Bonnie stops walking and takes in her surroundings. The last time she was in this abandoned home was when she opened the door, enabling the Other Side entrance to their living world. It is still the same – cast in to shadows, decaying walls, cobwebbed and downright creepy... Unfathomable whispers urge her forward; her heeled shoes click against the distrusted wooden floorboards as she searches for the source of the sounds. Beams of light enter the darkened rooms that she walks through as the boards on the windows are slightly broken; they are the only source of light that she has, and even then everything is difficult to make out.
Eventually, her brown eyes are cast upon a dirty once-white wooden door – her fingers enclose the cold iron handle... She hesitates for a moment but pushes her fear aside and enters and comes across a narrow staircase. The Salem descendent makes her way down and in to the basement... Admiring the four caskets that are placed within the room. The largest one catches her eye, and like a moth to a flame she makes her way over... She has been sucked in to a trance like state that she desperately wants to break free of. She kneels down slightly and heaves the dust-covered coffin open.
Klaus. There he is - laid in the suit he had worn for the Homecoming dance that took place weeks ago. He looks still, but slight twitches from his eyes and lips prove to her that he is just sleeping... She looks at the two hands held to his heart to see the Original Witches necklace intertwined with his fingers, its delicate antique locket rests on the top of his hands. Despite her horror, she reaches down, her hand is shaking at the fear of him awakening but she feels like she needs the necklace... She almost has it, but a floorboard creaks from behind her. She gasps and turns around, but the horror of being discovered sends her whole body in to a mode of panic!
Her eyes fly open; she sits up in her bed and tries to calm her racing heart with deep breaths.
...
Evelyn's eyes flutter open to the sound of hammers and drills. She growls in frustration but decides that it is better to get up rather than silently pray that the builders will shut up. Throwing the quilts aside, she slips off of the double bed – the only furniture within the room – and makes her way to her suitcase... The sad excuse of a house is not much, but she wants to be here... She wants to be with Klaus. After pulling on some black sweats, a navy-blue vest top and a pair of white trainers she ties her curled hair up in to a pony tail and heads upstairs to help with the building. She has nothing better to do.
"Good morning," Mindy grabs a brown paper bag and a thermos before handing them to the doppelganger.
"Hey," Evelyn replies, eyeing the Hybrid carefully before taking the food and coffee. "Where is Klaus?"
"Out; he has business to tend to," Klaus' minion replies, "Now if you'll excuse me, I have workers to compel. Don't leave, he told me to keep an eye on you."
"Yes master," Evelyn replies sarcastically before rolling her eyes – the Hybrid just glares at her before walking off. Once she is out of view she makes her way outside on to the extravagant outside grounds of the mansion Klaus acquired about a week ago, finding her car at the end of the path. Car keys in hand, she runs to it as fast as she can, closing the door quietly behind her before starting up the engine – she speeds out of the place as fast as she can, her stomach lurching as the speed sends her head reeling, but if she doesn't speed then Mindy will realize she has gone and probably end up catching up to her... Ignoring the fact that she is dressed in sweats, she continues to drive until she makes it further in to town, stopping in the centre of Mystic Falls. If she knows Klaus as well as she thinks then he will probably be here to chat with Damon, Elena, Ric or whoever else is presumably in the Grill.
Evelyn enters and immediately scans the bar for a familiar face or two. The place is quite busy but she is able to slip through the crowd and make her way to the darts zone, she spots Tony heading towards the bar and then Klaus' back... And then Elena and Damon – both of them look terrified. Evie knows that they will have being anticipating Klaus' revenge, but not in a place like this. The doppelganger has been talking him out of it for weeks, but obviously she hasn't been able to stop the inevitable – just prolong it. She does not feel any better about doing so... She should have just let him do this from the start. He won't kill them; it is her only comfort as she makes her way over to them and clears her throat, making her presence known. Klaus turns, knowing who it is immediately... he looks over her appearance and grins.
"Planning on decorating, love?"
"What're you doing here?" She snaps, ignoring his carefree attitude as she meets his lively blue/green eyes with a glare.
"Getting what I want."
"You're not going to hurt them, love." She snaps, hissing the last word with anything but affection. He chuckles and reaches up to stroke her cheek, his grin becomes a seductive smirk as he does so.
"Have I ever told you that you look simply ravishing when you are angry?"
Suddenly, the whole atmosphere between them changes. Electricity seems to be passing through the air; the familiar feeling of lust has her gnawing on her lower lip... His touch sends shivers down her spine and the possessive look in his eyes sets her insides on fire. As if he is just that, she quickly pushes his hand away and takes a big step away from him... No.
"Klaus," She says his name pointedly, scolding him for his constant hints. He has been at this for a while, now – giving her 'innocent' hints, telling her with his eyes that he wants her... And want her he does. It has been long enough, he thinks that, anyway, but Evelyn is still... Uncertain.
"I didn't come here to watch you two eye-rape each other," Damon sighs, "Just tell us what you want and get it over with."
"My sister seems to be missing," Klaus says, turning to Damon with an irritated glare. "I need to sort that out."
