Disclaimer: I do not own the Vampire Diaries.

A/N: Sorry this is so short. I haven't had much time to write this week, due to school ending and other things. I'll get back to it ASAP.(-:

Chapter 37

Klaus told the driver to hurry to arrive at their destination, not even glancing at AJ. Then he pulled out his phone and texted someone with his vampire speed, then snapped it shut. If the Warrior wouldn't comply with him yet, then he would have to figure out ways to make her. He would have to figure out her weaknesses.

"Klaus. Klaus," AJ said, trying to keep from panicking as she got his attention. "This is a bad idea. When the others realize I'm gone, they'll—"

"They'll what, AJ? 'They'll come looking for you?'" he mocked, laughing. "They can look for you all they want. They won't find you. And even if they did, what could they do about it? I'd kill them all in seconds. So trust me, AJ. You don't want your friends to find you." A thought occurred to him that should have much earlier. Perhaps her friends were her weakness? But her witch friend, Bonnie, was dead and the Warrior still remained on the doppelgangers side, despite the fact. She obviously already knew that the doppelganger would have to die for the sacrifice, too, so he didn't see much of a threat in that. But if she were truly of a pure heart, could he simply threaten the life of any random human being, and she would cave? Or would it make her that much more determined to reject him? Because of the blatant fact that she was far from being similar in any way to the other Warriors, he couldn't be sure. And that was something he wasn't used to.

"Klaus, what do you plan on doing? Torturing me? Threatening me?" she asked, looking at him incredulously. She still had a hard time digesting the idea of him kidnapping her after she willingly got into his car. She wanted to hit herself for how stupid she had been. The fact that the car was a closed off space and was easy to keep someone in should have been her first warning sign. But of course, she had no common sense. She hadn't realized the danger she was in.

He studied her after she spoke. She looked angry and panicked, no matter how hard she tried to hide it from him. He was beginning to think that if he did have to torture her, then perhaps it would be a last resort. If he began with it, it would probably only make her madder, more determined to be against him. But how else could he try to convince her?

"I do not plan to harm you, AJ. I wish only for you to see that you should be helping me instead of trying to stop me," he told her, "If you continue to stay on the doppelganger's side, then it will not end well for you. You already know her fate—her destiny, AJ. Why allow yours to be the same when you could just as easily change it by making the simple choice to aid me?" He raised his eyebrows at her. He could see absolute determination in her eyes. She was a peculiar thing, to him. She was so very devoted to her friend. The other Warriors had at least been the same in that way, but many of them were either easy to tempt or threaten, their weaknesses being so very clear to him, while others had stood by their values until he killed them. But he knew she was so very different. Why? What made her so special? Was she good? Or was she bad? It was truly that simple.

She shook her head vigorously, trying to remain calm and at the same time trying to keep the darker side of her from coming out. She could feel it at the edge of her mind. It seemed to… well, almost like Klaus. Darkness goes with darkness. "No, Klaus. I don't believe in destiny or fate or anything like that. Elena doesn't have to die. I can stop it." And Elijah may or may not have something to revive her. "I can stop you. I won't give in Klaus. You might as well not waste your time and just let me out of the car."

He laughed. "We shall see if I'm wasting my time or not, AJ. I have many plans."

She swallowed hard. The darker side of her was happy. That was not a good thing. She didn't know for how long she could keep it under control. It seemed that every time she was around Klaus, he would bring it out of her. He'd make it amplify, rather than shrink in the way it did when she was around Elijah. The brothers were very different. But she could see the wicked glint in Klaus's eyes, and she feared for what his 'plans' were. She feared for the darkness within her. Was the better part of her strong enough to fight it?

X x x x x x x x x x x X

Elijah returned home around five-thirty, parking in one of the large garages the estate had. As he got out of his car, he straightened out his suit and began walking towards the front door, anxious to see AJ. It was strangely quiet—he expected to hear AJ doing something. Normally she would draw, or play one of her guitars, or sing to occupy herself. She seemed to enjoy those things.

