A/N: Hellooo!

Thanks for the awesome reviews and enjoy! :D

xoxo Ascha

Chapter 20:

"Who are you?" I asked, frowning as I looked at the man who stood in the motel room.

I couldn't recognize him but I guessed that he knew me as he'd found me here. I was also able to sense that he too was a vampire, sort of like Kol, Rebekah and Klaus.

"My name is Alaric Saltzman…" he answered, taking a seat at the table in the small kitchenette. "I am here to carry out Esther's last plan. One that involves you."

My eyes widened and I instinctively stepped off my bed, looking for a way out of the motel without having to pass him, but the only way out was being blocked by him.

"Leave me alone!" she hissed, baring her fangs at him.

He smirked darkly and slowly approached her, closing the door behind him first. She made a leap over the bed and tried getting out, but he quickly caught her arm and slammed her against the door.

"Oh, I wouldn't do that if I were you… I could easily drive a stake through your back right now if I wanted to, but unfortunately I need you for something."

I bit my lip and managed to turn around so we stood face to face, but I was still trapped between him and the door.

"Let me guess… you want Kol or Klaus?" I guessed.

Alaric nodded. "More precisely Klaus, but after that I will hunt down each and every one of his remaining siblings."

I gulped nervously; my heart aching because I'd seen how much these two men loved me and could tell that they cared about each other despite their competitiveness with each other.

"How are you going to do that? I hardly think that keeping me trapped will lure them out." I said.

Alaric chuckled. "Oh, I beg to differ. Love can drive a man very crazy and make him do the most foolish things." he said and swiftly broke my neck.

I was dragged out of the motel room and taken to an unknown place, tying me to a chair in a strange room I couldn't recognize when I slowly woke up.

He had stuffed something in my mouth that tasted bitter and stung my tongue a bit; my hands were fastened to the table with two wooden nails that had been hammered into them and my body felt weak because nearly all my blood had been tapped.

"Welcome to my classroom, Aliana. I don't believe you've ever been in one before, but I won't bore you with old historical facts," Alaric said sarcastically and took out a phone. "I want you to be a good student and sit quietly while we wait for Klaus."

I rolled my eyes and looked around, feeling something around my neck that sounded like chains. It burned my neck as I moved, so I stayed still and waited for something to happen.

I heard the sound of a voice outside in the parking lot with my enhanced hearing, but I didn't want to let Alaric know so I pretended as if I hadn't heard anything.

I wondered if it was Kol or Klaus and even if it was could I then really trust them? They might be the bad guys – not that Alaric was the good guy.

"Ah, it seems someone is here," Alaric suddenly said and pulled the piece of cloth out of my mouth, grabbing me by my jaw hard. "I want you to scream for me and you better do it loudly."

I gulped, my throat feeling sore and my voice was hoarse when I tried saying "no". Alaric merely grinned and suddenly drove a piece of wood through my chest, barely missing my heart.

Screaming in agony as loud as I could unintentionally, I saw a dark and sinister smirk forming on Alaric's lips.

He grabbed a stake made of white oak and removed some of the things that kept me tied to the chair and desk, so he could pull me with him out in the hallway.

Stumbling out in the hallway, I saw Klaus standing in the other end along with two other young men, who could easily be brothers because they looked so similar.

Alaric's gaze was solely on Klaus and when I saw the scared look in Klaus' eyes I knew that this was a matter of life and death.

He met my gaze and sorrow filled his blue eyes, making me sigh heavily and feel an ache in my heart because I wanted to help him.

The two young men went to attack Alaric, but he quickly shifted the stake in my chest so the tip was scraping against my heart, causing Klaus to stop them from attacking.

"Give up Klaus and I might spare her life," Alaric said, pushing the stake deeper inside me to make me cry out in pain. "C'mon! Hear her! She's in a lot of pain."

Klaus tensed up and I mouthed "duck" to me, so when they all suddenly jumped towards Alaric again I quickly ducked and avoided being caught in the middle.

I pulled the stake out of my chest and panted, watching them as the two young men held Alaric down while Klaus placed his blood smeared palm on Alaric's chest.

Looking up I saw a girl with brown hair and brown eyes, who stood with a scalpel and she threatened to kill herself when Alaric was about to kill Klaus.

Somehow this girl's life was connected to Alaric's and I wondered if the loss of my memory was connected to him too.

I jumped on the girl and sunk my fangs into her neck, which made him let go of Klaus and rush towards us.

Klaus used this opportunity to attack Alaric and knocked him out before snatching both me and the girl, taking us back to the large mansion.

At the mansion was Kol still and he quickly took me while Klaus held the unconscious girl, hugging me tightly and creating the same intense longing I'd felt at the hospital.

"Get her somewhere safe," Klaus said and the two brothers shared a meaningful look that I was too tired to decipher. "You were right, Kol."

Kol nodded and smiled briefly before sweeping me up into his arms, swiftly leaving the mansion and taking me on a quick trip through the town.

