It was morning and it was time to move on. He was dead and it was time to accept it. I got dressed in a white dress with blue flowers on it and a red cardigan. I was hit with an idea that would kill some time.

"So what do you want to do today?" Anna asked me.

"I think I want to paint Ric's room." I declared. "It's a good way to move on."

"Are you sure this is a good idea?" She questioned.

"Do you have a better one?" I replied. "I think it's just best to accept that this is Mystic Falls. People die before they're supposed to here."

"That is depressingly true." She admitted.

"I'm with Mary. I think it's a great idea." Elena remarked as she came into the room. "We should call in some manpower. You should get Stefan and Damon to come over."

We began to cover up the furniture so we wouldn't get paint on it and took out some rollers and trays and brushes. Once we got started, Stefan showed up.

"So you're going for a little darker." He commented.

"It's the only color that we had." I replied before we resumed painting.

"That's what happens when you decide to paint your dead guardian's room on a whim." Anna quipped.

"You know you don't need to do this right now." Stefan remarked.

"We just need to accept things and move on." I argued. "I don't want to grieve right now."

"So do you want a hand?" He asked.

"That would be great." I replied. "We could use someone to reach the higher up places."

"You do know that Mary's with Anna, don't you?" Elena questioned. Both of us blushed.

"I was just checking up on you guys." Stefan remarked as he put his hands inside of his pockets.

"We're fine." Elena stated. "But maybe if you're trying to be the good guy, you can give us a break from all of this. I want one day where the only vampire I have to deal with is the one who lives here. I sometimes even forget that she is a vampire."

She then walked out of the room without saying anything.

"She's just frustrated." I explained. "She didn't mean it."

"I'm pretty sure that she did." He told us.

At that point, the doorbell rang. Stefan said that he would get it.

Anna and I then continued painting. She didn't seem to be listening what was going on down there.

Suddenly, my phone began to ring.

"That's weird." I remarked. "It says that Ric is calling me."

"You should probably answer it and see who stole his phone." She suggested.

"I don't know who this is, but it really isn't funny." I stated.

"Who else would it be?" The voice on the other end asked. No. It wasn't possible.

"Ric?" I asked.

"Listen closely. I'm at the school. I have Caroline and if you want to keep her alive, you'll get into your car and come here right away. If any of your vampire friends come with you, she will die."

He then hung up.

"Fuck, he must have transitioned." I remarked. "I need you to help get me out of here."

"I'm coming with you." She told me.

"No, you can't." I argued. "I believe him. I know that it's probably a trap, but I don't have a choice. I'll go and you need to come up with a plan to rescue her/us."

"What if he kills you?" She asked.

"We have to risk that." I stated. "I'm not going to let anyone else die for me, but if you're afraid, then you can give me your blood."

"No, I'm going to put my faith into you coming back." She remarked. "I love you."

"I love you too." I said.

I drove to the school and walked inside. I was afraid, but I had to do my best not to show it. I walked down the hall and I heard some moans of pain and recognized it as Caroline's voice. Why did it have to be her? She had already been there through so much pain. She'd been abused by Damon, Jules and even her own father. It wasn't fair.

I headed toward his classroom and he was there and so was she with some sort of gag in her mouth while her hands were pinned to the desk with pencils.

"Caroline." I replied. "Let her go now."

"Go over and get her. I won't stop you." He stated. I began to walk over and pulled the pencils out, before he grabbed my hand.

"You said you won't let her go." I remarked.

"I've told you time and time again, Mary. Stop trusting vampires." He replied as he got in my face.

He then took the gag out and she began to cry.

"Please stop." She begged as tears came out.

"Leave her alone." I ordered.

"Sit down." He stated as he pushed me back into my chair. "This keeps the vervain in her system. It's like inhaling a razor blade in every breath."

She then began to scream in pain.

"Why are you doing this?" I questioned. "What did she ever do to you?"

"It makes it easier on you when you put her out of your misery." He explained as he brandished the same white oak stake from before.

"No, I'm not going to kill her." I declared.

"You asked me how to kill vampires. I remember our training." He responded. "Well here is vampire. Now kill her."

"I want to defend myself from vampires." I corrected. "I'm not a murderer."

"But she is. She told me that she killed someone." He explained. "You know you could be an amazing hunter if you wanted. The only problem is that you've never actually staked a vampire before."

I really hoped that Anna was with the others coming up with a plan. There had to be a way to stop him.

"What are you trying to accomplish from this. I'm not going to kill her." I told him.

"Because you need me." He answered. "Because you're a 16-year-old girl without parents or guidance, or any sense of right and wrong anymore."

"Do you honestly think that kidnapping and torturing someone is right?" I questioned. "Do you think killing people and framing someone is right?"

"Mary, your parents led the council. It was their mission to keep this town safe. They had the right idea. Your father had the right idea before you managed to corrupt him. You are a disgrace to them."

"You don't know my parents." I argued.

"Well am I wrong? Do you think that they would be proud of you right now?" He asked me. "If you don't side with the humans, you're just as bad as them. Now kill her or I'll do it for you."

He put the stake in my hand and I went with the most logical option. I took the stake and prepared to kill him with it.

"I thought I taught you better than that." He remarked.

"You did." I replied as I took the beaker of vervain and broke it against his head. I quickly freed Caroline. "Run!"

She made it out the door, but he got up and grabbed me. He took me into the halfway and began to shove me against a locker.

"I should kill you. I drive a stake into your heart like Brian Walters." He replied. "You're the worst of them all, Mary. You don't deserve to live."

