AUTHOR'S NOTE: Hey everyone! I'm sorry that this chapter is a bit shorter than the others, and that it's not terribly interesting like the last couple have been, but we can't have action every chapter, can we? I do, however, think that the next one will be a bit more interesting to read in terms of action - at least I hope so :)

Some thankyou's:

To Atlafan1286, thank you once again for your review. I really appreciate the time you take to write some feedback for me. Thank you also for leaving your opinion on the sequel/prequel question, you're the only one so far - but that's okay.

To cala-16, haha, binge reading is a particular specialty of mine when I find a good story, I know where you're coming from and I'm very happy to see that you think mine is good enough to binge read. That means so much to me, so thank you :) I also got quite the laugh from your observation, I hadn't realized how unlucky Olivia is, so she's commented on what you pointed out in your review - thank you for giving me the idea!

As always, I'd like to thank everyone who followed and favorited my story - and thank you to those of you who binge followed/favorited me AND the story, that was a nice surprise, so thank you!

PLEASE READ: I know not everyone likes to leave reviews, in the last chapter I asked you to let me know what you thought of a sequel/prequel and which you'd like to read first once Love Me Back to Life is complete, only one person let me know what they wanted. So, I made a poll on my profile page, please go on over there and place your vote, and I'll get thinking on more ideas for the favorite of the two choices. Thanks, much love!

I had been awake for a while, but with the inability to free my hands I had no choice but to remain firmly planted on the kitchen chair because even if my hands moved just a hair's width, sharp agony sparked up and down my arms. I was beginning to wonder if I had been forgotten, surely Tyler would have come back by now, hell, surely anyone would have come back by now. But they hadn't, so I was left here until someone managed to scrape up enough time to rescue me, and I loathed the idea of being saved. Nine attempted and failed attempts to remove the miniature stakes later made me realize that the asphodel was still wreaking havoc upon my system and I was left to become quite acquainted with my dining room walls. Growing bored with the wall colour, I hung my head until the neck muscles grew stiff and cramped, but even then, I didn't change positions – what else was there to look at besides the walls and my legs?

The door to my house flew open and crashed against the walls, my teeth clenching in response to the visitor's cacophonous entrance. I figured silence was my best bet to go unnoticed, unless Alaric had returned for only God knows what. Instead, relief washed over me as a voice cried out from the foyer. "Liv! Liv? You here?"

At the sound of Stefan's voice, my head shot up and I replied with a shout of my own. He appeared in the dining room, the speed at which he travelled caused the sheer curtains that covered the patio doors to billow outwards and I smiled sheepishly up at my friend, fingertips digging into the top of the table as a sharp wave of pain clawed at the top of my hand. "Olivia, what the hell happened?" He gasped while gingerly touching the puckered skin that surrounded the pencils.

I hissed in agony and he pulled back in a wince like motion. "Alaric, who else uses number two pencils?" I snapped without meaning to and then added weakly, "Just pull them out would you?" In a fluid motion so I couldn't think about the pain, Stefan ripped them out and there were a few seconds of pain before it ebbed away, "In the fridge, there's a bag of blood. Get it for me?"

He immediately obliged and I leaned back in the chair, feeling the series of cracks roll up my spine. "When all this is over with," I grumbled as Stefan handed me the bag and I sucked back a number of swallows before I continued. "When Alaric is dealt with," I elaborated, throat thick with cold blood and I grimaced, much preferring it to be body temperature, "remind me to find a new place, and someone else to own it so no more fucking vampires can just walk in and out of my house like they own it. I'm sick to fucking death of being ambushed in my own house." I finished the bag and threw it on the table to emphasize my frustration, "Fucking Kol's done it, some random vampire trying to kill me and now Alaric has done it too…"

Stefan watched with caution as I vented my fury and then he spoke lightly, attempting to diffuse the tension, "Wasn't Tyler supposed to be with you?"

I glowered darkly at him, "I don't need a babysitter."

He sighed heavily and looked around pointedly and I told him to shut up as I stood shakily to my feet. "Why the hell aren't you with Damon, you know, getting out of dodge like you were supposed to?"

