**Chapter twenty one**

Distracted

*Hailey*

"So, to sum it all up, Klaus the original vampire-slash-hybrid wants to kidnap you to bring his lover Halia the original fairy back to life, but if you do that, you'll die?" Damon said, and I nodded.

"Yeah, basically," I agreed towel drying my wet hair as I sat down on my bed. Damon paced in front of me.

"And Bella, the original fairy-slash-vampire-slash-Halia's-sister who's lover is Elijah the original-slash-Klaus'-brother, wants to help protect you from Klaus, because you two are family, and Klaus daggered Elijah two years ago, right?" he continued.

I nodded. "Yep, you're right."

"Do you trust her?" he asked me, suddenly very serious.

I smiled slightly and nodded. "Yeah, I do. I honestly can say that I trust Bella more than I trusted my mother, and she was already more family to me than Holly ever was. I trust her, and I know that Klaus will never get me as long as Bella's focused. She's actually pretty badass, you know."

I tossed my towel on the ground and got into bed. Even though it was six AM, I was going to sleep. I needed to be a hundred percent if some freaky ancient hybrid wanted to use me as his ghost whisperer.

I closed my eyes and snuggled into my pillow as I felt Damon get into bed next to me. I moved closer to him and rested my head on his chest. "I won't let anything happen to you," he whispered, his hand brushing through my hair. "You know that."

"It's not me I'm worried about, Damon," I whispered back.

"What do you mean?" He asked, obviously confused.

I sighed and opened my eyes before sitting up. "Bella told me how much he loved Halia. So, so much. Honestly, everything he's done in the past thousand years has been for her. It's seriously twisted, but sad. He's dead set on getting her back, and if he thinks I can do that, he'll stop at nothing to get me. Bella's working on a long term solution, but I'll always have to worry, not about me, but about people I care about."

Damon frowned, understanding what I hadn't even said yet. "The only way he'd get you to bring Halia back were if he had somebody you cared about, and was using them as leverage. That's why they went after Jace. And that's why you're not worried about yourself."

I nodded. "He'd never take me alive," I mumbled, laying back down.

"And that's why I'm worried about you enough for the both of us," Damon muttered.

I smiled slightly. "Yeah, you worry about me, and I'll worry about the people I love."

"You are the people I love, Hailey," he murmured.

I smiled again, before falling into a dreamless sleep.

~EL~

"So, we have to be careful, but we can still go out to the bar?"

I nodded as I lead Jace into the Mystic Grill. "Yeah, basically. Bella will call me if her eyes and ears tell her that Klaus is moving to take me," I told him, walking straight to the bar. "Meanwhile, you and I can go get drunk with my friends."

"Getting wasted with teenagers- every legal drinker's dream," Jace muttered sarcastically, and I hit him. "Ow!" he complained.

"Yeah, well that's what you get when your teenager sister's half-vamp. We hit harder," I said as I turned to the bartender.

"A glass of bourbon," I said, before looking to Jace. "What do you want?"

"A beer," he said to the bartender, and my nose wrinkled.

"Beer is so gross," I said, and Jace raised an eyebrow.

"Don't most high school kids drink the cheap stuff?" he asked as we got our drinks.

"You forgot that we come from an old, rich family, and I loved wasting money to piss of my mom," I said with a smirk as I spotted Elena in the crowd of people.

"Come on," I said, walking towards her. "I want you to meet my best friend, Elena."

~EL~

Bella was stretched out across a couch, one arm over her face, the other one clutching a bottle of wine that was older than Mystic Falls. She wasn't drunk, just a little buzzed. She always missed Elijah, every day she spent without him. It was the curse of spending every day with someone for a million days, and then that person suddenly disappearing one day. But it was certain moments when something reminded her especially of him, that Elijah's absence hit her hard, right in the stomach. And it started to hurt her, so she started to drink, to feel better.

She bet Gemma's spirit was proud of her.

Bella stared up at the ceiling. She had nothing to do except to wallow in self-pity. There was no word of Klaus, and Hailey didn't need to be protected. So all Bella had to do was miss Elijah. And when she started to really miss Elijah, she started to miss her parents. And then Adrian. Joseph. Garrett. Gemma. Halia. And if she was drunk enough, she even missed Adora a little bit.

It really was a tiring business.

Bella went to take a sip from her wine bottle, only to find it empty. She sighed again and set it down on the battered coffee table. Elijah wouldn't be proud of her, the way she was acting at that moment. But she had a slight streak of self-destruction, when it came to missing somebody. He knew that, especially when it came to their children.

Bella flinched at the thought. Those weren't pretty memories. Blood. So much blood-

No. she wouldn't think about her dark period. It didn't matter, anyway. Elijah saved her from herself. He was always saving her, so much that she had become reliant on him.

And Bella couldn't even save him once. She could never save anyone. She would change that with Hailey, though. She'd save her descendant like she couldn't save her love or her sister. She would change things with Hailey.

A sudden knock at the door made Bella jump. She frowned as she slowly sat up. "Hailey?" she called. There was no answer.

Bella got up and made her way to the front door. Who would be at the abandoned house she had inhabited? Who would know she was here?

Bella opened the door, not knowing what to expect. What she found was not a person or any live creature for that matter.

It was coffin. An open coffin to be exact.