"A cute blonde bombshell psycho shouldn't be too hard to find," Damon replies, his face is now void of any emotions but Elena looks wary. Evelyn manages to make eye contact with her, but Elena glares at her and looks away. Guilt momentarily consumes her.
"Truth is," Klaus starts walking closer to Damon, "I've grown to rather like your little town... I think I might fancy a home here," He plucks the darts from Damon's clenched fist and walks towards the dart board. "Now I imagine you're wondering 'how does this affect you?'" The Hybrid chuckles, "the answer is 'not in the slightest', as long as I get what I want and everyone behaves themselves you can go on living your little lives however you chose." He turns back to Elena and gives her a sarcastic smile, "you have my word."
"What more could you possibly want from them, Klaus?" Evelyn comes to stand in front of her Vampire friend and doppelganger sister almost protectively, "They have been through enough – this has nothing to do with them."
"They can tell me where I might find Stefan," He points out, stepping past Evie to stand in front of Elena.
"Stefan skipped town the second he saved your ass," Damon explains, coming to stand in front of Elena.
"You see, that is a shame," Klaus aims one of the darts at his wanted target and throws it, the small, sharp object hits the small dark circle in the middle of the board – a bull's eye. The others all take note of this precision; Elena takes a sharp, shaky breath as she watches him turn around, his eyes blaze with anger as he meets Damon's gaze. "Your brother stole from me... I need him found so I can take back what's mine." He almost growls the sentence; nobody can miss the hint of desperation in his tone. He needs to find them, who knows what Stefan will do with them? Evelyn steps in to him, intertwining their fingers. Klaus' eyes remain on Damon; his brow has furrowed in confusion.
"That sounds like a Klaus and Stefan problem," Elena replies confidently, earning a disbelieving look from the Hybrid. His patience thin, he releases Evelyn's hand and begins to walk over to her but Damon steps in the way before he can even attempt to intimidate or harm her. Klaus looks at the predatory young Vampire with a cunning laugh, mocking him with his eyes. As quick as he threw the dart, he leans in to Elena and turns serious.
"Well here's me broadening the scope, sweetheart." Elena's eyes meet his burning gaze and she looks away, taking another deep breath to calm her nerves. Klaus thrives off of her obvious fear, grinning at her as she does so.
"Come on, Klaus," Evelyn hisses, signalling that this is the end of the conversation. Klaus steps back and looks over at her, shrugging as his features go from a smirk to an innocent expression. Evelyn rolls her eyes and continues to glare at him, and at that moment Tony returns with two glasses of liquor.
"Thank you, mate," He murmurs before turning away and stepping closer to his girlfriend, "We'll be over by the bar, love. I'll tell you when we're leaving."
"Who said I'm going with you?" Evelyn replies just as confidently as Elena had before. The Hybrid chuckles, keeping his eyes on her defiant ones. She gets on her tiptoes and quickly presses a kiss to his lips, and once she has pulled away that same needy look that appeared earlier is back in his eyes.
"Fine," He whispers, "Whenever you're ready." Klaus gestures for Tony to follow him and both Hybrids walk away, leaving Evelyn to wonder if he was talking about being ready to leave the Grill or... Ready for something else.
"You may as well go with him," Elena hisses. "I have nothing to say to you."
"Elena, please let me explain," Evie begs as she turns to stalk away from her. Damon picks up his darts, deciding to stay out of this – Elena will do whatever she needs to do.
"Explain what? That you prefer being with him... That after everything you still love him?"
"Elena..." Evelyn's eyes begin to sting as tears threaten to fill them. Elena's brown eyes are full of so much hate and anger... She is her sister: the only family member that she has left. She cannot lose her too; she was so worried about losing her to death that she did not even consider that she could lose her any other way, not even emotionally. By staying with Klaus she has sacrificed her relationship with her sister – Elena cannot trust Evie and Evie definitely has not been here for her... When she has needed her the most...
"You can't have both, Evelyn... You're with Klaus and that means that I can't trust you... You just left! I woke up one morning and you were gone..." Elena's eyes fill with tears, mirroring her sisters. "How do you think I felt?"
"I'm the worst sister ever, I know and I'm so, so sorry-"
"Don't apologize," Elena hisses, "You're just like him, you can apologize all you want but you'll just do it again. You love him and as much as you try to explain I'm never going to understand..." She wipes her tears away and grinds her teeth, ignoring just how pitiful and desperate her sister's eyes are. "I didn't think that anything could come between family, but this has... He has. Your choice is more than clear."
Evelyn stops cold, her heart breaks at those words as Elena shoves past her and out of the Grill doors. She meets Damon's eyes as the tears spill from her eyes; he merely shakes his head at her in pity before going after Elena. She wants to chase after her and tell her that she needs her: to explain just how sorry she is for neglecting her the way she has, but what use will that be? Elena needed her and she wasn't around, why should Elena forgive her? Evelyn does not deserve her forgiveness...
"Elena will come around," Klaus murmurs, causing Evelyn to turn around from the spot she froze in. Her guilt and hurt mix in to one, and because she cannot take all of the emotions she is feeling she just glares at him.