"Something happened to Elena." I stopped moving and turned slowly to face him with worry etched into my face and he rushed to placate the worst case scenarios that were playing in my head, "She collapsed at home. So Jeremy took Elena to the hospital – I know," He added at my eye roll and the indignant scoff that came from the back of my throat. But why would she need to go to the hospital, whatever happened to her should have been fixed by the blood I gave her, I thought to myself and Stefan continued. "He shouldn't have taken her to the hospital, but what's done is done and we both need to get over there. Meredith told Jeremy that Elena had a concussion, and that she'll be fine with some rest—"

"And you want to personally make sure that she does," I finished with a small smile and he looked away. I still didn't understand why the blood I had given her didn't work to heal her, it had helped when she cut open her hand. Maybe you didn't give her enough, you were interrupted. I pondered as Stefan threw the empty blood bag in the garbage. Or maybe she was actually worse off and what little amount you had given her prevented her condition from being worse…

I led the way out the front door and the pair of us disappeared into the night, soon arriving at Elena's door where Stefan barged in before I could get up the stairs. I slipped inside and shut the door quietly behind me to see Stefan and Elena in a warm embrace and I smiled warmly at the sight of the two of them latching on to one another, as if letting go meant they'd slip away from each other. When she pulled away, she glanced in my direction and gave me an uncertain smile, one which I returned as I carefully picked my way across the living room towards her and Stefan. Gripping her arm with a reassuring squeeze, I asked if she was doing alright and she nodded a little over zealously and I knew that she was being carefully observed – probably on Caroline's orders.

At the thought of my over-protective, control freak of a friend, I wandered into the kitchen to join Matt as Stefan sent Elena back to the couch. Quietly, I began to collect food for Elena, and Stefan joined me without speaking. This was one of the reasons Stefan and I could get along so well, we didn't need to fill the void with unnecessary chatter – we were more than comfortable with one another that mindless conversation hurt more than it helped – something that I had always found comforting in Stefan. I thought about telling him about the blood I had given to Elena, but decided against it. There was no way that my blood could lose its potency, so either I hadn't given enough to help or, what I gave her was enough to ease the condition that she was actually in. I was just thankful that it wasn't anything more serious.

I clued back into the conversation just as Matt was suggesting getting Elena out of town and I rolled my eyes when Elena adamantly disagreed. I feel like Matt is the only one with her best interests at heart and when I turned around to agree openly with my human friend, I found that Elena was no longer in the room.

"So, you're just going to let her call the shots?" Matt snapped with incredulity at Stefan and he half shrugged a shoulder while walking around the highschooler.

"I'm letting her make her own decisions."

Lips pressing into a thin line, I had to look away – I appreciate the bigger picture of Stefan giving Elena sovereignty, but he really needs to clue in to the even bigger picture that Elena is, and always will be, in danger and she doesn't have the best track records with decision making. I heard Matt voice a similar opinion and I turned my attention back to them. "Even if they're wrong?" Matt demanded.

"There's nothing wrong with free will, Matt. Trust me, you don't realize that untill you lose it."

I had to agree with that point, but I still shared a look of agreement with Matt and he mouthed, 'You agree with me?' behind Stefan's back. I nodded and he appeared to be relieved, but I never got the chance to voice my opinion before Elena was calling out Stefan's name.

I indicated firmly for Matt to stay where he was and Stefan and I stepped into the hallway to find Elijah standing just inside of the Gilbert door, mere feet away from Elena. My eyes widened slightly as Stefan acknowledged the presence of the Original vampire and then Elijah's politely soft voice filled the room.

"Hello again."

"You're back," I blurted out and he fixed his soul baring gaze upon me, and I could just tell that he could see me straight to my core, "when did y—"

"I was on my way back when I heard of the situation with the history teacher. We need to discuss how we might deal with the problem – shall I join you?" He inquired while extending his hand outwards, inviting me to lead the way and I turned my back on him uneasily. Soon enough, we were all situated in the kitchen, with Elijah taking up the seat at the head of the table, and I stood next to Matt with my arms crossed protectively over my chest at the opposite end of the table.

