Chapter 21

Season 4 ep. 5

K still reeled about the talk she'd had with Klaus at his house. She didn't like it. She didn't like that it was still on her mind and she didn't like that he told her he'd loved her. Where was the anger? Where was the rage and psychotic need to torture and maim? That K could deal with. That was the stuff she could handle, not the random torrent of caring emotions.

Part of her was honestly considering asking Bonnie to erase her memories again. She didn't like the confusion that followed her awake or asleep.

Deciding that being cooped up in her hotel room was a bad idea and not helping anything, K went for a walk. She didn't have anywhere in particular to go, but that changed quickly. The Grill was under siege and interesting things were happening without her. That wouldn't do.

It didn't take long for K to find herself chasing Connor through the tunnels beneath the city. Intrigue and scandal was rife in the air and when she heard how important the Hunter was, well how was she expected to pass that up? She just had to meet him.

Soon K stood in the cave with her arms around Connor's neck. She glared at Stefan and Damon while they helped Elena to her feet. She had come upon Elena feeding on the man -wanting nothing more than kill him- but K wanted to do it. She wanted to murder a man Klaus, Elena and the brothers wanted, needed and all out of spite. Again, she didn't like that Klaus seemed to hold sway over her in any regard and the space he took up in her thoughts was too much. That, and well, the combined betrayal of everyone who wanted Connor alive was more than enough for her to justify what she planned to do. Why did it always have to be about them? Why should everything they want and need always fall into their laps? What would happen if there was a hiccup in their plans? K=hiccup.

"Kali don't." Damon told her sternly. "We need him alive."

"Do you?" she asked darkly, her face already shifting. "Does that mean Klaus does, too?"

"K," Stefan said evenly as he tried to approach the dangerous young woman. "Please. You don't know what you're doing. I know you want to get back at Klaus for whatever the hell it is the two of you have going on, but don't. Not like this."

"Really, Stefan? And you three would have nothing to contribute to my unstable state of mind would you?" She asked sarcastically and cocked a brow. "Please, continue trying to appeal to my better side."

"Please," Damon asked. His eyes softened with something that looked like desperation. "You don't have to do this."

"I am tired of doing things for everyone else." She replied angrily. "Everything I've ever done for someone else has nearly killed me. I'm finished helping you or him."

Cold swept through their bodies at the look in her eyes. They had a reason to be afraid.

Without warning, K wrenched Connor's neck and sent him spinning. Connor hit the ground with a thud, his head bent around backwards. The shock of seeing the man dead was overwhelming enough to the point K disappeared easily in the confusion.

K raced from the scene, not because she was afraid, but because she didn't want to remain. There was nothing the men could do to her in the end. So it wasn't fear, just disregard to what she'd done. K was actually a bit proud of herself. She'd taken something from Klaus, something he wanted. After his taunting and making her feel for him again and then completely discounting her, K felt like maybe this would be a nice first step in showing him just how much he'd hurt her. Even if it didn't, it'd let him know how much he didn't scare her.

The smile on her face grew wider as she thought about how angry Klaus was going to be when he found out she'd slaughtered his little friend, the one he'd spent so long trying to protect from the others. This would teach him, perhaps.

For the time being, she was going to get something to drink. She was thirsty after all, and she might as well enjoy her time without Klaus before he returned. K knew the others wouldn't hesitate to fill him in on what she'd done. She wasn't frightened of him, but she knew better than to assume he wouldn't take action.

As she walked through the Grill's front door, K noticed there was little no one around. She cocked her brow in mild interest before moving towards the booth in the corner and taking a seat. Her head was beginning to ache for some reason -why she wasn't sure- but the ache was there regardless. K propped her elbows on the table top, pressed her hands to the side of her head and took one slow breath in after another.

Vampires didn't get migraines and yet here it was, the throbbing through the temples you couldn't ebb.

"Hey Kali,"

The voice caused her to jump. She looked to her side quickly to see Matt standing beside her with his bus boy tub and a cloth over his shoulder. He smiled crookedly at her.

