Chapter 11

K was weak, much weaker than she had been in a while. In truth, the only time she felt like this was the last time she'd been bitten by a wolf and took all day to get the cure from Klaus. She could feel the life slipping from her then just as she could now, and it terrified her.

She knew, even being hidden away from anyone that might see her, that she wasn't going to survive the night. There was no way and nothing they were doing was helping. She rolled her heavy head towards the IVs connected to her arm. Yet another blood bag was flowing into her arm and she knew it'd end like the dozen before it. It would drip into her body, move through her veins and the virus would corrupt it just like it had the others. It did nothing to heal her, but they just kept trying.

There was no saving her this time and K knew it. That was the most frightening part. Every other time she'd been so gravely hurt, there was a loophole, but not now. Now there was nothing for her to do but sit in the chair and decay. She was literally rotting where she sat.

A twinge hit her gut. It didn't come from the virus running rampant through her body and she knew it. It came from her heart. K didn't want to be alone…

The phone rang and rang. No one answered and she didn't expect them to. No one in New Orleans ever answered their phones anymore. Her eyes began to tear. K had hoped to hear a familiar voice.

"Leave a message after the beep." The computerized voice instructed.

BEEP!

K didn't immediately speak. Instead she stared at the ground with a pained expression. When she blinked, tears fell.

"I'm scared." She said before she could stop herself. She sniffed and felt her jaw quiver. In little more than 60 hours, K felt her control over her body and mind slipping away and it terrified her. "There's something wrong with me and I… I don't know if I can fix it." She hesitated to continue. K wasn't sure what she planned to say, so the words had trouble coming out. "I just…" her words cracked and she couldn't keep the tears from her voice. "I wanted to talk to you, one last time because I don't think I'll be coming back to New Orleans again." K's voice continued to quiver and only grew worse when she uttered something she never wanted to admit out loud, but felt happening. "I'm dying," she breathed. Her eyes fell to her hand. "I'm turning gray and it's getting worse… Poison," she scoffed the word. "Pathetic."

K paused for another moment. Her brows slowly came together and the tears fell like before. Even trying to act as though it didn't bother her didn't work. Every time she thought about being killed by some ridiculous poison, it hurt. It wasn't even vervain. K had to be a vampire killed by a poison other than vervain…

"I'm sorry, Niklaus," she whispered finally. "I'd hoped to see everyone one last time."

K went silent again. She pressed her free hand to her forehead as though shielding herself from someone watching even though she knew there was no one. She tried to stay brave, but she couldn't. Ordinarily she would have been, but she didn't really know anything and that was the problem.

She was embarking on something new and wanted a familiar face with her just like anyone else would. Sometimes, she was still so very human and because of that only wanted the people she cared about near her. She only wanted someone to hold her and tell her everything was going to be alright even if it was a lie.

"Hyvästi," she whispered finally. "Rakkaani."

She hung up quickly, dropping her phone into her lap in the process. She buried her face in her hands and tried to steady her breath. It didn't work. Instead, K began to cry into her hands without sign of stopping. She was alone in a city she barely knew surrounded by people she'd known for even less time.

An hour had passed before she dared try to call another soul.

Reaching for her phone again, K began to sift through the numbers. She jut wanted to hear a familiar voice, to speak to a friend for once…

K highlighted the name and called someone she prayed would answer.

"K, hi." Hayley answered unsurely.

"It sounds like you're hiding who you're talking to." K laughed. Her voice was as weak as the rest of her and she knew the hybrid on the other end of the line could hear it.

"Are you okay?" Hayley asked with honest concern.

K's eyes began to tear before she could stop them. The fear seemed to intensify without her consent until it flowed out of her.

"No," she answered with a shaking voice. "Not really."

"What's wrong? What happened?"

Hayley could hear clearly that K was crying and it worried her. She couldn't remember ever seeing K cry other than Adam's death in the bayou. Despite every horrible thing that happened while she was in New Orleans, K only cried once and that added more worry to Hayley's mind.

Without speaking, K pulled her phone back and pressed the facetime button. The phone shifted its screen from the standard layout to the one needed to video chat with someone. To her grateful surprise, Hayley accepted the call and soon K could see her. She smiled heavily, but warmly.

"Oh my god…" she muttered. If Hayley was trying to hide her shock at what she was seeing, it didn't work.

"Yeah," K sighed. Her eyes continued to tear as she looked at Hayley. "You look great though." K laughed weakly. "Being a hybrid works for you."

"What happened?" Hayley asked sadly, ignoring K's compliments entirely.

"Oh, nothing." K said. She tried to downplay the events greatly. "I was just shot."

"With what? Vervain?"

K shook her head slowly.

"No. Something else." She said as she looked down to her lap. "But it's okay. Someone helped me out." She forced a weak laugh, but still didn't look up. "I think I'm a little different than the strays dogs and cats he usually works on."

Silence moved between them for a moment or two. Hayley saw her brows pull together and knew K was about to start crying again. Hayley was having trouble keeping from doing it herself.