"This is your fault," She snaps tearfully. "If you didn't kill my family then none of this would have happened!"
"Evelyn," Klaus growls, her anger flares his own temper. "Don't start blaming me for something you did, that will fix nothing."
"Don't you dare tell me how to handle anything, you're much worse than I am when it comes to family," Evie goes to storm out of the Grill but Klaus grabs her arm before she can make it past him, when her eyes meet his she notices the hint of hurt... She hurt him. She's hurt everyone. "Just let me go, I want to leave."
"Then let's go," He hisses.
"No, I want to be alone..." She keeps eye contact with him, reading the determination and disagreement – and sadness. "Klaus get off of me or I'm going to make a scene."
"Just try it," He scoffs.
"Oh, is that a threat? You're threatening me? Is the 'big bad wolf' going to hurt me?" She laughs sarcastically, knowing full well that she just quoted Mikael, "You don't scare me, sweetheart."
"Don't get so sure of yourself," Klaus snaps icily, complete rage clear in every inch of his body language and voice. She can feel his hand shaking with it. "You just crossed a line... Look what happened to my family when they crossed that line."
"Then don't threaten me and let me go," She snaps, "I'm not one of your minions, I am your girlfriend, you can't order me to do something, threaten me and expect me to do it. Now get off of me and leave me alone."
Klaus glares at her for another moment and then unwillingly releases his grip on her arm, watching as she storms out of the restaurant without looking back. She is way too angry to feel guilty about it, right now. Besides, it wasn't all one-sided. He was being a dick.
...
"Hey, Tyler," Evelyn greets her friend as she climbs out of her car, now dressed in tight grey skinny jeans, black ankle boots and a tight fitted black t-shirt; her hair is now down, making her look like Katherine's double... Which, of course, she is.
"Evelyn," Tyler sends a nod her way; she stops short when she notices his sad expression.
"Is everything ok?" She asks, concerned.
"Caroline broke up with me because she's pre-judged the whole 'sired' thing," He replies, "And now it seems that everyone else is, too."
"I'm so sorry," She looks down at the ground, her own sadness is doubled by this news. They had really loved each other; it's such a shame to see this tear them apart... But it was caused by Klaus – it is a well known fact that everything Klaus touches, he breaks. "But don't let it get to you too much, I'm sure she'll get over it. You have an eternity to win her back," She sing-songs, making him laugh lightly.
"True," He grins. "Thanks."
"No problem," She replies, her own smile fades from her lips as she looks up at the Gilbert's home. "Do you know if Elena's in? She made it pretty clear that I'm no longer welcome here, earlier, but-"
"You're not giving up," He finishes her sentence for her and then smiles. "Good, I'm sure that she'll appreciate that, even if she doesn't accept any apologies. Elena is very stubborn but she is also very loyal – you just need to give her time; prove to her that she can trust you and you're good to go."
"You seem to know her well," Evie notices.
"I have known her my whole life," Tyler explains. Some sort of focus seems to fade from his expression, after that. Evelyn watches him closely as his eyes become glassy and distant, just seconds later she hears what he must have been listening to.
"Yo, Tyler, come on in!"
Tyler gestures for Evelyn to follow, so she quickly runs up the porch steps and enters the house after him. Elena turns an angry glare on Jeremy before noticing that Evelyn is there, too. Tyler heads straight to the kitchen and takes a seat at the table, but Evie keeps her eyes locked on her sisters. Alaric watches the two girls, sensing the tension between them. Elena filled him in on what happened earlier.
"Did I not make myself clear?" She growls, clenching her hands in to fists as she does.
"You made yourself perfectly clear, but I can't leave it like that, Elena," Evelyn replies sadly. "Please don't hate me... Can we talk upstairs?"
"What's the point? Even if Ric and Jer can't hear what we're saying, Tyler will be able to," She replies.
"Fine," Evie inhales and exhales, pushing away her uncertainty before speaking, "You were right – I am like Klaus, but only in some ways... I could never do what he did to his family, just the thought of hurting you..." She shakes her head, "I couldn't, ok? Just know that I would never go through with anything bad that Klaus asked of me. I know him and I know how to look after myself... So if you're worried about me then don't be – you can still trust me, but don't try to kill him."
"It's the only way," Elena spits.
"You're wrong, now you're talking like Klaus – he would say the same thing about killing you, Jenna, Mom and... And Dad," her voice shakes slightly as sadness forms a lump in her throat. "'It was the only way to break the curse.'"
"What are you trying to prove? You started off sane but now you're defending him again!" Elena yells, "That is exactly what I am talking about!"
"I'm not trying too; I just want you to see what I am going through... I know you won't understand, but I wish you could." Evie feels the tears fall from her eyes yet again as she walks closer to Elena, feeling hope blossom within her as she notices that Elena did not move back. "I don't want to lose you... I can't... But I can't lose Klaus, either. I know you said I can't have both my sister and my boyfriend, and believe it or not you do mean more to me, but I still can't pull myself away from whatever I have with him... I love him, Elena. I know you think he's a monster but there really is a man in there, he feels and he cares... He loves me; I know he does."