"My suggestion would be to separate Alaric from this new White Oak stake," Elijah began almost immediately after settling in his seat. "Once he's been disarmed and the weapon is in my possession, my family will scatter to the ends of the Earth and Alaric will follow us…"

Matt nudged me with his elbow and I broke the surface of my thoughts just as I heard Elijah assure us that Kol and Rebekah would keep the agreement that he was offering. Elijah caught my look of surprise; the thought of the Original vampires running like mere mortals would from danger was a disorienting sensation and Elijah held my gaze. There was no doubt that he knew about the current rift between Kol and I, yet I still could not disguise the rolling fear in the pit of my stomach at the thought of Kol leaving again. Was it really possible to be furious with someone, but not want them to leave you at the same time?

"Liv," Matt muttered quietly and I caught the gaze of everyone else in the room, "didn't you tell Bonnie that you'd take care of the stake?"

Elijah appeared to look relieved that they would not have to face Alaric to take the stake and it was disappointing to have to burst his bubble. "It was taken care of. But then Alaric showed up at my place and took it from me." Elijah's face was calm but his eyes betrayed the flickering fury in his eyes, as if I had actually admitted to handing the stake over willingly and I snapped at him, "He compelled me." The shock overtook his anger and I continued, "Yeah – imagine my surprise as well, that your mother made him strong enough to compel me. He then proceeded to snap my neck to prevent me from following him – because you can damn well believe that I would have followed."

"So we need to take the stake back."

"It would appear so," I said coolly in response to Elijah's minor attempt to apologize – but the apology was only detectable in his tone. Apparently, whatever plan we were to come up with could only be given the go with Elena's consent and I shook my head, agreeing with Damon who had just finished with a long and very loud spiel of protests over the phone. I walked out, for fear of shooting my mouth off and went to stand outside. The air was cool and it was a relief to be alone momentarily as they sorted out the plan inside, I didn't need to know the specific details, I'd go wherever they needed me.

I wasn't alone for long; soon Jeremy and Matt were joining me and they took a seat on the front steps as I slowly joined them. Jeremy offered me a half smile before Matt spoke to him. "So what are you going to do?" He asked and I eyed him from my peripheral vision in confusion.

"What I want to do is run in that house, grab Elena, and get her out of here and away from all this," the younger Gilbert spat out with a hint of desperation and I crouched down before my two human friends, placing my palm on Jeremy's knee. Matt shared a knowing look with me and I nodded slightly.

"So why don't we?"

Jeremy scoffed, "Good luck getting her past all those vampires in there." I bit my lip lightly in thought and then Jeremy added, "Even if I wanted to help Alaric, I have no idea where Klaus' body is."

There was a brief moment of silence and then Matt revealed that he knew and almost instantly, there was silent agreement between the three of us. The wheels were turning in all of our heads and I nodded more to myself than to either of them. "Let's get her out of here," I declared out loud and Jeremy set the plan in motion by pulling out his phone.

~O~

It was a while later and I was waiting for Alaric in the woods with Stefan and Jeremy when a text came in from Matt. I glanced down at the screen of my phone and then shot Jeremy a conspiring glance, Matt and Elena were currently in his truck getting out of dodge – Elena was asleep in the passenger seat from the drugs that he had slipped into her tea. Neither Jeremy or Matt felt comfortable betraying her in such a way but I told them there was no other way to get her to go, unless I compelled her, but that would mean taking away all of her free will, at least when she woke up from the drugs she'd realize what had happened and could make of it as she wanted. Sure she'd be pissed, but I'd rather her have the chance to be angry than to be forced to comply.

My attention was caught by Stefan answering his phone and, from where I stood, I could hear that it was Damon calling. My hands shot to my mouth as a painful gasp of air escaped my lips when I heard Damon say that Alaric had staked Klaus. An uncontrollable hurricane of emotion swirled in my heart as overwhelming agony tore me to pieces. I knew I needed to calm down but I couldn't stop thinking about the surviving Mikaelson's losing their brother, their family; I couldn't stop thinking about how many people I was going to lose and I felt the hot tears rolling down my cheeks and between my fingers.