"I uh…" K stammered. She chewed on her bottom lip for a while before looking back at the screen. In the small box, K saw her reflection and noticed her nose was bleeding again. Hayley's free hand came to her mouth in silent shock while K simply wiped the black blood away as though it had become a common occurrence because it had. "I just wanted to say goodbye." She finally gave her attention to Hayley. "And that I hope everything gets better for you. I really do."

"What do you mean goodbye?"

"I'm dying, Hayley." She breathed. In the short time they'd been talking, K's voice had turned gravely and weaker than before. "And there's nothing anyone can do about it."

"Come home. Klaus'll heal you. Just come home." She said desperately.

"I can't." K replied. "He compelled me to stay away." She blinked and set the gathered tears free. Her voice began to quiver. "I can't ever come home."

"Then call him and tell him what's happening!"

"He won't answer." She said softly. "I've tried."

Hayley's brows pulled together so tightly it hurt, but there was nothing else she could do. She was almost two thousand miles away.

"Take care of them, okay?" K said with a weak smile. "Bye Hayley."

"Kalli, wa-"

But K ended the call before Hayley could say anything else. K dropped the phone into her lap and again buried her face in her hands to steady her breath and her head.

Eventually, K pulled her hands away from her face, ignored the black blood on her palms and turned her hands over to look at the back. The color had saturated her fingertips and it was slowly creeping up her hands. Her brow furrowed and K found herself wondering if she even had the night.

The question of whether or not she would survive no longer mattered. Clearly she wasn't going to. The new question became how she planned to die. Was she going to sit there and wither away, or was she going to take matters into her own hands?

K looked around the room for something that might help her, but there was nothing. She couldn't even take off her necklace and burn in the sun because of the stone she put in her heart. Then her eyes fell to her chair. It was wood.

Lifting her hand up, K brought it down as hard as she could on the arm of the chair. The wood splintered, but did little else. It appeared her body had grown so weak she was barely stronger than a human. With a deep breath, she repeated the action and the arm came free. It toppled to the ground with the same hollow clack she expected from the element.

K bent over from her seated position –nearly falling- and grabbed the piece of splintered, broken wood. She stared at it, held it in her hand and felt the weight of what she wanted to do. K had never contemplated suicide, not really at least. There were times she was low like anyone else, but this was different. Was it really considered suicide if you were already dying? Without a hope of healing herself within a thousand miles, the stake was slowly becoming her only option.

Taking a breath, K raised the stake to her chest. She placed it just above her heart and pressed the jagged tip into her shirt. K's closed her eyes and felt her face twist into sadness. She took one steadying breath after another, counting internally until she would have the courage to do it.

She slowly pressed it harder and harder into her chest, struggled to pierce the skin and finish the job. She slammed her eyes closed tighter than before. Her hands began to shake and couldn't stop, even after she placed her palm against the butt of the wood. She ground her teeth and before she could stop it, K cried out. She hoped it would give her the strength, that the battle cry would help, but it didn't.

Her arms fell and along with them the stake. K opened her eyes and stared at the chunk of chair arm in her hand. She started to cry. She couldn't even do it when she knew it was more merciful than what was waiting for her.

Angrily, K threw the stake across the room and buried her face in her hands. K began to cry again.

Deaton heard her scream. He'd jogged towards the room thinking something was wrong, only to find her sitting where he'd left her with a stake in her hands. He felt fear shoot through him at the thought of what she'd do, but his worry ended when she tossed it away. Still, she remained in the seat crying and broken.

He walked into the room and knelt in front of her. K looked through her fingers and saw him staring sadly at her.

"It's going to be alright."

She could see the lie as plainly as he could, but she could also see that Deaton needed to believe it. K simply shook her head and showed him her hands. He took them gingerly into his own and examined the grey skin her fingers and the backs of her hands were now covered in.

"I'm dying." She told him simply. Deaton met her sad eyes. "We turn grey when we die."

"I'm aware." He said under his breath. "Is that what the stake's for?"

She nodded heavily. Her brows came together again and the tears returned. Deaton stared at the young woman who suddenly looked like a sickly little girl. She no longer looked like a confident woman, like a predator or a monster. She was nothing more than a frightened, ailing and dying child. It was heartbreaking.

"Let me help you." He finally said.

K nodded again.

~!~

Everything was setup for the following day. While Deaton was busy with the preparations, K was busy in the other room. She asked him for a few simple supplies that she wanted and he didn't question the request. She wanted paper, a pen, four single envelopes and a large manila envelope to mail them in. Being a clinic and an office, Deaton was more than capable of handing her what she needed. With everything in hand, K staggered to another room to write the letters she wanted to write.

She had a difficult time trying to figure out who she wanted to write first, but eventually the words began and she was able to create the letters she wanted to. She wrote to Elijah, forgiving him completely for what he'd done to her and wishing him the best of luck in everything he tried to do for his family. She told him she honestly hoped he succeeded in getting the family he wanted.

She wrote Hayley though that was much shorter. She told the wolf she was sorry for the misfortunes that befell her and that she hoped everything would come back around. She was sure to capitalize 'hope' just to ensure Hayley knew K meant her daughter.

