Disclaimer: I do not own the Vampire Diaries.

Chapter 38

"The more you resist, the worse things will get for you," Klaus advised as he looked back at the Warrior struggling to get away from the two servants who were dragging her to the house. She had her legs stuck out in front out her, digging into the ground as she tried to hinder them. He had to admit, although only to himself, that she was very resolute.

"Well maybe if you had asked me super politely to walk myself up to the damn house, then I wouldn't have to freaking resist!" She yelled back at him, angry for being man-handled. She passionately hated that. The servant's fingers dug into her skin, making her bleed as they dragged her farther up the dirt driveway. She had been surprised that she hadn't immediately seen a manor like the one Elijah owned, but there were so many trees around the drive that she couldn't really see anything. She wondered how much further it was to the house. The car ride hadn't been particularly long, which was good. It meant she wasn't too far from Mystic falls, if out of the town at all. As she continued to squirm and elbow at the servants, she looked around, making sure to take in every detail. Yes, there was basically a forest surrounding them, but that didn't mean she couldn't use it to her advantage later on.

Before she could memorize any more of what was around her, they were coming upon the house. It was elegant, but half the size of Elijah's. In some ways, she wished Klaus knew about Elijah. It would provide her with many come backs and retorts that she knew Klaus wouldn't like, and she could use all the sarcasm she could get with him. But she was glad that he didn't know. She knew that if he did, it would probably put Elijah in danger and it would definitely ruin their plan. She internally sighed. Why had she gotten into the car? Why had she thought it would simply be the 'sit down and chat' he'd spoke of before, when she had once contemplated the idea of him kidnapping her? She was angry with herself—almost as angry as she was with Klaus. Bastard. But could she completely blame herself? He probably would have just forced her into the car anyway. That made her feel a little better. But only a little.

The house truly was elegant, and although it looked to be old, it was far from it. Unless it had been redone recently, because she saw no traces of even a little chipped paint on the porch.

They were just about to near it—Klaus was already inside—when she finally got a really good elbow in on the servant on her right. They were both human, but extremely muscular. She was happy when she felt the bald one's nose break. He cried out, releasing her arms immediately to hold his busted nose. She moved quickly to kick in the back of the knee of the other one and clap her hands over his ears. He fell to the ground, holding onto his head. She knew Klaus had most likely been alerted by now, but she took the opportunity she made for herself. She tore off into the woods, leaping over fallen logs and pushing through scratchy foliage. She felt the adrenaline pumping through her veins, the need to escape putting all of her senses on high alert. She had to get away—her darker side was emerging more and more, and she couldn't let it. Being around Klaus did that to her, and she had to get away from him. She wasn't sure how far she had gotten as her breathing became labored, although she was pretty sure she could have gotten fairly far with how good she was at running. That was when she sensed someone behind her.

Within an instant, arms were wrapped around her, holding her close and preventing her from moving anymore. She struggled again, kicked and elbowed and did anything out of sheer panic, but she had known her chances of getting away were little, if none at all. And it appeared to be not at all in that moment.

"AJ," Klaus said, sounding neither mad nor mocking as he held one arm around her body and used the other to catch her flailing arms, "I admire your perseverance. Now, would you please walk to the house?" He had said the last sentence with a bit of humor, wondering if she would actually comply since he asked her to do it herself, which was what she had screamed at him just a few minutes ago. When he had heard his servants cry out, he'd been utterly surprised. How had she managed to break one's nose and leave the other one on the ground, nearly in tears? She was a very strange girl. And smart, too. He would give her that.

Struggling in his arms was useless, and she could see that easily. Her shoulders slumped a little. "Do I have any other option?" she asked weakly. She was tired. She just wanted Elijah.

"No." Did she really think he would release her? Perhaps she wasn't as smart as he thought.

She nodded her head, feeling him release his stone grip on her. She turned around to face him, but didn't have it in her to glare. She just looked up at him once, meeting his blank dark blue eyes, then trudged the rest of the way back to the house. She'd find another way to free herself. She would have to.

When they reached the house and were on the porch, he held open the heavy looking door for her and gestured inside. "Ladies first."

She found it in her to glare at him after that remark, and then walked briskly into the house. She was in a spacious living room, and after looking around she could see entrances to a kitchen and another hallway, as well as stairs leading to the second story on her left. She was glad they were close to the front door. She also noticed a closed door on the far right wall. She wasn't sure what that led to.

"AJ," Klaus said as if they were acquaintances of some sort, to her amusement, "Please," he gestured at the seats surrounding a large fireplace, "Sit down."

She considered stomping over to sit down, but she knew it'd be too childish. Feeling like a prisoner was getting to her already. She walked over to a single chair and sat down in it, watching his every move as he went and sat across from her.

"I would like for your stay here to be as pleasant as possible, so please try to refrain from breaking any more of my servants," he said to start off with. Dennis and Andrew had been, in fact, his more capable servants when it came to having the Warrior around. She successfully ruined that. He would have to find others.

She smirked at him. "Yes, I'll try to keep my fists to myself. And as for a pleasant stay? I'd much rather live with some psychotic serial killer than you. Oh, wait. That is you. Go to hell, Klaus." She folded her arms across her chest and glared at him, letting every single ounce of anger she contained to show.

He fixed a cold stare on her. "I wish for your sarcastic comments to cease, AJ. They test my temper far too much, and believe me, you don't want to do that," he said threateningly.

She scoffed. "Why not? Because you might hurt me? Kill me? I'm really not expecting anything other than that," she retorted, shrugging.