Elena's eyes are filled with uncertainty and mistrust, but they are also filled with sadness and tears – this is tearing her apart just as much as it is Evie. Evelyn wraps her arms around her sister and Elena hesitantly returns the hug, Evelyn cannot help but smile tearfully as she does so.
"Thanks, Elena. I can't promise that I won't let you down but I'm always here for you, no matter what." She pulls back and looks her in the eyes; eyes that resemble her own so very much, "We're family. Family comes first." Elena just nods and smiles back and then proceeds to take her hand and pull her in to the kitchen with her. When they arrive Ric is stood at the kitchen counters, Tyler is sat down and Jeremy is setting the table. Elena instantly senses the awkward mood... Evelyn slowly sinks in to a chair whilst Elena stands behind one, folding her arms as she does.
"This is weird," She murmurs. "Klaus has Hybrids stalking me and now you're just sitting in our kitchen."
"Look, maybe I should go," Tyler mumbles to Jeremy, but Jeremy places his hand on his shoulder to stop him.
"Aww, stay – we're not doing anything," Jeremy murmurs, looking pointedly at Elena.
"Unless you have to, you know, check in with your Hybrid master." Elena adds sarcastically. Evelyn feels the need to defend Tyler, but Elena's temper with her is already on a fine line – family is more important, she reminds herself. Tyler just laughs.
"It's not like that, Elena," He chuckles as Jeremy and Alaric take a seat of their own – Jeremy sits on Tyler's right whilst Alaric sits on his left, at the head of the table.
"Tell me, Tyler, what is the difference between being sired and being compelled?" Alaric asks, his interest being piqued at the answer. Evelyn finds herself being fascinated with his reply – she has being wanting to ask for a while, now, but has somehow managed to talk herself out of doing so every time.
"Compulsion... That's just mind control, like hypnosis, and being sired is... It's like faith; you do something because you believe it's the right thing." Tyler explains, trying his very best to find a way to put what he feels in to words.
"So you 'believe' that serving Klaus is the 'right thing'?" Elena asks, disbelieving him. Tyler realizes his explanation was not the best, so he tries to redeem himself.
"I don't serve him," He shakes his head, "Klaus released me from a curse that was ruining my life. I owe him for that."
"Well, what if he asked you to, uh... Jump off a bridge?" Ric asks, theoretically speaking.
"He wouldn't!" Tyler stammers, "And even if he did I would be fine – I'm a Hybrid," He reminds Ric.
"Okay, so what if he asked you to rip your own heart out?" Elena asks. Everyone watches as Tyler's irritation increases, he grinds his teeth before answering, his tone increases in volume.
"Again he wouldn't!"
"What if he did?" Elena repeats, raising her own tone's volume.
"I don't know, then I'd rip out my heart!" Tyler growls, shouting the words at her before looking at both Ric and Elena's disgusted and shocked expressions. "You guys sound like Caroline! You're getting all freaked out over something you don't understand."
"You're right, Tyler, I don't understand!" Elena looks down at Evelyn, who also looks disgusted, and realizes that she is not misunderstanding this. Evelyn is Klaus' girlfriend and even she is disgraced! "Klaus has terrorised every single one of us and you're just blindly loyal to him!"
"You're over-thinking it, I can still make my own decisions," he replies in a calmer tone before sighing. "Look, can we leave it, please? I've still not fully figured it all out myself, yet... But I'm still me."
"Fine," Elena mumbles, taking the seat to the left of Evie – across from Tyler. Evelyn wracks her brain for something not Vampire or Hybrid related to talk about as everyone begins eating. Something normal... Something human.
"So, Elena, Jer, Ty... I've never heard about your childhood. Tell me about it."
...
Damon pours some of his best Bourbon Whiskey in to two glasses and then hands one of them over to the last person he expected to have a drink with – Klaus. They are in the Salvatore Boarding house, the library, to be precise.
"Cheers, mate," Klaus raises his glass to the Salvatore brother.
"Down the hatch," Damon replies before downing the glass – Klaus merely takes a sip before speaking once more.
"You know we've actually got a lot in common, you and I."
"Really? Well yeah, maybe we can bond over our mutual loathing of my brother and our love for the doppelganger duo," Klaus smiles in humour but says nothing. "Why are you so mad? At Stefan, I mean – he stole something?"
"My family," Klaus replies seriously. "The Originals. I had them daggered and boxed up, awaiting the day when I saw fit to wake them and he went in and pinched the bloody lot." He laughs once, the sound lacks humour of any kind. Damon chuckles.
"Of course he did, ah, such a buzz kill, my baby bro." The Salvatore brother turns away from the window and continues to walk around the room. "Well, I'd love to find him; the trouble is that I sure as hell don't work for you." Klaus smirks at this; he turns around to look at the cocky young Vampire.