He didn't stop running until we reached an old house in Georgia that seemed to have been abandoned a couple of years ago.

"We should be safe now," he said, looking around just to be sure. "You want me to get you some blood?"

I nodded even though it still sounded strange to my ears and waited as he disappeared off to fetch something.

When Kol returned he had a bottle of warm blood that I snatched immediately, downing every drop of it and feeling colour returning to my face.

I was still lightheaded though, so I sat down on an old couch covered by a white sheet and rubbed my temples.

Kol sat down next to me and pulled me into his embrace, kissing the top of my head as he held his arms firmly around me.

"I thought I'd lost you forever…" he whispered and sighed.

I looked up at him and couldn't resist the urge to smile. Whenever he held me like this I just felt so… happy.

"I chose you…" I whispered, knowing deep inside that it was true even though I didn't remember it.

Kol smiled and caressed my cheek gently. "Yes, you did… but for some reason you seem to love Klaus too. Why is that?"

I shrugged.

Not because I didn't remember it, but because I truly had no idea. I loved him, yes, but I couldn't see myself with him and the way I loved him didn't consume me nearly as much as the way I loved Kol, which had become very clear to me now that I remembered nothing.

"What did Klaus mean by 'you were right'?" I asked curiously, intertwining my fingers with his.

Kol shrugged and gave me a cryptic look. "Nothing you need to worry about."

I raised a brow and decided to follow his advice, resting my head against his shoulder as we just sat in silence on the couch.

"I think you need to kill Alaric to get my memories back," I said after a while. "He mentioned that the spell Esther cast on me was more complicated than I thought."

"I better let my siblings know. I hope they'll be able to manage Alaric without me or I'll have to go back and smack him in the head with my baseball bat."

I frowned, staring confusedly at him. "Your what?"

Kol smacked his forehead with his palm and laughed. "I keep forgetting that you don't remember anything. It's my new favourite weapon."

I giggled and shook my head of him, enjoying the sound of his laughter. "Tell me more about yourself, Kol. How did we first meet?"

He grinned and thought back to the day. "We met when we were merely children and still human. I scared you and your best friend Tatia and you became so furious at me."

"Oh? Yes, that does sound like me… I think." I snickered. "When did we fall in love with each other?"

He shrugged this time. "Well… the first time we kissed was in France 14…88 I believe. You lied to me and said I'd dreamt about it at first, because you were afraid a relationship with me would eventually force us apart. You and Nik were… are best friends."

I instinctively touched my lips and felt a slight tingle, like a kiss that still lingered on them. Kol noticed this and grabbed my hand, pulling it a little away as he leant forward and pressed his lips gently to mine, sending a shiver of excitement through me.

I smiled against his lips and wrapped my arms around him, pulling him closer to me and kissing him back tenderly, loving the softness and intensity in such a pure and simple kiss.

The kiss went on for what felt like hours and the kisses that followed were so full of passion and yearning that they nearly made me lose my breath.

I was in complete ecstasy and craved more and more kisses from this young man, whom I had known about for less than a week.

Everything just felt so perfect, simple and wonderful until I suddenly felt a sudden ache in my heart that made me break the deep tongue kiss we shared and push Kol away a little.

"Something has happened!" I breathed out.

A few minutes of silence passed and Kol's phone suddenly started ringing.

He pulled it out and answered the call, speaking quietly with his oldest brother Elijah. I watched his facial expression and after a long while he finally hung up, his face filled with sorrow.

"Kol? What's wrong?" I asked, biting my bottom lip nervously.

"It's Klaus. The Salvatores desiccated him…" he answered quietly.

I was speechless.

Did this mean Klaus was gone forever? Or were we going to save his life now?

And what about Alaric?

"Wait, how was I able to feel that?"

Kol gulped and I felt his body tense up. "Perhaps because you were the first human Klaus turned…"

I frowned, not understanding what he meant.

"When you were about to die 1000 years ago both Niklaus and I gave you our blood. We don't know which one was used to turn you, but if you sensed that you must belong to Nik's bloodline and that means that if he dies you will die very soon afterwards."

I gulped too and wondered if my feelings for Klaus had derived from the fact that I was the first vampire he turned.

"We have to–"

"You're not going back. I promised Klaus that I'd keep you safe. Elijah ensured me that he would get our brother back with Rebekah and if it becomes necessary, we will let Alaric chase us around the world if that means we will get Klaus' body back."

"So he's negotiating his way to getting Klaus back?"

Kol nodded and smiled weakly. "Trust me, Elijah is an excellent negotiator. He always gets what he wants one way or the other. But… do you want to run with me for a century?"

I didn't hesitate to answer, because I already knew what to say to that. "Yes. Since I've already run with you and your siblings for nearly 1000 years I'm sure I can do it again for a century. As long as I get to be with you."

He sighed and kissed the back of my hand gently. "Ok. We will run together again and as for your memory we'll just have to create some new and amazing memories for you."

Oh he already had that covered.

I was never going to forget those blissful kisses…

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