I was alone in that basement. If I was still a human, I'm sure I would have been coughing or sneezing by now because of all the dust in this place. I guess none of the apartment residents actually use the storage facilities.

I heard Lewis's steps on the stairs. I don't think I actually could recognize his steps, but who else would be coming down here? C had no idea where she had been held captive.

I stood as Lewis entered the room. I didn't want him to be able to look down on me. But he didn't even look at me; he went straight to the pile of grimoires. He read a few pages in several different grimoires until, apparently, he had settled on one that he wanted to try. Perhaps this one looked promising.

He stood and walked right up to me, crossing the boundary line. "Just how willing are you going to be?"

I reached out and took the vial from him, being careful to keep my movements slow and human-like. I bit into my palm and clenched my hand into a fist to direct the blood into the vial. Once my bite wound had healed, I handed the vial of blood back to Lewis.

"Thank you."

I scoffed and refused to look at him as he walked back to the grimoires, which sat on the floor, in the direct middle of the space between me and that poor human who was about to have his arm sliced again right before having my spelled blood forced into his mouth, down his throat, and into his system.

As I saw previously, when Lewis still had C here, he took the vial of blood back to the grimoires. He chanted while holding the vial in one hand as the index finger from his other hand skimmed along the page of the grimoire he was chanting from. I saw the veins in his face become more prominent and turn black as he chanted. Was this a result of performing dark magic?

He finished chanting and carried the vial over to the human who lay crumpled on the floor against the wall. It only then that I noticed a white semi-circle made of salt around the human, too. Lewis had placed him under a boundary spell as well?

I still cringed as Lewis pulled out his knife as he knelt down in front of the human, who quivered and cowered further into the wall, away from Lewis and his knife. But his efforts were fruitless. Lewis easily grabbed his arm and made a quick slice before forcing the opening of the vial of my blood into the human's mouth and down his throat.

And as like last time, Lewis finished by holding onto the human's arm, watching it intently. Watching the cut intently.

It felt like I was watching the cut on the human's arm, waiting for it to heal or not, for longer than the last time, but I wasn't sure. Maybe since I now knew what to watch for, it only felt longer. Or maybe it felt longer because I knew how much was at stake.

But, as happened the last time, the human's cut did eventually heal.

But to my surprise, Lewis did freak out with frustration this time. He seemed to calmly accept the fact that it had not worked this time.

He stared at the now-healed cut for a few extra moments before releasing the human's arm and stood. "Okay." He rubbed his hands together, as if he were excited about something or eagerly anticipating something. "Let's try again, shall we."

Caroline and Bonnie left the Mikaelson mansion together. Bonnie had told everyone that she would look at her grimoires and learn more about how to defend themselves or to fight against this dark magic.

Caroline offered to give Bonnie a ride home.

But when Caroline turned and took a road that led to neither the Forbes nor the Bennett house, Bonnie had to question her best friend.

"Care, where are we going?"

Caroline didn't look away from the road as she responded to her friend. "To the uptown apartment building."

"Care, what?!"

Caroline looked Bonnie in the eye. "It's Ri, Bon. We have to help her."

Bonnie turned in her seat to look at Caroline more directly. "What happened to waiting until tomorrow morning so we could go with everyone?"

Caroline shook her head. "This is Riley, Bon. She's like a sister to me. Maybe closer. I cannot, and will not, stand by, just waiting around, while she is being held captive by her psychotic father. I'm going to save her. And I would like your help, but if you want, I'll stop the car so you can get out now and I'll go by myself."

Bonnie was silent for a moment or two before she sighed. "Okay. Let's go save Riley."

Caroline smiled slightly, in triumph, and drove faster.

Lewis made a couple more attempts at reanimating Riley's blood, but all failed. He was getting more and more frustrated, so he left. He needed to get some fresh air. Or at least some not dusty air. He left Riley and that human in the basement and went upstairs to his apartment on the third floor.

He unlocked his apartment door and found the vampire hunter lounging on the couch with his feet propped up on the coffee table.

"Please, make yourself at home," Lewis greeted sarcastically.

"You have been absent. And now you're avoiding my calls."

"I've been busy."

The hunter glared at him. "With what?"

"I'm holding my daughter in the basement; I don't want her interfering with our plans."

"Are you sure you're not going soft? Siding with the blood suckers because you found out that your daughter is one of them?"

Lewis stepped into the living room part of his apartment so he could face the hunter as he spoke. "Of course not; but she knows me better than anyone else in this god-forsaken town; she's the only one here who could figure out my true intention."

"Has the appearance of your daughter in town changed your priorities?"

"No. I'm still on track to kill all the Original vampires and wipe out the entire abominable species."

The hunter gave Lewis a veiled threat, "You'd better be," before he stood and left the apartment.

Lewis smiled smugly after his apartment door slammed shut behind the hunter, having easily and completely fooled the vampire hunter. If he can fool the hunter, he can easily fool anyone and complete his true goal.

Lewis had left me alone again. He had made three attempts at reanimating blood since he took C home. All were unsuccessful. He seemed to get more frustrated as each attempt failed. But he never got as angry as he did the very first time.