"You know your drink stinks of vervain so I can't compel you, there would be no point killing you because you're actually the one with the most hope of getting me what I need, and yet it would seem that a demonstration is in order. Perhaps I wasn't clear enough when I told you to find Stefan... Oh well, it seems you people respond best to displays of violence," Klaus pulls his iPhone out of his jacket pocket while he speaks, "why don't you take this as an example of my reach." He holds the phone up to his ear and smiles when Jeremy picks up. "There he is! So that thing I told you to do... Why don't you go ahead and get on with it."
...
"What was that about?" Elena asks as Jeremy makes his way back to the dinner table.
"It was nothing," He replies, returning to his seat.
"I gotta go," Tyler murmurs as he stands, "until next time." He exists hastily, sending a wave of unease through Evelyn. Something is going down, she thinks to herself. But no – she does not want to think about Klaus right now.
"Help do the dishes," Elena nudges Evie who just nods and begins collecting the used plates and carrying them over to the sink. Ric sighs and gets out of his own seat to pour himself some more red wine and help the twins out.
"So, Tyler Lockwood is a lunatic who has access to our house," Elena mumbles as she begins to fill the sink with warm water.
"I mean this whole sire-bond-thing is... Wild; I don't even think Tyler is fully aware of what little reason lays behind what he's saying, it's his weird co-logic."
"It's not just Tyler, it's all of them." Evelyn adds, bitterly and angrily, "Mindy, Tony... They are all blindly loyal to him. I've seen Klaus threaten people to get what he wants but this is something entirely different – it's like they enjoy spoiling him."
"Are you ok?" Ric asks, frowning at the curly-haired doppelganger who exhales to calm herself.
"Yeah, I had an argument with Klaus earlier... It didn't end so well. Stupid Hybrids, they all think they are so powerful. They forget that a wooden stake would shut them up," She snaps.
"Well, great. That's a wonderful influence for you Jer-" But when Elena turns around Jeremy is not there. The other two follow the movement and then frown, noticing that he is gone.
"Huh?" Evie murmurs.
"Jeremy?" Elena calls, looking around. Something catches Ric's eye on the table – he begins to panic.
"That's his ring!" Ric snaps; Evelyn picks it up to check and sure enough he's right.
"Where did he go?" Elena asks, following Ric as he heads outside. The same uneasy feeling Evie had earlier returns – suddenly she is pulling out her cell phone and calling Klaus.
"I'd rather not speak with you, right now." He growls.
"What're you up to, Klaus? I swear to god if you hurt anyone else I will-"
"JEREMY!" Evie jumps at Ric shouting her cousin's name; she quickly hangs up and rushes outside as fast as she can. Elena repeats Jeremy's name and when Evie gets outside she sees what has them so afraid – Jeremy is stood in the middle of the road as a black car speeds towards him.
"JEREMY MOVE!" She screams, running as fast as she can to try and do something – anything. Alaric ends up shoves the sixteen-year-old out of the way but ends up getting hit by the car, himself. The sound of tires screeching and glass shattering resounds through the street as his body connects with the windshield, Ric's body tumbles off of the front of the car and rolls over a couple of times before stopping face-down in the middle of the road... He has cuts and bruises all over his body. Elena and Evelyn are left furious and gasping in the air that they had been holding in their lungs the whole time. Elena reacts before Evie, rushing over to Ric and rolling him on to his back. She feels for a pulse in his throat but there is nothing; the car stops beside her and the window rolls down to show Tony, the Hybrid she had seen in the bar earlier on.
"There I go again, bumping in to people," He chuckles before driving off. Elena is still panting for air and is beyond enraged but she just grabs Ric's hand and checks for his ring instead of doing something stupid. Relief washes through her as she realizes that he has the ring on. Jeremy is disorientated but he stands up, when he sees the state that Ric is in he rushes over and kneels beside him. "He's going to be alright – are you okay?" Elena asks, holding his face in her hand as she checks him over.
"I don't understand..." Jeremy murmurs.
"Who was that on the phone, earlier!" Elena does not ask, she demands. Jeremy thinks back for a moment, and then realization crosses his features.
"It was Klaus!"
Elena is shaking now and so close to crying, but she refuses to until they have Ric back inside. "We've got to get him inside, help me!" Jeremy nods and the pair of them lift Ric until Jeremy has him over his shoulder, once he has the teenager quickly carries their teacher and guardian inside. Elena goes to follow them in but then she remembers that Evie is still stood on the sidewalk, paralysed with fear... Her face is contorted in to a look of hate, anger and pain. Elena walks over to her and places her hands on Evie's shoulders.
"Hey, he'll be fine – his ring will bring him back," She soothes her.
"I know that," She sobs, "But its Klaus... I didn't think he'd do that... No..." Evie cannot hold it in. After everything he said about not wanting to kill her Father and cause her so much pain, he was about to do it all over again! Jeremy is her cousin and Klaus was going to kill him just to send a message? She begins to cry, the feeling of being betrayed breaks her heart. Elena pulls her sister back in to the house and comforts her, wishing that there was something she could do to ease her pain.
At least she has realized the monster he really is, Elena thinks to herself as she hugs Evie tightly.
...
"Here he is!" Klaus calls as he spots Tyler walking towards himself and Mindy, "The man of the hour!"
