September 18th, 2011

Groaning with satisfaction as the blood ran down her throat, she pulled away slightly from the human she had lured back to her apartment with the promise of a good time. She was about to dive back in when she noticed that her phone had lit up. She didn't need to check it to know what it was; it would be another phone call, or a threatening voicemail or a text promising her painful death from Klaus. She'd delete them later, right now she was too busy enjoying herself.

When she'd drank enough to quench her thirst, but not enough to kill the man, she wiped the blood from her mouth and bit into her wrist to draw her own blood. She offered it to the man who took it without question and began to feed off her blood. She watched happily as the teeth marks on his neck began to heal, leaving nothing but blood stains on his neck. She cleaned him up and compelled him to forget that he'd ever met her and sent him on his way. She was fed and satisfied and there was no harm done. Even more proof that vampires didn't need to kill to satisfy their thirst.

She reached for her phone to read what offensive message had been left for her. He'd already threatened her with pulling out her heart and forcing it down her throat, twisting her head so far around it snaps off, tearing her limb from limb and, her particular favourite, forcing vervain soaked splinters underneath her fingernails.

She unlocked her phone to find a voicemail waiting for her. She pressed the phone to her ear to listen to the message and was, to put it lightly, a little surprised at what she found.

"Ava," Klaus said. "I need your help. Call me, please."

Well, she thought as she threw her phone on the couch, that was different. It was a different approach, certainly, but she wasn't falling for it. Did he honestly think she was going to come rushing to his side because he claimed he needed her help? It was one of the oldest tricks in the book. No chance.

September 29th, 2011

"So, what, you just left?" came Thomas' perplexed voice down the phone.

"I challenge you to spend one month with him and then question my decision." Ava replied, pushing the door of her building open. "Me and Klaus have what you would call clashing personalities. He expects everyone to bow down at his feet and I refuse to."

"It's not that," he said with a laugh. "It's just…well, from what I've heard, if Klaus wants you around then you have no choice. You either abide or you die."

"Mhmmm…honestly I'm lucky to still be alive. He doesn't know where I am but he's made it pretty clear what he wants to do to me when he finds me."

"Oh?"

"Mhm-hm." she said, getting into the elevator. She pushed the button for the 6th floor and waited for the doors to close before continuing. "I think his exact words were 'I will tear you and everyone that you've ever met apart. And that was one of the nicer threats."

"Are you not scared?"

"Scared? I'm terrified, but I've evaded him before, for 700 years, I can easily do it again."

"You're a braver person than I."

"Please, it's not bravery that has me running, it's sheer desperation." she said with a sigh as the lift opened its doors to the 6th floor. "Alright, I'm gonna go. I'll see you next week."

"Ok, call me tomorrow so I know you haven't been killed in your sleep."

Ava laughed and hung up. The chances of her being killed in her sleep were slim; Klaus would want her to suffer.

She let herself into her apartment as she pushed her phone back into her pocket. She leant against the door and pushed a hand through her hair. She glanced at the calendar she'd put up in the hallway. She'd been staying at the apartment over a month now, it was probably time to move on soon…she didn't want to get too comfortable in one place.

She let her bang drop to the floor and sauntered through the hallway into the living room, ready to fling herself down on the sofa, but the person sprawled across it had other ideas.

"Hello, sweetheart."

Ava stared at him for a moment, horror-struck, before turning with the intention of fleeing from the apartment, only to find herself face to face with him. She cursed herself inwardly. She knew she'd stuck around in one place for too long, and now she was going to pay the price by being brutally murdered. Brilliant.

She took a step back and he took one forward, smirking at her expression.

"Come on now, my lovely. Are we really going to do this the hard way?"

"If you're going to kill me, just do it." she said, awaiting the pure pain she would surely feel as Klaus ripped her heart from her chest.

"Though it pains me to say so, I'm not here to kill you." he said reasonably, taking her by the upper arm and guiding her over to the couch. "Quite the opposite, in fact. I assume you got at least one of my many messages." he sat back down and poised his arms behind his head. "Ignoring me, were you?"

"What did you expect? You sent me several voicemails and texts explaining in detail how you wanted to kill me."

"True, I'll admit that your abrupt departure made me want to mutilate your very soul, but someone else has wronged me which, by all means, cancels out your offence."

"Wait, what?"

"I need your help Ava. No tricks, no mind games, I'm not luring you into a false sense of security. I genuinely want your help."