I almost laughed out loud at the irony of the past few days. Nik had taught me some self-defence moves, but when the first sign of danger appeared, I walked right into it. Willingly.

Lewis was too quick with his magic for me to try anything against him. Plus, I gave my word, and it may have seemed stupid, but keeping my word was important to me. And, I'd be afraid to know how Lewis would react or retaliate if I did try to escape. I had too many people in this town that I cared about for me to be comfortable provoking Lewis. He already went after C, and I hadn't even done anything.

Lewis was gone longer this time than when he left with C. Or at least it felt a whole lot longer.

Whenever he left, I allowed myself to sit on the floor and lean against the wall. But while Lewis was in the basement, I refused to let myself sit. I didn't want him to look down upon me, and I wanted to be ready to spring into action, should I need to. (Though that boundary spell would keep my action limited, I should think.) Most of the Lewis was here he spent flipping through grimoires. I spent that time pacing the length and inside perimeter of my semi-circle holding space.

I had nearly fallen asleep, as I leaned against the wall while sitting uncomfortably on the ground, when I heard footsteps on the stairs and then in the hallway on the other side of the door. I shot to my feet when I realized there were two sets of footsteps.

I walked to the edge of the boundary line, up against the invisible glass wall. When I saw C and Bonnie run into the room, I yelled at them to stop. They didn't do so until they were standing in front of me.

"Stop! Take another step and you'll cross the boundary line. I got trapped when I crossed; I will not let you get trapped again, C."

Bonnie nodded. "She's right, Care. Let me try to undo it."

"Can you?"

"Every spell has a loophole; I just have to find it."

I nodded to C. "Let her try."

Bonnie closed her eyes and stretched her hands out in front of her. She was muttering, but I couldn't understand a single word.

"Are you okay, Ri?"

I nodded. "I'm fine. But you shouldn't be here, C. What if Lewis comes back?"

She shrugged, confidently. "Then we'll fight him off."

I rolled my eyes, but I didn't comment on that. "How did you find me?"

"We had a big group meeting at the Mikaelson mansion. Everyone is worried about you. Klaus knew you were here."

I didn't say anything in response.

"Do you really think he would choose hybrids over you?"

I sighed before explaining. "When Elena transitioned and he lost the ability to create hybrids, he had to change his priorities. But he spent a thousand years waiting and fighting to have that ability and then he only had a few months where he could actually create hybrids. There is no way I compare to that; he hasn't been waiting a thousand years for me. Of course he'll choose hybrids. I have no doubt about that."

"But that doesn't mean you have to sacrifice yourself because he'll still want to make hybrids, Ri. That's crazy."

I nodded at her, chuckling slightly. C didn't see. "You're right; that is crazy. But that's not why I did it. I wasn't doing it for him; I was doing it for you."

"For me?" C's brow furrowed.

I nodded. "I couldn't willingly stand by, knowing Lewis had you held captive and vervained. So of course I had to take your place. Lewis is my crazy father, not yours." To prevent C from commenting, I turned my attention to Bonnie. "Any luck Bonnie?"

"I can feel the boundary line. I'm just working my way around it, looking for the weak spot. I should be close, now."

C and I stood in silence as Bonnie continued her chanting for a few moments before she stopped.

"Okay, that should be it."

" 'Should be'?"

Bonnie put her hands on her hips. "Just try it, Ri."

I reached my hand out to put my palm against that invisible glass wall. But I felt nothing. I gasped when my hand went further than I had anticipated.

Hoping for the best, I lifted my foot and moved to set it down on the other side of the boundary line. When it met no resistance, I set my foot firmly down on the other side of the salt line and completely stepped outside of my boundary.

"It worked! Thanks, Bonnie."

"Can you walk, Ri?"

"Yes, I'm fine."

"Let's get out of here!"

"What about him?" Bonnie asked, pointing to the human.

"Can you undo the boundary spell around him faster than you undid mine?" I was hoping, since she had located the loophole for one boundary spell, she might be able to find a second one much faster; we didn't have a lot of time to just hang out here while Bonnie felt around another boundary line.

She nodded. "Assuming Lewis used the same boundary spell. It seems likely that he should have; witches don't often stray from spells that work."

"Okay, then get to it so we can get out of here. It seems unnecessarily cruel to leave him here for when Lewis returns."

Bonnie had his boundary spell undone in no time. She helped the human to walk; he was very weak, but otherwise fine.

We left the uptown apartment building without incident — meaning we did not meet up with or run into Lewis. Once we were on the street, C compelled the human to go home and forget that he had ever met me, Lewis, Bonnie, or herself.

I know I'm, in general, opposed to compulsion, but in moments like this, and in situations like this one, I'm so glad nature gave vampires that ability. We climbed into C's car; Bonnie drove so C could sit in the passenger seat and face me where I sat in the back seat.

"Are you sure you're okay, Ri?" C was not convinced that I was okay.

"I'm fine. Just a little sore from being confined to such a small space."

"So being in the backseat of Care's car probably isn't such a great change," Bonnie noted.

"Good thing Lewis's hideout is in Mystic and it's therefore a short car ride home."