"So, everything went ok?" He asks, admiring the work that the builders have been doing.
"Tony ran down Alaric instead of Jeremy but apples, oranges, message lands the same," He replies with a successful smile. Tyler's expression becomes angry as he meets his sire's eyes.
"You said you were sending them a warning," Tyler snaps.
"And I did: an effective one. If Elena's family suffer she is motivated to get me what I want," Klaus explains as if almost killing Jeremy and killing Alaric meant nothing more than a pet fish dying.
"I didn't think that we'd actually have to kill anyone," Tyler growls. Klaus realizes that his Hybrid still cares for human life; he sighs as if this is awkward for him and places a patronizing hand on Tyler's shoulder.
"Tyler, mate, what you're feeling is the remnant of a guilty conscience, I need you to get over it, ok? At the end of the day human life is just a means to an end; our means to our end – you do well to remember that." He explains, tutoring his Hybrid the best way he sees fit. Tyler stares off in to space, lost in his own thoughts. Klaus just smiles and walks.
What about when it comes to his human girlfriend? Tyler wonders...
...
Elena enters Evelyn's bedroom with a pair of her PJ's for her to borrow for the night. The straight-haired doppelganger closes the door behind her and looks over at her sister – she is sat on the bottom of the perfectly tidy bed and staring off in to space, her cheeks are still damp and her usually pretty chocolate brown eyes are red and puffy. She is a mess and she does not even care, anymore. She just wants to sleep and wake up to find that Alaric is ok, all of the Hybrids are gone and that Klaus... Well, she doesn't even know. She loves him so much but he has hurt her so much... He may kiss her and open up to her but when she doesn't give him what he wants he threatens her, and that is not the kind of relationship that Evie wants with anyone, least of all her boyfriend. Although he has been patient about one thing... Maybe it is only when it comes to family? Even so, that is still not an excuse. Killing her family is not an excuse.
"I know asking if you're ok would be pretty stupid right now," Elena practically whispers as she sits beside her. "Are you sure you don't want to go and sort this out?"
"Not yet," Evie replies shakily, her voice on the brink of sobs. "I don't know what I can say that won't get a bad reaction out of him."
"Has he ever hurt you?" Elena asks, immediately jumping to conclusions.
"No, no! He would never do that, Elena," Evie defends in such a way that Elena actually believes her. "He really does love me, but he doesn't know how to handle it... He thinks being gentle physically is all there is to it but there is so much more – he cannot go round killing my family and expect me to forgive him for that."
"I know," Elena nods. "And I get it... You love him, and I don't get why but I know it's not going to change." The doppelganger sighs and shifts her position slightly, "Just like me and Stefan."
"You found him?" Evie gasps, turning her head to look at her in disbelief. Elena nods.
"Yeah, I spoke to him... I tried to talk him in to giving Klaus his coffins back but he refused, even when I told him that Klaus tried to kill Jeremy." Tears fill her eyes but her jaw tenses, Evelyn can see that Elena is holding the tears back. "I hit him. I tried, Evie, I really did but Stefan is hell bent on getting his revenge... Even if it gets us all killed."
"I don't understand!" Evie growls, standing up in frustration and beginning to pace the length of the room. "Stefan told Klaus that if he kills everyone then he'll never see his family again, so why is he doing this!"
"Wait, Stefan said that?"
"Yes, I was the one speaking to him when he said that!" Evie yells, "Why is Klaus being so stupid...?" The doppelganger glances at the alarm clock on the nightstand and inhales deeply. "I have to go talk some sense in to him."
"Are you sure that's a good idea? You seem pretty pissed off with him right now," Elena murmurs uncertainly.
"Elena, I could quite happily kill him right now, but if I don't then we're going to lose someone who we care about – have you got any better ideas?"
"He's already proved that he does not care whether or not he kills our family and friends so what will talking to him about it achieve?" Elena yells.
"He might listen to me!"
"Are you sure, or is that just wishful thinking?" Evelyn stops, staring Elena in the eyes. Elena can see that her words have really hurt Evie but she had to get through to her – it's the truth. "Evelyn, you know I'm right, he just doesn't care... He cares about you because he loves you, he cares about protecting my life because he wants to use my blood but he doesn't care about anything else apart from his family... He's never going to protect ours just because you care about them; that is something he doesn't care about, no matter how much it hurts you."
"I know that," She whispers as tears slide down her cheeks. "I know that all of this is wrong, I just wish it wasn't."
"But it is," Elena places her hands on Evelyn's arms and meets her eyes – they are glistening with tears, "You have to accept that... Klaus killed our family, he has taken so much from us and he won't stop – he'll continue until he gets his way. That's who he really is, you have to stop telling yourself otherwise because it's all lies and deep down you know it... You always have."
Evelyn nods and takes a very shaky breath, wiping her tears away as she does so. Once she has calmed herself down she pulls her cell phone out of her pocket, "We need to give Rebekah back to Klaus."
"Are you crazy? If we do that then Klaus will hate you – he'll know that you kept this from him!" Elena snaps.
"I know that," She nods, "But it'll make it easier for me, Elena... Please do this for me."