And it was empty.

~EL~

"Jace seems like a good guy," Elena said, as she and I watched Caroline and my brother flirt from a distance. I was frowning, nose wrinkled slightly.

"Yeah, I guess he is. Even man whores can be good, I suppose," I said. "I just wish he'd stay away from Caroline."

"Maybe he really likes her," Elena suggested. I just snorted.

"Yeah, and maybe the moon really is made out of cheese," I said with a roll of my eyes. "I don't care if they're freaking soul mates- I don't want my brother to sleep with one of my best friends."

Elena smiled, before frowning. "Damon told me about this whole Klaus thing," she said. "Is there anything I can do."

"Yeah, stay the hell out of it," I said bluntly, and Elena frowned at me. "I don't want you involved in any of this, Elena. It's safer for you that way."

"So I'm just supposed to sit on the sidelines as you possibly get yourself killed?" she said, slightly outraged.

"Yep," I said nonchalantly. "And remember- I want sunflowers and an open bar at my funeral."

"Hailey!" Elena said, pushing my shoulder. "That's not funny!"

"No, it really wasn't." I tore my gaze away from Jace and Caroline and looked at Elena. "I think I'm gonna head home. Do me a favor; if they start making out, throw something at them. And aim for Jace."

I said goodbye to my friends, told Jace to call me if he needed a ride home, but he was too busy having eye sex with Caroline to really pay attention to me. I drove home, going slow since my bourbon had already affected me.

"Damon?" I called as I walked into the boarding house. "You there?"

Silence answered me, and I frowned. Maybe he was passed out, but I didn't find any empty bottles in the living room. "Damon?" I called again, raising my voice. "Seriously, are you here? I saw your car parked outside…"

I walked upstairs heading towards our bedroom. A sudden hiss brought me to attention as a huge fur ball streaked down the hall, followed by a smaller one. Ellie stopped in front of me, back arched, hair standing up straight, a low growl making her more ferocious than she looked. To my surprise, Monster joined her.

I knew something wasn't right. My instincts told me to get the hell out of there, but I was worried about Damon. I couldn't leave him. I sidestepped the cats, and Monster clawed me, as if that was my punishment for not listening to him.

"Shit," I cursed, as blood dripped down my leg. "Damn cat." I started fast walking towards my bedroom. Once I got Damon, we'd get the hell out of there. Everything would be fine and dandy.

I pushed the bedroom door open to find Damon splayed out on the floor, as if his neck had been broken. I gasped, instantly blurring to him. "Damon!"

I wasn't even prepared when a man grabbed my neck and snapped it. Then I fell into a heap right on top of Damon.

~EL~

Bella frowned at the coffin. "What the hell?" he murmured, confused. Was this some strange idea of a practical joke? She would never understand this generation.

Bella shut the door and then returned to her couch. She was waiting for a call from one of her associates keeping tabs on Klaus. They were supposed to call only if Klaus was going to make an attack on Hailey.

Closing her eyes, Bella tried to relax. But she couldn't. Bella hadn't been completely relaxed since Klaus took Elijah from her. Just another sign that she was too co-dependent on him.

There was a sound, quieter than a pin dropping. It set Bella off though. Instantly, she stood up and launched herself at the intruder in the abandoned house. The intruder grabbed her by the shoulders and pinned her against the wall. Only he was gentle about it, as if he didn't want to hurt her.

Bella's

Eyebrows furrowed as she looked up at the intruder. Then her eyes widened and her mouth went slack. She was sure that she was imagining him. Or that she had fallen asleep and this was just some cruel dream.

But no. She blinked and he was still there. His grip on her shoulders was real. His gaze, soft and reassuring, yet just as confused as she was, was real too.

"Bella…"

His voice was real too. Her name falling from his lips was real. He was real. Everything about him was real. He wasn't a dream, a figment of her imagination.

"Elijah," she breathed so quietly she might have only thought it. She was afraid to look away from him, as if he would disappear as soon as he was out of her line of vision.

Bella was so distracted by Elijah, she didn't even hear her phone go off.

~EL~

I groaned as I came back to consciousness. I was on the hard floor, and my neck hurt. But I was only concerned for Damon. Was he alright? What had happened?

"Damon?" I called out into the dark silence, my voice hoarse.

"I wouldn't say your boyfriend is alright, but he's alive. And he'll stay that way as long as you're cooperative."

Light flooded the room, and I flinched as I shielded my eyes. I stood up on shaky legs. I had an idea what had happened. Bella was supposed to protect me, though. I had trusted her to do so.

"I have heard so much about you, Hailey," the male voice with the accent similar to Bella's said in a way you could tell he was smirking. "You really do look like Bella."

"That's what I hear," I croaked, turning around to face him.

He smirked at me, his blue eyes twinkling with a dangerous mirth, as if I amused him. Still, there was a seriousness to him, business-like, almost.

"How rude of me," he said suddenly. "I seem to have forgotten my manners. My name is Niklaus. But, please, call me Klaus."

~EL~

A/N: whew! What a lot to happen in one chapter. Elijah's back, and Klaus got Hailey (and Damon). Are the two related?

Thank you to: Kara, AudreyDarke96, Mia Salvatore, MissCaityGrace, JellyBear7, and SomebodyWhoCares for reviewing!

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~Abby :)