We arrived at home a few moments later. C tried to help me out of the car, but I had to keep telling her that I was fine.

Once I closed the car door, I turned to walk into the house, following C and Bonnie. But I felt eyes on me and I turned around to face the street. I could see Nik down the street, walking in my direction.

I ran as fast as my legs could carry me and felt a smile tug across my lips when I saw that he was running towards me, too. I launched myself into his arms, wrapping my legs and arms tightly around his body and burying my face into the crook of his neck.

I felt his arms wrap around me and hold me as tightly as I was holding him.

He's really here, I thought in wonderment as I took him in.

I pulled away from him after a few moments and lowered myself to the ground, taking a deep breath. "Are you insane, Nik?" I said, smacking him on his chest repeatedly.

"Riley! What?" He said, not trying at all to dodge or block my blows.

"What were you thinking? Telling me to wait, telling everyone where Lewis was, and then letting C and Bonnie go there on their own! And you didn't even come with them to get me yourself, you ass! Don't you ever do that again!"

He grabbed my wrists and pulled my face close to his, smiling at me. "I can't make any promises, love. I told you that I would let nothing happen to you, and I intend to see that through. I will do anything for you, Riley."

I laughed softly, wrapping my arms around his neck as soon as he freed my wrists from his grip. He leaned in and kissed me. His hands wrapped around my waist, pulling my body tight against his.

His tongue teased my lips open, and I allowed it, feeling his tongue exploring my mouth. I trailed my fingers through one of his necklaces at the back of his neck.

His hands were everywhere; kneading, massaging, and exploring my sides and back. I raked my nails across his back as his touch made me shiver and tingle.

With great effort, he pulled away, leaving me breathless.

"Apparently the inability to listen to my plans runs in your family; Caroline took Bonnie and went after you without waiting for the rest of us to have a proper plan."

"Perhaps you shouldn't spend so much time planning, then. Huh?"

I turned around, attempting to walk away, but he grabbed my arm and pulled me back until I was pressed up against his chest. He caressed my face his with hand and leaned down, kissing my lips very lightly. Hesitantly, his lips hovered over mine for a moment.

I rolled my eyes at his pause.

Always making it my choice.

I slipped my hands around his neck and pulled him down to meet my lips. I opened my mouth, allowing his breath to mix with mine, as I ran my fingers along his scalp.

We only stayed like that, with his lips pressed against mine, for a few moments. C coughed lightly and I remembered that she and Bonnie were standing in the driveway, which was somewhere behind us. We slowly pulled apart, but his arm remained around my waist.

We began walking back to C and Bonnie. "Apparently when Caroline doesn't explicitly agree to a plan to wait, it means she won't wait at all."

I laughed softly. "That sounds about right."

He turned his attention to C. "I can take care of Riley better if she comes home with me, Caroline."

"I'm fine, Nik."

C put her hands on her hips. "She'd be more comfortable at home, Klaus. It's her home! And I can be a very good nurse."

"I don't need taken care of, C."

Neither were really listening to me as they argued with each other. Nik turned to face me. "I'm not taking no for an answer, Riley."

I sighed in defeat. I walked up to C and gave her a hug. "I'll see you later, C. Thanks for everything today."

"You're going to stay at his place?"

I shrugged. "I'm tired, and it's easier to just go with what he wants."

C hugged me tighter. "Ugh, fine. But I don't like it."

I pulled away, ending the hug. "I know," I said with a smile. "But after our fight at the party, I think we need some time apart. Let's put some space between us and let things cool down, okay?" I didn't wait for her response. "I'll see you later, C. Bye Bonnie."

I'm sure if I had let him, Nik would have carried me to his house or something. He was being overly attentive. It was weird. And a bit annoying. And completely unexpected.

I was nearly plowed over by Rebekah when I walked through the front door as she ran to hug me.

"I'm so glad you're okay, Ri. You are okay, aren't you?"

I laughed at her enthusiasm as we separated. "I am completely fine, Bekah. Thanks."

"Now leave us alone, Rebekah. She needs to rest." He all but shooed Rebekah away.

" 'Rest,' huh? All right. Bye," Rebekah called over her shoulder as she left us alone. I rolled my eyes at her.

"Don't pretend as though you're not tired, love."

I shook my head. "I'm not going to. I'm exhausted."

"Come on, then." He grabbed my hand and pulled me up the stairs.

"I can't kick you out of your room," I told him once we entered his bedroom.

He shrugged. "I'll settle in another room."

"Don't be absurd. This is your room; put me in another."

"You're not moving, Riley. End of discussion."

I crossed my arms and glared at him. "Don't shut me up like that. It's your room; you should be sleeping here."

"I insist that you stay here."

I groaned in frustration. "Just stop arguing with me. You won't let me move, and I won't let you leave; I guess that means you're staying here too, Nik." I sat down on his bed and I guess he saw my logic because he didn't argue; he just sat down on the other side of the bed. I laid down and he stretched out beside me. "Wouldn't be the first time we've slept together, huh?"

He put his arm around me, inviting me to snuggle into his side. "Won't be the last time either, love." I was too tired to do more than smile at his comment and possibly sigh contently before I was unconscious with sleep.