefan, granting your wish."

Stefan had come off of the ridge and was walking towards Elena.

"Stefan," Elena sighs, tears in her eyes.

"It's okay," Stefan tries to assure her.

"Well," Klaus says, waving the stake in the air. "Who's it gonna be Elena?"

"No," Elena was adamant.

"Oh, don't worry," Klaus says. "There's actually no choice."

Klaus stakes Stefan in the back and breaks off a piece of the stake into his back, making Stefan struggle

"I have other plans for your boyfriend," Klaus explains. "I want him alive. But for now…" Klaus snaps Stefan's neck and is passed out in no time. "Whenever you're ready, Greta."

Greta starts to chant again and the fire around Jenna goes out.

"No," Elena was close to tears.

"Your turn," Klaus turns towards Jenna.

"No, Jenna," Elena pleads. "No."

"It's alright Elena," Jenna says. "I know what I have to do."

Jenna then rushes towards Greta and buries her fangs into Greta's neck, only to be stopped by Klaus and thrown onto the sacrificial alter.

"Jenna, no," Elena was crying.

Poor girl, I wanted so bad to help her, but I didn't have my strength because of my bound hands.

Klaus flips Jenna over and jams the stake into her chest, right where her heart would be.

"No!" Elena screamed. "Jenna!"

Jenna went still and turned gray. She was gone.

Greta was still chanting and pouring what looked like blood into the fire. Jenna's blood, I realized.

It was time for the final step of the ritual.

"It's time," my uncle announces, heading towards Elena, the fire going out around her.

Klaus holds out his hand to her and she stands up and walks towards the alter, ignoring is offered hand.

Once on the alter, she looks over at Jenna's lifeless body laying there, and she tries not to show her emotions. Her lips in a pressed line.

My uncle grasps her chin and makes her look at him.

"Thank you, Elena," he whispers.

"Go to hell," Elena retorts before Klaus bites into her neck and drinks until she falls to the ground dead.

My uncle had done it. He was now a true hybrid, the first hybrid ever.

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