Stefan hung up and then Jeremy was breaking the silence before it could fall over us, "Stefan. Elena's not at home. Matt, Olivia, and I, we're getting her out of town."

The older vampire glanced at me and I stared at him with wide, teary eyes from over my hands. "It's going to be fine," he assured with fake confidence that I could see in his eyes. "Klaus was lying; we're all going to be okay."

Of course Klaus wasn't lying. Why would he lie? It didn't suit him because the emotional attachments that we had to Caroline, Tyler, Stefan, and Damon meant he was safe, it meant he had a hold over us and that we would be more likely to help him if he demanded it than if he hadn't created their line. I thought I'd feel better knowing that he's dead, it's what I've wanted for such a long time, but I didn't feel good at all. Not when I knew how Rebekah and Elijah would take it, especially Rebekah, and I just didn't want to know how Kol would react. He snapped my brother's neck, and I got his killed. I knew how he'd see that, as retaliation, but it wasn't what I intended to happen; I didn't want him dead, I wanted him to suffer, and there was always that chance that Klaus could find peace on the other side – something he didn't deserve. I hadn't even begun to consider forgiving Kol yet, but our argument has suddenly grown more complicated.

My phone began to buzz in my hand and I glanced down to find Damon's name flashing across the screen. The air caught in my throat and I swallowed thickly while pressing the screen to my ear and answering quietly, "Damon?" I saw Stefan and Jeremy turn to me but I walked away, further into the woods for a little more privacy.

"Hey Liv, I don't know if Stefan told you—"

"Yeah," I whispered, despising the tears that leaked from my eyes, "I heard what happened. Damon I—"

He shushed me quietly, stilling the tears on my cheeks with his calmness. "Please don't, Liv. I don't want your tears…" I sniffed and swiped at my burning eyes while staring off into the distance, into a thicket of trees. "I need you to know that it's not your fault, Liv. There was no way for you to know that Alaric would compel you, I don't want you to blame yourself. Please don't blame yourself."

I let out a sob and squeezed my eyes shut against the hot tears, "Damon, I'm sorry. I should have been there; I should have gone with you and Stefan instead of staying here. If I had been there with you, Klaus probably wouldn't have been dead and—"

"Knowing Alaric, Olivia, he'd probably compel you to stake Klaus and then you'd never forgive yourself." He sighed heavily and I could picture him rubbing at the corners of his eyes like he did when he was under stress. "Look, Liv. You're probably one of the few people in this town that I'd like to be able to say goodbye to in person. But it wouldn't be practical if either of us hauled ass to the other to do so, so I'll do it over the phone."

"Has Elena—"

"No, but I don't want to talk about her right now. I want to say goodbye to you first, as the first 'friend' I made upon my return home. I wanted to thank you for snapping my neck that night we met, you proved yourself to be different from other girls I've known, one who was worth getting to know…" A shaky breath escaped my lips as I shoved a hand through my hair and casually shuffled around in a small circle, looking down at my feet.

"Damon it's not—"

He rushed to speak over me, "I wanted to say goodbye to you first because I know it will be difficult in so many ways. I'd prefer to see you in person, but I know that won't be likely, so I have to settle with a phone call. Don't take this the wrong way, Liv, but I love you. I just wanted you to know that."

My breath froze at my lips, I couldn't breathe. "I—"

"Goodbye, Liv."

The line went dead and I whispered into the receiver, so that only the wind could hear me. "Goodbye, Damon. Love you too."

The quiet sobs began to flow freely and I berated myself mentally for not telling him the truth. I began to walk back to where I left Stefan and Jeremy and found the two of them gone with only Elijah left. I didn't want to step into his view but I knew he could sense my presence and he turned in my direction, squinting into the trees where I was hiding. We both heard the snap of a stick beneath someone's foot and I saw Rebekah emerge from behind her brother with tears in her eyes. Her lips were turned down into a shaky pout and from here I could hear the strain in her voice as she tried to keep herself from bursting into tears.