"Why haven't you killed me then?" I questioned. "It's not like there's anything stopping you. If you're going to kill me, then kill me motherfucker."

I saw the veins form under his eyes before he let me go. Before I could say anything Stefan and Damon grabbed him.

"Do it now." Damon stated as I began to run. He ended up breaking both of their necks before Klaus showed up and I found myself in Anna's arms. At that point, he broke free and threw Klaus to ground. I whispered something to Anna.

"Stop!" She ordered as she put her teeth in front of my neck. "Let him go or I'll kill her."

"You won't kill her." He stated.

"You still need me alive." I replied. "There's a reason why Esther used me. You're linked to me. If I die, you die."

"You're wrong." He stated.

"Let's find out." Anna said before she bit into my neck.

"STOP!" He ordered as Anna tore her fangs away. Klaus then broke free and grabbed the both of us.

Once I awoke, I found myself tied to a chair and Anna was chained to chair beside me and still unconscious. A nurse then put an IV in my and I could blood draining from my body.

"What are you doing?" I asked.

"She is draining you of your blood." Klaus replied. At that point, I noticed that Tyler walked into the room. He looked at me.

"Mary?" He asked.

"Tyler, help me." I stated.

"He can't." Klaus remarked. "He needs to go fetch me more empty blood bags. I need three liters worth."

"Tyler, you don't have to listen to him." I argued. "Get Stefan and Damon please."

"Do as I say." Klaus ordered. Tyler began to rush towards me, but Klaus stopped him. "Forget the girl and get the bags."

Tyler then walked away and then I noticed Anna was starting to awaken.

"So you're just going to bleed me dry?" I asked. "What about you army of hybrids that you want?"

"I guess this will have to do." He stated. "You see by attempting to kill us, my mother strengthened the bond of my family. I want to reunite us. I don't need hybrids. I have my family, including your girlfriend."

"Then why are you taking my blood at all?" I questioned. "Why not just kill me?"

"He wants a backup family." Anna stated. "He knows that I'll never forgive him and that his siblings won't trust him."

"You know that you really bring out the worst in people, Mary." He stated. "Consider me letting you die with dignity. Once you're dead, you won't be able to hurt anyone anymore. No one will get their hearts broken and everyone will be able to move on with their lives, but I think that you ended up making the right choice."

"Go to hell." I spat. He walked away after that.

A few minutes later, Tyler came back and began to set me free. It probably would have been a better idea for him to break Anna free first. He untied me and then I noticed him looking at us.

"So it looks like you are not sired to me anymore." He commented.

"I'm not your little bitch anymore." Tyler stated.

"How did you break it?" Klaus asked.

"I broke every bone in my body one hundred times for the girl that I loved, for the girl that will never love you." He taunted.

"That's impossible." Klaus stated. I wished that I wasn't too weak to move at the moment.

"No, it's not." Tyler argued. "It turns out that real love is stronger than fake loyalty. Oh wait, I forgot. You don't know anything about love."

"You should be thanking me. I gave you a gift. I took away your misery." Klaus declared.

"You don't care about me or anyone else. You just didn't want to be alone." Tyler told him. He then grabbed me and picked me up, but Klaus pushed me back and I hit my head and passed out.

When I woke up, I noticed that Klaus's body was desiccated. It seemed like they had defeated him. For once and for all, Klaus was taken care. I wished that I knew how they had done it, but I figured that they would tell me shortly. We still did have one problem to worry about and he was probably worse.

"You need to get home before the sun sets." Stefan replied.

"Okay, I'll get her there." Anna promised. Stefan, Damon, and Tyler then left. Anna then bit into her wrist. "Mary, you need to drink this."

"I'm fine." I declared.

"No, you think you're fine." She argued. "So did Natasha Richardson and look what happened to her. You hit your head. You could have a cerebral hemorrhage, which is almost always fatal. Drink my blood now."

I put my mouth up to her wrist and began to drink. It tasted awful, but she could have been right and I didn't want to die.

"Now let's go home." She said.

"You know we still have to find a way to deal with him." I explained.

"We'll use the same spell that we used on Klaus." She replied. "We can do this without you having to die. We'll figure something out. In the meantime, we need to stay inside because it will keep him out and he can't try to knock the house because he risks killing you in the process. Once it's morning, we'll get out of here. We can go somewhere that he won't be able to find us."

"He can't hurt me." I pointed out. "It's the Originals that should be watching out."

"They evaded Mikael for a thousand years." She declared before we walked into the house.

We then walked into the kitchen where Caroline, Bonnie, Elena, Matt, and Tyler were.

"Why are you all here?" I questioned.

"Welcome to our celebration." Caroline chirped.

"But there's nothing to celebrate. Alaric is still out there." I pointed out.

"We know but we've been trying to get rid of Klaus forever and Caroline convinced us." Bonnie explained.

"I'm gonna be honest. I'm a little pissed none of you let me help." Matt joked.

"Well since it's a party, here's a present." Anna declared as she handed me a heart necklace. "I thought you needed a new one and I checked to make sure this one is not a witch's talisman. I even have one for me."

"Okay, but does anyone have some liquor for me?" I asked.

"I think for once you've earned it." Elena told me. I downed the glass and went to my room to take a nap. I just hoped that we would be able to stop Alaric and we could finally be free of this life.

So Anna recognized that she might have a hemorrhage, so Mary's not going to the hospital. How will they stop Alaric? Please don't forget to review.