As he entered the house, he noticed that everything looked the way it did before he'd left earlier that day. That was strange. Normally some things would be at least very minutely different after AJ would return from school. His eyebrows furrowed in confusion. Perhaps she had been tired and went to sleep? He sped up the stairs and stopped at the closed door to her room. He put his hand on the doorknob lightly and quietly opened the door, peeking in.

Nothing. She wasn't in there. He, himself, walked in, his eyes circling the room. Her room looked untouched as well. Maybe she had decided to go out to the waterfall? Or out on the trails? He used his vampire speed to race back down the hall and the stairs, then outside to the trails. He stopped at the edge of them and listened for a moment. He could hear wildlife all around, but he couldn't hear anyone else. He couldn't hear AJ. To be certain, he went to the waterfall—the place he expected her to be the most if she was in fact out here. But she wasn't. It was empty of her bright presence. He went back to the garages, noticing for the first time that it was void of her car. Was she with one of her friends?

He finally pulled out his cell phone and called her. It immediately went to voicemail. Now he was worried. Very worried. Before, he had fully expected to find her, somewhere around the estate. He was used to her wandering. But now he felt that something was very wrong. He knew it. He decided to call her closest friend to see if they had had contact with each other in recent hours. Perhaps she really was with Elena, and her phone just died? It was a definite possibility, but one his wise mind told him was very slim.

"Hello?" Elijah heard Elena ask with confusion in her voice. His number wasn't in her contacts, so she wouldn't know it was him.

"Elena," he said smoothly, careful to keep any traces of worry out of his voice, "This is Elijah. You wouldn't happen to be with AJ at the moment, would you?"

There was a pause. "No, Elijah. She's not with me. Why?"

Elijah repressed the sudden urge to break the phone. He'd never experienced being so concerned for a human in his entire span of living. Well maybe not living, but undead. "She isn't here. She's supposed to be," Elijah said, strained. It seemed that hiding his worry wasn't going to be that easy. His bad feeling was amplifying.

"I—I saw her last at school, in the parking lot. She was walking to her car when Stephen and I left. Maybe she went somewhere? Like driving or something? I'm assuming you tried calling her already. She didn't answer?" Elena sounded scared and worried. Elijah figured that the fact that he sounded worried made things worse for the doppelganger.

"No. It went straight to voicemail." Normally, Elijah would have found the doppelgangers words useless by now, but he figured they weren't after thinking about it. She knew AJ better than anyone did—except for him. But she knew of things that he thought maybe he didn't know. She could be of some use. "You say you last saw her walking to her car. Did you happen to see her drive off?"

Elena paused again. "No. Oh god, no. I should have waited to make sure, though, I shouldn't have been so preoccupied—"

"Do not jump to conclusions so quickly," Elijah said, chastising, even though he was feeling the same way. "I will go to the school and see if her car is there." He hung up. For a moment, he just stared at the ground, a thousand different thoughts reeling through his head. Where was AJ? Why wasn't her phone on? Was she hurt? Was she just driving around, doing something to get an adrenaline rush? Or did it have something to do with Klaus? Was she okay? The question repeated in his mind over and over again.

Only last night had he first kissed her, showed her how he truly felt about her. It'd been a very big risk for him, but once she had reciprocated, he had felt something change within him. Something new and old at the same time, wonderful and intimidating, even for him—an Original vampire. The thought was ludicrous, yet very true. His feelings for her were strong. And he had meant it when he had said that very morning that he cared only for her well being. And within a few short hours, he had failed her. He felt that, very deep inside of him, he felt that. But he would check the school parking lot. He had to be certain.

What would normally take a twenty minute drive took only a little over a minute to get to the school grounds. That was when the dread filled up inside of him—something he had never truly felt before. There her car sat, alone in the parking lot.

For the first time in a very long time, he feared for someone he cared about. Klaus had AJ. He was sure of it. But he would get her back. No matter what, he would get her back.

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