She wrote Rebekah too. She told the blond she didn't blame her for trying to murder her a thousand years ago, that it didn't really matter and that she wished the two of them would have swallowed their pride sooner. K told her that Rebekah was perhaps the most resilient woman she'd ever met and that she pitied anyone stupid enough to go against the Viking.

Last came Klaus. His letter was the hardest to start, but it didn't seem to want to end once she'd begun. She had a lot to tell him, thank him for and condemn him for as well. She openly told him she hated him for sending her away considering what had transpired since she arrived in Beacon Hills. She 'yelled' at him for the better part of a whole page, front and back, before changing directions quickly. After finally airing her grievances with the hybrid, K told him how thankful she was. She told him everything she hadn't been able to when she was in New Orleans because everything was still so odd, foreign and chaotic. And she told him she loved him.

With a few tears gathering in her eyes, K folded each letter and slipped them into their respective envelopes with the name of who they were meant for written on the outside. She then dumped the sealed envelopes into the largest one and scribbled the address on the front. After sealing it too, she made her way back into the main examination room.

Deaton looked up as he finished hanging a clear bag of sedative from a stand. He noticed the objects in her hands and offered to take them from her.

"Can you mail that for me as soon as possible, please?"

"Of course." He nodded.

Deaton set the envelope aside just as someone else emerged from behind. K turned and noticed Scott. He smiled weakly at best and she returned the sentiment.

"What are you doing here?" she asked so softly he almost couldn't hear her speaking.

"Support." He said with a shrug that told her even he didn't know.

K let a smile grace her face. To her surprise, Scott wasn't alone. Standing over his shoulder was Stiles. Like every other time she'd seen him, he moved uncomfortably. He wouldn't even meet her eyes for very long which proved how nervous he was.

"Poor thing," K found herself saying as she pulled herself up onto the metallic table. Stiles looked up through his lashes to realize she was speaking to him. "God only knows how this looks to you."

"It's not that, it's just…" Stiles hesitated. His eyes darted around before settling on her again. "Are you seriously going to let them put you to sleep?"

"I'm not euthanizing her Stiles." Deaton sighed as he threaded a needle into the IV tubing. "It's a sedative so she can sleep."

K mused lightly to herself before presenting Stiles with her hands. He and Scott took steps closer to better see the grey that saturated her entire hand. K pulled back the sleeve of her shirt to the center of her bicep, revealing how high it had climbed. It nearly reached her elbow and even in the few seconds they stared, it seemed to crawl higher.

"I'm dying." She told him. "We turn grey like this when we die."

"So that's it? You're not going to do anything about it?"

"There's nothing to do." She told him honestly. "There's nothing here that can heal me fast enough. At this point, I'd need to drain someone else who can heal like me and I can't do that. I don't even have the strength to try." Her face fell and she dropped her arms. "This is where my story ends, I'm afraid."

"Is that stuff even going to work?"

He didn't know why he kept asking questions, or why he seemed so offended by someone he barely knew giving up, but he was. Stiles was having trouble comprehending her not fighting. After seeing how she helped everyone else without a second thought, he didn't understand how she couldn't do the same for herself. The truth was, she couldn't. Her only possible hope was in another city, in another state, two thousand miles away and had forbid her from returning.

"I don't know." Deaton replied honestly. He looked to K as she made herself as comfortable on the table as she could. "But with you being so weak, it might."

She gave his as reassuring a smile as she could manage and nodded. With his help, K laid down on the table and let him slip the needle into the same hole they'd been using for the blood, the one that hadn't healed since being opened. It only lent further proof to the fact that her body was giving up.

The sedative began to seep into her veins. K could feel it moving into her body and slowly taking the perpetual ache away. She'd been in pain since her body started to deteriorate, but had grown accustomed to it as the hours went by. Now, it was slowly fading and with it her awareness.

K's eyes began to drift and she slowly slipped into a sleep. Tears gathered in her eyes and began to fall softly down the sides of her face. She knew she'd never wake up, that she'd never see the sun again, or the moon, or the people she cared about. She was dying in a room of strangers without the people that meant the most to her. She came into the world the same way, so it made sad and logical sense that it would be the way she'd leave it too.

She slipped deeper and deeper into sleep while the others watched, helpless to stop it. As the minutes ticked by, it wasn't only the sedative that spread. They could see the grey take over her toes and slowly climb upward. It was beginning to move faster than before letting them know that whatever a vampire had for an immune system had given up completely. The veins in her arms and legs slowly began to rise and Deaton –the only one who'd seen a staked vampire- knew she had minutes at best.

As the room became stifling to the point half of its inhabitants wanted to leave, a thunderous boom echoed around them. The trio jumped, their nerves were immediately on end and before they could decipher where the sound had come from, they heard it again. The air shook from the force and when it came again, the door didn't stand a chance. It sailed into the room, passed Stiles and Scott and nearly hit the distant wall in the process.

Stunned, they turned their attention to the doorway that led to the alley. A figure loomed within the threshold.

"Get away from her." He hissed.