"You alright?"

"Awesome." She lied, letting her head fall into her hand again. "I haven't seen you in a long time. How've you been, Matt?"

"You mean since I killed Elena?" he asked heavily, somehow assuming the conversation would divert that direction like it always seemed to.

K raised a lazy brow to the teen.

"Did you feed her vampire blood?"

"No." he answered skeptically.

"Did you intentionally run your truck of the road?"

"No." he fidgeted under foot.

"Did you tell Stefan to save you first?"

"No, but if he'd saved Elena-"

K held up her hand to stop the young man from talking.

"Matt, you can't spend all of your time regretting what happened. You're alive. Elena's alive."

"She's a vampire."

"But alive. If Stefan had saved her, you'd have died in the bottom of the river. And for what? Because she brought this shit down on the entire city?"

"That's not fair." He defended.

"Name one horrible thing that's happened in Mystic Falls over the passed few years that can't be traced back to Elena, Stefan or Damon. One thing and I'll take it back."

His brows came together in frustration as he tried to think about something he could tie to anyone other than those three.

"Klaus,"

"Is only in Mystic Falls in the first place because of Elena."

His face contorted further. He didn't like that she seemed to be right about it. Damon killed his sister. The vampires brought all of this hell down on Mystic Falls and his friends. It really was all the vampires.

K sighed and turned her attention back to the table.

"It's the one thing we're good at, destroying everything around us." She looked back to Matt who was staring sadly down at her. "And I'm sorry it's come down on the rest of you."

"Yeah." Was about all he could say. He wasn't sure what the conversation meant or why K was apologizing for everything the others had done. Something was wrong. "You alright, K?"

She looked to the man who slid into the booth across from her. She couldn't try to make herself look better, to take the sadness from her features. It was an odd wave that had suddenly hit her -why she again didn't know- but she felt bad. Perhaps it was because poor Matt had lost everything all on the account of her kind.

"Everything's brilliant." She lied again. "I've only recently realized that everyone I've ever considered friend or other treat me no better than they do the ones they hate."

"What are you talking about? You're the only one that hasn't done something horrible since you've been here." He told her with a weak smile.

"Well, I've learned that there's nothing your little friends won't do if it means they can rid the world of Niklaus."

Matt's eyes narrowed curiously.

"Be careful Matt." She told him somberly. "Immortals like us tend to act without thinking because in the end it doesn't matter. This year, this decade, is little more than a blip to us so we forget how it resonates with the people around us."

He sat there looking at her, thinking over everything she was telling him when his boss called out. Matt stood quickly and knew he'd get in trouble if he didn't get back to work.

K's headache wasn't getting any better and she decided to head home instead. She didn't really want to be anywhere at the moment it seemed. So she stood and moved towards the young man. He looked unsurely at her as she leaned up and kissed him softly on the cheek. It was an odd burst of affection that left him more confused than before.

"Just remember, you don't have to put up with all of this just because you're here." She said sweetly. "You don't have to make us part of your burden."

And with that cryptic goodbye, K left and made her way back home to the hotel room. He watched her leave, no more sure what happened than he had been when she sat down. He knew K true, but not that well anymore it seemed. All of them knew each other back before Elena's parents died when K was friends with Bonnie, but then she left and came back when the Klaus-thing happened. Ever since then, she stayed primarily with the Salvatores, Elena and Bonnie. She barely spent time with Matt, Tyler and Caroline. At the moment, K found herself wishing she was smart enough to have done that before.

Matt was a sweet kid, honest, a good person and she felt truly bad for the things that had happened to him. If he wasn't smart enough to run away from Mystic Falls like she was about to, something bad was going to happen to him. It broke her heart to know his life was going to be ruined because of vampires. So she offered him some advice. Maybe he'd listen, but probably not. Poor kid...