Elena takes Evelyn's phone and presses the call button.
...
Elena hears the two very clear knocks on the front door and takes a few steps towards it, opening it up a little slower than usual as fear sends chills down her spine. Klaus is there, his eyes glisten with that same menacing look he always has. He is smirking, Elena idly wonders if he thinks that he has won his little game.
"Thank you for coming," She keeps her face void of emotions, but really she is scared. Klaus has always scared her, and now Damon is not around he scares her even more... They are at the Salvatore Boarding house – he can enter without permission... Although what she is about to do wouldn't work if he couldn't come in the house. Ignoring her thanks, he shoves past her and then stands in the hallway, not facing her whilst he speaks.
"I trust you have news of Stefan," He murmurs.
"I couldn't find him," Klaus turns to face her at this, confusion evident in his expression. "But I have something else."
The Hybrid can see the worry that is begging to control Elena, right now, but it seems that she refuses to let it. She gestures for him to follow her and he does as she wishes, walking through the hallways of the extravagant Salvatore home before coming to a seemingly secret door – Elena opens it up and leads him down a flight of stairs, they come up to a wooden door and the doppelganger shoves it open, walking straight inside. Klaus stands at the doorway and looks down, pity and sadness overwhelms him as he sees her in what was probably her homecoming dress... Daggered, grey and lifeless, face down on the ground.
"My poor sister, I can't turn my back on her for a moment."
"You have Rebekah," Klaus meets Elena's eyes. "A deal is a deal."
"The life of my sister in exchange for the life of your brother, yeah, I'd say that's a bargain." He walks towards her and it takes everything Elena has to not run. He smirks ever-so-slightly at her fear. "Consider him spared."
"You should know that I'm the one who daggered her," Klaus glares at her in anger, "When she wakes she'll come after me."
"I can control Rebekah," He replies, kneeling down beside her before he speaks again. "Besides, I still need your help finding Stefan." He looks up at her with a teasing smirk, Elena scoffs.
"I already told you I don't know where he is."
Klaus looks down at his sister and then reaches for the dagger; he pulls it from her lifeless body and then sighs. "You're lying... Fortunately you have no shortage of loved ones; if I don't find my family the question you should be asking yourself is 'who's going to die next?' Bonnie, Caroline." He looks up at her with a knowing smirk, "Damon." He stands with the dagger in hand and steps closer to her, "It's only a matter of time before Stefan gives me what I want."
Elena smiles slightly in disbelief and shakes her head, "He doesn't care about me anymore," Klaus looks confused as Elena continues, "You made sure of that. You turned him in to a monster... Now he's your problem... And just so you know, I'm not the only one Rebekah wants dead – she knows what you did to your Mother."
Elena sees something that Evelyn has been trying to get her to see for so long, in that moment. She sees emotion – sadness, disbelief... She sees that Klaus is heartbroken by this. Elena has got to him, and for that she actually feels quite proud of herself. She gives him a sarcastic, pitiful laugh before walking out of the room. He turns to look at her over his shoulder. "You can let yourself out," She adds.
"Wait," Klaus is suddenly in front of her, she gasps as she suddenly walks straight in to him and then stumbles back a little bit; fear causes her heartbeat to increase its pace. "Evelyn... Did she know about this?"
"Yes," Elena nods. "Evelyn knows everything from you killing your Mother to me daggering Rebekah. She was the one who told Rebekah."
...
Evelyn hears Klaus speaking to Rebekah's lifeless body, the sounds of her footsteps and his voice are all that can be heard throughout the large home he has bought for himself, Evelyn and his family. He is heartbroken. Klaus has fought for one thousand years for this moment – falling in love, getting rid of Mikael and spending the rest of time with his family... But that is all gone, now. Evelyn has betrayed him, Rebekah wants him dead and once she tells their brothers then they will want the same thing... How could she do this? He knows that the question is not a good one but he still wants to ask it, anyway. He has done much worse to her; he should have expected this... But he did not. Not from her. Of course he can sense her presence, but he knows what is coming... He wants to prolong the inevitable because despite everything he loves her so much.
Evie hears his shaking breaths and decides to enter the room, taking in the scene before her. There are various pieces of old wallpaper that has been taken off of the walls on the floor, leaving the walls an odd green/grey colour. The ground is covered in dust, wooden panelling is stood where the builders are presumably going to put walls in and two red ladders are stood by the doorway and by the far wall. Planks of wood are scattered across the ground of the room, and in the centre there is a makeshift wooden table that Rebekah's grey, lifeless body is laid on... The dagger is in her heart, only it is the front this time.
"You've daggered her again," Evelyn notes from the doorway, looking over at her boyfriend as she does. Klaus' eyes are on the outside world, he is stood by the far window, his whole body stiffens as she speaks and his shaking breaths stop.
"Yes, well, we're better off that way... For now."
Evelyn does not need to see his expression to know that he is beyond angry and upset. She takes her hands out of her jean pockets and walks in to the centre of the room, standing besides Rebekah's dead body but refusing to look away from Klaus. This has being killing her, she wants to scream out of sadness and frustration but that will fix nothing... Klaus no longer trusts her and she no longer trusts him, so where does that leave them? Evelyn knows that she should be speaking these thoughts aloud, but... She can't do this.