He looked at her seriously now. "Are you truly willing to give up your life AJ? When you could just—"

"As easily choose to save myself?" she interrupted him, earning a death glare, "Yes, you have made that option very clear Klaus. And from what I've seen from you so far, dying is far better than helping you."

He absorbed this information. So maybe showing her some kindness would win her over? Maybe then she would accept? As he looked at her then, he saw all of the scratches covering her arms, legs, and even her face. He saw the blood on her arms from when his servants had dug their nails into her. After all this, she showed no signs of feeling pain. How odd.

"AJ," he said, surprising even himself at how gentle he sounded, "I apologize for my ways. I see that you are injured, and I would like to offer you my blood so you may heal." Was that kind enough? Would she see how very rare it was for him to ever speak such words? Her eyes—a surprisingly bright hazel—narrowed at him.

She scoffed. "No thanks. And as for your apology, not accepted." She knew it was immature of her, but she didn't care. Accepting an apology from Klaus could easily doom her to her darker side. She wouldn't allow it. Feeling its presence in her mind growing was making her nervous. But she would hold out. And she wasn't stupid. He was just trying to butter her up.

He looked at her, confused and a little shocked. She refused his blood. She refused his apology. What was wrong with this girl? It was as if she knew nothing of his extremely nefarious reputation. "Are you so foolish to be that way, Warrior? Do you not care for your own well being?"

She just shrugged, glaring at him still.

She was so very atypical of the Warrior that it was intriguing. How could one as important as she was be so careless? So imprudent and senseless? The fact that she even dared to look at him the way she was—to glare at him—told him that she was perhaps very special. Did she feel no fear? Was she void of emotion? No—she was angry with him. And she cared passionately for the doppelganger. So she could feel. But did she feel fear? He questioned this the most because even the strongest vampires would cower away from him. They would squirm in his presence. Her demeanor only told him that she was extremely unhappy—but she wasn't afraid or anxious. At least from what he could tell.

Suddenly a girl AJ had never seen before entered the living room. She had black hair and chocolate skin, and looked very similar to—oh god. She looked like Jonas. Dread found a place in AJ's stomach as she looked at the girl, but she masked it easily.

Klaus turned around, sensing someone's presence. "Ah, Greta," he said, pleased, "You are in time to meet the Warrior."

Greta looked from Klaus to AJ, her eyes slightly widening. "She's accepted?" she asked, astonished.

Klaus's sudden pleasantness turned into annoyance like pushing a button. He glared at Greta. "Not yet. Would you please get our guest some tea, Greta?"

Greta looked between them quickly again and nodded, but not before she frowned at AJ. AJ returned her frown with a blank stare. She didn't know if Greta was on Klaus's side or not, from the way the girl interacted with him. Before, AJ would have steadfast felt the need to save the girl—that was why Jonas and Luka had been working with Elijah in the first place. But now AJ had reservations.

Klaus returned his attention back to the young Warrior in front of him. "AJ, I am trying to be civil with you, but you keep making things worse. Tell me, what is it that I can do so that you'll see I'm not so horrible to work with?" he asked reasonably.

She laughed. "Nothing. There is absolutely nothing you can do to get me to help you," she told him, even as part of her opposed the statement. It knew exactly what he could do. But she pushed the thought out of her mind.

"You would truly rather die?" He asked, curious.

"Yes. As I have said many times already, I would rather die than work with you," AJ said as if it were obvious. And to most of her, it was.

"Why?" He narrowed his eyes at her, studying her every expression. She could easily mask what she was feeling, like vampires did, but she couldn't hide the extremely minute changes. No human could.

AJ paused for a minute. Suddenly, Elijah's face came into her mind. His wonderful smile, his chocolate liquidly brown eyes. Elijah. He would be so angry at her for acting so careless. So reckless, as she used to acting. He had been the one to detect her death wish in the beginning, when he had first met her. Even her friends hadn't realized it. And he had told her just that morning that he cared only for her well being. He wasn't worried about himself. Would he come looking for her? Was he already? She had to believe that he was. That idea alone terrified her, rather than comforted her. If he actually found her, then so many horrible things could happen. Klaus could kill him. She realized with such strong anger against herself in that moment that she should have been more careful. If not for her, then for Elijah. Was she really so indifferent about dying, now that she was with him? Did she really not care about what could happen to herself? She wanted to be with him. She wanted to feel his warm embrace, his sweet lips, and his hot touch. She needed him. And she wouldn't let him down. So she would have to escape from this place without any help. And she'd have to do it soon.

"You haven't answered my question, AJ," Klaus said as patiently as he could, bringing her out of her thoughts. "Why would you rather die than help me? I would make sure that you could live pleasantly, having anything you pleased. The only thing you need to do is accept my offer. So why would you rather give your life up?"

She rubbed her eyes and looked at him, then looked at the darkness that gathered outside. She knew Elijah would be very worried by now. Meeting his dark blue eyes once again, she thought of how she could get away from here. And one odd thing randomly came to her. But she really didn't want to act like Katherine did—the whole doing two brothers thing, wrapping them around her finger. Maybe it wasn't her only choice, though. She would have to see.

"Can I sleep on it?" she asked, letting her tiredness show through. If he was trying to be civil, then surely he would allow her to get some rest.

Klaus studied her. She looked exhausted and worn out from the day. He'd already had a guest bedroom made up for her upstairs, but he didn't have any more humans around that were capable of standing watch. He'd have to give up his sleep for the night, which wasn't that big of a deal for him. "Yes," he said kindly. "Let me show you to your room."

AJ prayed that one of her plans would work. She needed to get away. She needed Elijah.

Review and tell me what you think!(-: Elijah will be back soon. I miss him.(;