~~!~~

Back at Tyler's house, while the other hybrids drank for the friend they lost, Klaus was too busy stewing angrily at what K had done. He knew there was no way she didn't realize how important Connor was to his plans. There was no way she didn't know how much all of them needed the Hunter, including Stefan, Damon and Elena. Connor held the key to everything that would save not only Klaus's hybrids, but the Salvatores' little girlfriend. Then again, perhaps that was the problem. Maybe Klaus should have realized that K would have acted as she did just to get back at him for his cruel disinterest in her.

The pair of them were ridiculous. They were too prideful and thick-headed. Each of them took everything the other did so damn personally that they reacted violently. And for what? It did nothing, served no one. But that didn't stop them. He'd make her swoon. She would. Then he'd do something and she'd take it so personally she'd lash out. Then he'd make her swoon again and the cycle would repeat itself. They were toxic to each other, poison and dangerous.

"You're little friend murdered my Hunter, nearly ripped his head off from what I hear tell, and seems rather proud of herself for it." Klaus said angrily pointing his bottle-holding-hand to Tyler. "Let's just hope the hallucinations begin soon."

Tyler's eyes narrowed on the Original as he took a deep swig of his liquor.

"Hallucinations?" he asked curiously.

"Mm," Klaus nodded as he swallowed the burning liquid. "Brilliant little side-effect of killing that particular breed. She should be willing to kill herself here soon enough."

"And you're just going to let her do it?" Tyler snapped angrily.

"She's not my problem anymore." He replied somberly.

Klaus had little else to say on the matter and didn't want to continue with it either. Thankfully, the subject was taken from him and shifted to Caroline and Tyler when the blond burst through his door and shoved a box of his things into the young man's hands. Klaus played the sympathetic ear. He honestly wasn't sure why either. It was like he'd started a puzzle with Caroline and he just had to see how it would look finished.

"What's going on?" Caroline asked when she noticed the relatively uncomfortable surroundings.

"It's kind of hard to explain." Tyler replied dismissively.

"Well try." She snapped sternly. "I'm the only one that nobody tells anything to anymore."

He sighed. Tyler didn't want to get into it because he wasn't truly sure what it was.

"You heard about the hunter right?" He asked her.

"Yeah. The one that shot you." She nearly growled.

"Yeah, him." He sighed. "K killed him."

"Good."

A smile twitched at the corner of his lips for only a second before vanishing.

"Yeah well, Klaus said there's a side-effect, some kind of hallucinations or something that comes with it." He explained, seeing the confusion and worry saturate her face. "He said she's going to try and kill herself."

"Oh my god." She gasped. "Did you call her? We need to make sure she's okay."

"No. I don't have her number." He defended. "Besides, what can we do? She's like almost a thousand years old. The only one in Mystic Falls who can do anything about it is Klaus and he already said he doesn't care."

"Son of a bitch." Caroline growled under her breath when her phone rang. She reached into her purse and pulled it out. "Mom, this isn't really a good time. Can I call you back later?"

"Caroline, I think you're going to want to hear about this." The Sheriff said ominously.

"Why? What's wrong?"

"You're friends with that girl Kali right?"

Caroline's eyes shot up to the two watching her, knowing both could hear the conversation. Klaus seemed indifferent which bothered the young blond more than she thought. Instead of replying, he huffed, took another long drink of the bourbon he had and left with most of his hybrids. He knew what was likely coming next.

"Yeah, why? Is she okay?"

"I just got a phone call saying she's destroying her room. The manager called us when the neighbors complained about screaming and loud noises."

"Is she alright?"

"I don't know. We haven't gone inside yet. She's still going on. It sounds like she's fighting with someone. But Caroline, she's a vampire right? I can't just send my deputies in there if there's a chance she could kill them."

"No yeah," she answered quickly. "Keep everyone out. I'll be there in a minute."

With an agreement, Sheriff Forbes hung up.

Caroline quickly grabbed Tyler and headed towards his SUV. They sped off towards the only real hotel in Mystic Falls, the building old and refurbished for the purpose. They knew it was where K was staying and when they arrived, they saw how bad the situation must have been.