"Klaus," She whispers as tears fill her eyes once again. "I know you hate me, but please look at me."
As she asks, he turns from the window until he is facing her. A damp path of tears is clear even in the dim, silvery light from the moon. Just as she admires him, he admires her. He sees the tears glistening in her beautiful doe-like eyes but he cannot bring himself to comfort her right now, he is far too angry... But all they have to do is look at one another to know exactly what they are thinking, she goes to run to him but he is already there and pushing his lips against hers, enveloping her in his arms and intertwining his hands in her soft brown locks. She sobs against his lips as she opens up to him, wrapping her arms around the back of his neck so tightly that she is surprised that he is still comfortable. The kiss is full of so much emotion – anger, passion, sadness... They are in each other's arms yet they feel so alone. Evelyn is the first to pull her lips away; she remains on her tiptoes as Klaus presses his forehead to hers.
"Klaus-"
"I already know what you're going to say, and you're right... It is for the best," He whispers shakily. "We cannot be together anymore."
"I'm so sorry for not telling you about Rebekah, I was stupid to keep that from you... But I did it to protect Elena; I will always protect my family... And as for trying to kill Jeremy," Tears slide down her cheeks and her expression becomes bitter and angry, but she does not pull away, "How could you do that to me after everyone you've already taken from me?"
"I wanted to send a message," He replies. "His life means nothing – a means to an end."
"You're wrong," She spits. "You're going to live a very lonely eternity if you look at us humans that way."
"I'm not going to live for an eternity, anyway," He laughs, but tears are falling down his cheeks again as he pulls away from her. "You told Rebekah about what I did to my Mother, once she tells my family they'll find a way to kill me!"
"She had to know!" Evelyn speaks words that she does not really agree with. "And why should I even care, you don't care about my life? I'm only here to benefit you in the future!"
"You know that's not true!" He growls viciously, "I LOVE you!"
"You do?" She sobs, "Then why are we having this conversation?"
"Because you BETRAYED ME!" He roars, grabbing her and pinning her against the wall at a speed she cannot comprehend – all she can see is Klaus' angry gaze, how his eyes turn from blue/green to onyx-and-gold, the veins begin to dance under his eyes as his fangs elongate. "YOU HAVE RUINED ME, EVELYN! I SHOULD HAVE NEVER FALLEN IN LOVE IN THE FIRST PLACE, EVERYONE I LOVE ENDS UP HURTING ME; I WAS STUPID TO THINK YOU ANY DIFFERENT!"
"DIDN'T YOU BEGIN TO EVEN CONSIDER WHY EVERYONE ENDS UP HURTING YOU?" She argues back, screaming the words as she fights against his tight grip on her arms, "YOU RUINED YOURSELF, YOU'RE THE ONE WHO KILLED YOUR MOTHER, DAGGERED YOUR SIBLINGS AND DESTROYED MY FAMILY!" She sees that he is furious, he is shaking – it takes everything in his power to not tear her heart out he is that angry. She remembers what he said earlier and decides to use it against him, this time. "So don't start blaming me for something you did... that will fix nothing."
"Get out," He releases her, fighting back the tears as he takes a few steps back. "Leave, just run, because if you stay any longer I'm going to end up killing you."
"Do it!" She sobs, "It's not something you haven't done already, you killed Elena, what makes me so different!"
"I SAID GET OUT!" He roars, his face shifts back in to that of a Hybrid.
"STOP TELLING ME WHAT TO DO!"
He cannot control it anymore, he pushes her against the wall once more and she screams as he bites in to her throat, growling as he drains her blood. She did not think for even a second that he would do it – she should not have been so stupid to believe otherwise... But her staying here was a test; a test he has failed. The bloodlust has consumed him, the monster within is trying to take over – he does not want to feel this pain, all this anger and loneliness has drove him insane, and now she is leaving him, too... He cannot take this, anymore.
"KLAUS YOU'RE GOING TO KILL ME!" She roars; her voice is so weak as she does so. The part of himself that feels for her has him dropping her; panic overtakes the bloodlust as he realizes what he has done... He spits out the remaining blood as if it is poison and kneels by her side. Grabbing her wrist, he quickly checks for a pulse... Slow, unsteady, but there it is. He quickly bites in to his own wrist and forces it to her lips, she is disorientated and dizzy but when the warm liquid fills her mouth she swallows it. After a moment he tears his wrist away from her mouth, the anger returns but he returns to the far window, waiting until she stands up to turn back to her. Tears are streaming down her cheeks as she holds her hand to her neck, horror and disgust is all she feels for him in this moment.
"Now get out," He spits, watching as she runs without looking back... It is then that he really does cry.
He has just lost her forever.
...
Pleeeeeease don't hate me! I know you were all looking forward to Klaus/Evelyn & I just broke them up but I feel like they have been ignoring all the things they have done to upset each other too much, & bear in mind that bad break-ups make for epic make-ups. ;)
