~Chapter 25
He was here. It was not possible. Both Emily and I had made sure we covered our tracks, I even compelled everyone we ever met during our trip, to forget our faces. But then again Nik was a highly skilled tracker, possibly better than I could ever be.
Why could I have underestimated my dear husband? Why did I even dare to try? I should have known that he would have not stopped until he had found me. He even searched for me across the Atlantic, all the way from England to America.
I cannot bear to think how many servants he killed in fury after my escape. He probably burnt the house down just before he came looking for me. A trait both Klaus and I shared, watching things burn – it was very fascinating. I only used to burn things; however my husband was more extreme than I was.
So many questions entered my mind in that instant – ones that terrified me to no end. What was he going to do? To Emily? To The Salvatores? To me? None of those people deserved any pain. Only me. I deserved everything that was coming my way. I was going to make sure no else suffered, even if it meant giving in to him.
Nonetheless, I could not figure out what he was up to. He could have just killed everyone in the Estate for revenge, even all of Mystic Falls for that matter! He would not have even blinked or hesitated for a fraction of a second, and then he would just drag me with him to the next hell of a life that we would go to.
However, this time, he was playing it cool, even cooler than me. He looked like he was staying in town.
What I could not understand was why he was doing this? I guess I have to wait and guess what he was up to, I thought as I tried to put on my best poker face.
Giuseppe continued to rambled on and on about the supposedly fascinating and talented man. Niklaus kept beaming proudly throughout the whole speech. He had compelled the old Salvatore pretty well.
Giuseppe was declaring how he was one of the finest noblemen he had ever encountered in his entire life. I almost snorted at that part; Nick instantly lost his composure as his head snapped in my direction, his lips frowning at me. I pursed my lips and looked to the ground, not wanting to anger him. I had already done enough.
Then I could no longer hear Giuseppe's voice. My mind drifted someplace else. Not the castle Klaus and I shared in England, not the castle I was held captive at by his family, but I was back home – in Bulgaria. I was with mama, papa and my dear sister Kalina.
What would Kalina have done if she was in my place? She had always been the quiet and brave one, while I had only been a nuisance.
Kalina would not have run away from her husband, even if he brought her the seven Hells to her doorstep. She would have remained strong, as she had always been. Kalina would have never appeared weak, but put on a good face and stay where she belonged.
I had to stop running. Hadn't mama taught me better than that? I was a Petrova, and Petrova's were brave, strong and certainly did not run away when things got complicated. I had to stop running every time Klaus went off the rails. He was my husband and he turned every bit of his family away, just so I could be safe and we could be together. He had no one left, perhaps Elijah, but we had not seen him in ages.
Klaus needed me. I was the only person he had left. Why was I spending my life running away from? When I could stay by his side – where he required me the most?
Never again, I vowed to myself as I brought my head up and tried to join in the conversation. I dared to glance at my beautiful husband. He seemed to be getting bored and I feared he would simply get tired and kill Giuseppe just to 'put him out of his misery'.
Nick was looking out to the gardens, uninterested in what was being said, even though the old Salvatore was talking about him.
At that moment, I could not comprehend why I had come to leave him in the first place. Watching his Greek God like face made me lose all reason. He was trying to put up a good front for the Salvatores, but he could never fool me. He was heartbroken and miserable.
I could not imagine how it must be for him, finding me, only to lose me shortly after, every single time. I probably could not be able to endure such pain. I had made him suffer so much, it was time I ended it. He may have become a monster, but he was my monster and I loved him with everything I had.
He sighed and turned to look at me. When his pale eyes met my chocolate ones, his broken face faded away in an instant and was replaced by a mask – one which showed nothing but coldness and anger. I slightly shivered at the sight.
Everything I had thought just a few moments before faded away and all that I could think about was how scared I felt. I knew he was about the drag me down and the innocent Salvatores with me.
"Mister De Sangue, was it?" I decided to speak up, just as Giuseppe had finished what he was rambling about. I saw Stefan and Giuseppe's eyes then looking curiously at me.
"Yes sweetheart," Niklaus replied back with a small smirk.
"That is an Italian name, yes?" I continued, curious to what his answer for my next question was going to be.
"Yes," he spoke again, slower this time, not knowing where I was heading.
"How come you have this marvellous British accent then, love?" I continued with a small smirk of my own as I said love in a fake British accent of my own, in a spiteful tone and between gritted teeth.
"My name comes from distant relatives in Italy, just like the Salvatores here, little one. Yet, my folks and I have been living in England for quite a while, hence the accent," he covered the little incident nicely, as he made me feel like a total fool in front of Giuseppe and Stefan. I exhaled loudly as Giuseppe decided to speak out.
"Mister De Sangue, I'll be leaving now, enjoy the rest of your day," the old man told Niklaus with a slight bow as he left mumbling that he had a lot of work to finish in his study.
"I'm just going to… go too," Stefan muttered too, clearly weirded out by the nobleman and the whole conversation. The youngest Salvatore gave me a small smile, before retiring to his room.
Just as Stefan and his father were out of earshot I turned to him. He was waiting for me to throw a tantrum as an amused and fascinated smile took place on his beautiful full lips.
"What the fuck are you doing here Nick?" I growled in his face as I grabbed him from his wrists. He slowly looked down to see me locking my fingers around his wrists and then looked back up at me. I instantly removed my hands, just as if his wrists suddenly burnt me.