"He's gone, Elijah," she whined slightly, sounding much like a small child. "There was nothing I could do to stop it." I watched painfully as the oldest and youngest Original vampire strode towards one another and embraced tightly. The pair clinging to each other with a desperation that I wasn't accustomed to seeing from two Originals, the only one who was missing was Kol and I wondered idly where he was, and if he knew that his older brother was gone. I decided then to step out from behind the tree and into the clearing, and both Originals parted to face me. Rebekah fixed me with cold fury and I couldn't help the involuntary shiver that ran down my spine as my instincts told me to run for it. She made a move to lunge in my direction but Elijah wrapped an arm tightly around her middle, holding her back, but that didn't stop me from taking a startled step in retreat.

"Bekah—"

"You bitch," she hissed and it felt like I'd been doused with icy water, "you said you would hide it! You said you'd keep it safe, what did you do, give the White Oak stake to Alaric. I bet you were happy to, I bet—"

"I didn't give the stake to Alaric," I snapped, my eyes flashing, "Alaric compelled me to give up the spot I'd chosen."

She shook her head angrily, blond hair flying as her normally bright blue eyes darkened with a new hatred for me, "You're a liar, Olivia. You can't be compelled. This is your fault, it's all your fault."

"No, it's not," I stated blandly and they both stopped, "Klaus isn't dead because of me. If anything, he's dead because he made all the wrong enemies, and that's the only reason he's dead. But it's not what you think, you'll see that soon enough."

I left the clearing before either of them could do anything, slightly ashamed of myself and worried that if Rebekah could hate me so easily, would Kol hate me too?

~O~

"I know you're here," Bonnie called out, the contempt clear on her face as she stepped into the poorly lit cellar that Tyler used during his monthly transformations.

From beyond the shadows, Tyler emerged slowly with a dark smirk embedded on his face, an expression very unlike Tyler, who, even in all his wolf-like brutality, was incapable of such a sinister look. Bonnie watched with a calm look on her face as the shadows released their hold on her friend, but when he spoke, it was very clear that Tyler wasn't speaking.

"I must say you really did that spell brilliantly," Tyler drawled in an uncharacteristic way, his dark eyes glittering with the flickering candle flames. "I didn't think you had it in you," he continued smoothly, his hands clasping behind his back, a stance that displayed more comfort than the real Tyler would show in this cellar.

"The spell wasn't my idea," Bonnie declared loudly and smiled in satisfaction when Tyler's face betrayed surprise, "but I still did it to save my friends and my mother, Klaus, not you."

"Dare I ask whose idea it was?"

"Mine."

I emerged from the darkened entrance into the cellar to face Klaus in Tyler's body, and I slowly took my place beside Bonnie. I wasn't pleased with the look he was giving me; it told me that he didn't expect that I would have come up with the idea, but for all the wrong reasons. The truth that I hadn't told Damon was that I knew he really wasn't going to die, but I couldn't say anything – the less people who knew about Klaus surviving then there was less of a chance that Alaric would come after him again.

"Your idea, Olivia? But I thought you hated me?" There was a teasing lilt to Tyler's voice that I didn't appreciate.

"I do," I snapped. "But unlike you, Klaus, when I make a plan, I think of how it affects everyone involved and I try my damn hardest to prevent harsh consequences from touching them. I had a hunch that Alaric would be able to compel the location of the stake out of me, so I covered my ass."

I didn't like the look of Klaus' smirk on Tyler's face as he casually strode towards us and then he fixed a smug look on Bonnie and I took a step closer to him, angling my body to protect my friend. He ignored me and spoke only to Bonnie, "The spirits won't be happy with you."

I glanced warily at her but the determination on her face was contagious. "The spirits don't get to tell me what to do anymore. I'm done getting pushed around by all of you. I did it because I wanted to."

I didn't bother to remind her that I had to twist her arm, to convince her that a bunch of dead ancestors shouldn't be able to have such a hold over her – what was the point of having magical abilities if she couldn't use them to save the people she cared most about? Perhaps I had manipulated her a little, but knowing Bonnie, it wouldn't have been hard to get her to do as I asked, and I was right.

Only thing that was wrong now was that maybe I had damned Bonnie to the fury of her collective ancestors. But I couldn't bring myself to feel guilty about it now; Klaus was alive – and that meant my friends could live too.

~O~

Review please, much love!