DISCLAIMER: I do not own anything.

Note: The beginning of this chapter in italics is a flashback.


"She's really gone, Niklaus…" Elijah spoke staring at the note Charmeine had left for him. His eyes, glistening red.

Had he been crying? No, he never cries. No, it was just lack of sleep. Klaus convinced himself.

"We will find her brother…" Klaus tried to assure his brother but his voice wasn't anywhere near confident.

He knew it for sure that his brother would be a lost cause without her and his mind was constantly yelling "I told you so, brother. I fucking told you so. Love makes you weak, makes you miserable. Look what love has done to you." But he chose to ignore it. He wouldn't taunt his own brother, not now, not when he was already down.

"My witches are on their way, we will try everything. I promise you, brother… I will do everything," Klaus continued when his brother didn't look up from the note. He was staring at it with such intensity, it was as if Elijah was expecting Charmeine to pop out of that note. It pained Klaus to look at his brother. He had never seen Elijah so vulnerable.

Rebekah was another mess Klaus didn't want to look at.

Kol had gone god knows where. That's what Kol did, the minute he felt any emotion, he'd run. He had turned his switch on and off so many times that it made Klaus wonder how he still had it.

But, what no one knew, was that… Klaus, underneath all the crap he gave Elijah about caring, he cared for Charmeine.

Klaus didn't like her in the starting. He didn't approve of her for obvious reasons. Angel and what not.

But lately, he had started to get used to the idea of her. Which, in Klaus language meant- he loved her and considered her family, not that he would ever admit to that.

She understood him. Sure, she didn't approve of his methods and scolded him every once in a while… but at the end of the day, she was always there for him…. even when his siblings weren't. And it hurt him that she had left without even saying goodbye.

What the fuck had happen for her to leave so abruptly?

Only two nights ago they had had a wonderful family dinner. Rebekah and Kol were throwing things at each other, Charmeine was cleaning up their mess and he was drinking wine with Elijah. It felt so normal. Everything was perfect. He had never seen Elijah so happy. They were a family again. What went wrong? Why? Why did she leave? Klaus' mind was asking questions he knew he would never get an answer to. Charmeine had left and willingly, it seemed.

Charmeine let go of Alaric and dropped him on the floor. Alaric laid there for a few seconds before trying to pull himself up. Just as he was about to stand up, Charmeine kicked him in the gut and he fell down again. He tried getting up few times after that and each time he was greeted by a kick to some different part of his body. Charmeine really was going out with the kicking.

Elijah just stood there, letting Charmeine deal with Alaric. He knew how much angry Charmeine was on Niklaus, and even though it wasn't Niklaus' body, it was his soul inside Alaric's body.

Damon was leaning on the edge of the table, watching his best friend get beaten to death. He was still confused about the Niklaus part, but that didn't stop him from helping his best friend out. He tried a few times to get Alaric out of Charmeine's vicious circle of kicking and falling down but Elijah was standing just behind Charmeine and he'd already stopped Damon twice. One more time and Elijah would gladly rip his heart out.

Stefan and Bonnie were on the far end of the room, watching the situation in front of them in pure horror. Bonnie tried a few spells to help Alaric, but nothing seemed to work. It was as if his body was already under some other witch's spell.

Stefan thought so too… because the way Charmeine kicked and beat Alaric… by now, Alaric should have been bleeding badly and lost his strength completely. But he wasn't. Yes, there were minor bruises and occasional bleed from the nose, but nothing more.

"Are you done sweetheart? Because this body isn't going to last the torture you've got on your mind. Tell you what, when I get back into my own body, you can beat me as much as you want, " Alaric smirked.

Elijah stepped ahead ready to drag Alaric with him,

"No," Charmeine whispered. Elijah looked back at her and he saw venom in her eyes.

"Let him get back to his own body. This human doesn't need to suffer for his cruelties," Charmeine spoke looking down at Alaric with disgust. It wasn't Alaric she was looking at; it was Klaus' soul.

Alaric finally mustered the strength to get up and wiped the blood from underneath his nose.

"Listen to me and you listen to me closely…" Charmeine hissed out every word slowly "… Next time I see you, you better come in your own body. You use one more human as a plaything and I swear I will personally make your life a living hell,"

"You can't touch me love. Nothing can kill me." Alaric smiled arrogantly.

Charmeine raised an eyebrow before vanishing. After a few seconds, she appeared in the living room, holding a very sleepy Elena by her arm.

"See this Nik, this- is your last chance at breaking the curse. Yes, I can't kill you… but I will kill her," Charmeine spoke while directing his gaze towards Elena.

Alaric froze for a second as he took Elena's appearance in. The Klaus in Alaric's body was actually awed by Elena's looks. She truly looked the same. Suddenly it hit him what Charmeine said and it feared him.

"You won't do that. You won't kill a human, it goes against everything you are," Alaric's voice was shaky and showed how much nervous he was.

"Try me, Nik. I don't give a shit about my job anymore,"

Elijah was standing by watching the conversation flow but Charmeine's words shocked him. The Charmeine he remembered would never say such a thing. She felt proud about being an angel. And as much as she loved breaking the rules, she would never kill an innocent human. What had happened to her?

"You do that and I will…"

"You will what? You have already Killed Bekah and Kol… who's next? Elijah? Huh?" Everyone present in the room could feel the anger vibrating of off Charmeine. All the composure she had was lost the minute she touched Alaric. Oh, she was royally pissed.

"YES! You kill my doppelganger and I will come after both of you," Alaric yelled in frustration.

Charmeine gave a sadistic laugh before stepping forward, her eyes at level with Alaric's,

"You do that," She spoke before grabbing Elena and teleporting both of them out of the Salvatore house.

Alaric cursed under his breath and looked at Elijah, who was actually pretty calm about this whole thing.

"Brother, I swear to god… if anything happens to my doppelganger, I will make her pay. You better rein your woman in or I am going to kill her," Alaric gnarled.

Elijah walked towards Alaric and slammed his hand into Alaric's chest. Tightening his grip around his heart, he spoke slowly into his ear,

"Do not make any threats against her Niklaus. I would gladly kill the doppelganger myself, should you cross us again," With that, Elijah pulled his hand out and walked out of the house, all the while wiping his hands clean of the blood.

Alaric was breathing heavily, clutching at his chest, which was healing very slowly. With his eyes full of rage, he started to walk out the door with a heavy limp.

Damon and Bonnie were too much in shock to comprehend what just happened in front of them.

Stefan was already worried and was pacing around because Elena was gone and he was pretty sure Charmeine was going to kill her.

Right now, it seemed like Elena was never going to make it back alive.

If Charmeine didn't kill her before, Klaus would definitely kill her during the sacrifice.

"Just another normal day in Mystic Falls…." Stefan heard Damon murmur and with that, Damon was gone leaving a very stunned Stefan and Bonnie behind.