He then simply responded with one word, "You."
"But if that was true why stay? When you can simply grab me, take off with me and torture me to death somewhere far away from here?" I continued to hiss at him.
"Yes I could do that, but that didn't seem to teach you a lesson the last time now did it, my dear?" he replied calmly in a low, threatening voice.
I kept quiet on that part. He was right. This was a whole new level of torture. I had grown attached to the Salvatores and he could tell that I was trying to protect them from him, especially the brothers. He knew I was not liking this new form of torment.
"What about the dream then? Was that real?" I whispered silently, the dream's events rushing back as if it had been a real memory.
"I projected that dream on my part, but your character was all natural Elena," he replied back, softer this time.
"What do you mean all natural?" I requested, puzzled.
"The person you appear to be in your dreams, is your true self. You don't form decisions while you're sleeping sweetheart. I might have created the whole illusion, but I didn't create you and your silly little mind," he continued to explain.
I sighed as I placed my hand on my forehead, confused, before I left the gardens with a dash and entered my room where I found Emily waiting for me.
She immediately saw the tears in my eyes and I could already tell that she knew about Niklaus. She only gave me a slight nod.
"It will be alright my dear," she whispered as she lightly squeezed my hand and left my room. She knew that I needed to be alone, so I lied on my bed and cried myself to sleep.
"I'm such an idiot!" I wept to myself as I punched my pillow repeatedly.
After lying in my bed loathing myself and him for the longest time, I decided to play his game. It was the only thing I could do. Escaping again was just silly and predictable, plus I had vowed to myself that I would never do it again.
So I pulled myself together and called Emily to my room, knowing it would be time for supper shortly.
"Bring me my finest dress Emily. The laced cream one would do," I instructed her.
"Of course my dear," she nodded.
I felt a small smile play on my lips. Perhaps, this would work, I thought.
Dinner was short and uninteresting. I thought my precious husband would show up, mostly to torment me, but he had not – which made me furious.
Not only because I thought he would show up as a part of his act and when he did not he made me feel like a fool. But also because I secretly longed to see him again. Even though I had been the one to walk out on him, I had missed him terribly – after all he was my husband.
I sighed as I marched back to my chambers.
Damon had been absent during dinner too. His father made a scene after a servant had told him Damon wanted to be excused from supper. Stefan kept quiet and only sighed. He was clearly upset.
I had missed Damon's absence; I missed his snarky comments he usually threw at his father or his brother during dinner, or one of his mischievous smiles he ordinarily shot at me when he thought no one was looking.
That's when I realized I needed to see him. I needed his comfort as my friend, maybe even more.
I closed my bedroom door behind me and sat on the bed, with a loud exhale.
I looked out of my window, still sitting on my lovely bed. It was nightfall – my favourite time of the day. I would never get tired of looking out into the night.
I stood up and started walking out of my chambers and down the corridor. His room was isolated from Giuseppe's and Stefan's; it was three doors down from mine. I walked up to his door and saw that it was slightly open. I was about to knock, but I decided to peek from a small crack.
He was by the window, looking out – mimicking what I usually loved to do. We were more alike than I had thought. His pitch black hair shone in the soft moonlight. His body was slightly tilted to the side and I could see he was bare-chested and wearing only knee-length underpants. He was beautiful, almost as much as Nick was.
I walked up to him silently, just as Stefan had walked up to me the other night. Just as I marched up beside him, he looked sideways, finally acknowledging my presence. He did not say anything; he only smirked, as if he knew I would visit him in his room sooner or later. He was clever, sometimes too clever.
He went back to looking out the window and I joined him. We remained that way, not talking, for a long time, a very long time. I was getting impatient and I realized that he was too.
Out of nowhere, our lips came crashing onto each other simultaneously. I grabbed a fistful of his hair as he slightly bit my lower lip. His hands where at my waist, slowly making their way up to my breasts as he squeezed one and I opened my mouth, gasping softly into his. He took this to his advantage and his tongue urged its way into my mouth.
Then, his mouth left mine and made its way down my chin and then my neck, leaving a trail of saliva.
All of a sudden, the lust I was experiencing turn into abrupt anger.
That's when I felt him, I heard him.
"Stop this bloody nonsense Lena," he growled in low voice from somewhere in the mansion. Thanks to my super hearing, I ended up hearing him perfectly. His sudden command made me break my steamy make-out session with the eldest Salvatore and our mouths ended up parting, both of us panting for air.
"That was…" he whispered breathlessly as I felt his hot breath against my forehead in the cold of the night.
"Yes…" I whispered back quietly, not wanting to upset my husband more than I already have.
Damon grabbed my hand and was about to lead me to his bed, but I could not betray Nik again. At least not while he was in earshot, I thought to myself with a small smile.
"I can't…" I whispered to him as I placed a kiss on his cheek.
Not tonight, I mouthed to him as I moved away from him. His lustful look had turned into a puzzled one, so I left before he chose to ask something.
I ran out of Damon's room in a blur and down the corridor into my chambers. I did not want to run into Klaus. So I got into my room and closed the door behind me, exhaling breathlessly as I closed my eyes for a moment.
I opened them after a long time just in time to see him standing beside my window.
A/N: Hey guys, hope you are liking where this is heading. I promise the story will soon head to the present time. I got a couple more chapters up my sleeve. Maybe 10/12 more, just need a good ending ;) I'll update early if I get a couple of reviews!