"Is your arm better?" Nik asks as he eyes me carefully.

"Yeah, it's as good as new." I comment lightly with a nod and a grin.

He raises a disbelieving eyebrow. "Are you sure? Broken bones don't always heal right for humans."

I look up at him then. "You gave me your blood didn't you? While I was sleeping."

Klaus nods as he crosses his arms over his chest. "Caroline told me about .."

"Thank you." I reply, interrupting him before he can continue. "For saving us from them and for healing me. I know you didn't have to."

The hybrid frowns, but his eyes don't leave me. It's silent for awhile and go back to trying to translate the Grimores that the Martin's own. "Do you want to talk about it?"

I freeze at the question as being the Salvatore's little captive went through my mind. I hold back a shudder and shake my head. "No."

"It might help." He continues, his voice softer then it was before. "From what I saw as Alaric.. well, I assume that it was worse then what we saw?"

Subconsciously I place my book down to rub my wrists and take a shaky breathe. Not looking at him I nod. "I wasn't allowed to use the bathroom by myself."

Just like that the air feels like it shifts, I don't have to look at him to see his ire. "Did they.."

"Damon tried that night. Before that it was.. comments, lingering touches anything he could do that didn't push the line more then he already was. Sometimes as long as he could get his blood into me he would be satisfied."

"He forced you to share his blood as well?" Klaus asks in an almost eerily calm voice. "Did he take yours?"

"Sometimes." I mutter as I think about how he would injure me just to lick it up when no one else was there. "It depended on how much I pissed him off, otherwise he was trying to get me to tell him about Elijah."

"And did you?"

"No. I told him the same thing every time, that I wasn't kidnapped and I had just gotten back that day."

"I imagine he wasn't happy with that."

Squeezing my eyes shut as I try to get the imagine of his hands away and the feel when he would grip my throat as he would press me against the bed. I feel my heart constrict in panic as I try to slow down my breathing. My breath won't slow. Shaking my head I try to fight away the flashback when I feel Niklaus beside me, his hand lightly wrapped around mine as he gently moves me against his chest, his hold is extremely light, making it known that I can pull away anytime I want to.

"Listen to my heartbeat." He speaks softly, his Norse, almost British sounding accent seeping through. "Try to match your breathing with mine."

As my breathe starts to slow down he continues speaking, his voice low almost like a whisper. "The Salvatore's will not touch you again."

My hand grips his shirt tightly at the mention but he continues. "I won't allow it, nor will your friend Caroline or my brother. The Martin's won't, they are very fond of you after all and even Maddox .."

I stay frozen in place because of his words. Not because I doubt any of them, but because aside from sacrificing me and the need for my blood he has absolutely no obligation to me. But, it could be him trying to get me to trust him or just his personality. He liked to care for people, to protect them but being painted as the bad guy all the time would be a struggle on its own.

"Just don't lock me up." I mutter against him as I try to force myself to pull away, but it's comfortable and warm, it feels nice. "Okay?"

I hear him sigh. "Of course not love. Now, you do know about the ritual correct?"

"Yes. I'm not too worried about that." I admit with a yawn. "A proper death could be nice, if I'm lucky I'll become a cat. Then I can sleep in sinks, on counters or even on a couch all day."

Klaus chuckles and shakes his head with a smirk of amusement on his face. "You're an interesting one aren't you? So, why did you make the contract?"

"So that my family stays safe." I admit as I watch him closely. "Why did you sign it?"

He hums in thought, putting his hand under his chin after I finally pull myself from him and his eyes narrow while he looks at me. "It gives me what I want. I want to be free of the restraints my mother forced on me through the curse. Then I want to build an army of others."

"To protect you and your family?" I ask him, curious about whether or not he's going to be honest. "Or to conquer the world?"

"Both. Even though we can protect ourselves just fine. Why are you still protecting your brother when he didn't try to help you?"

"A few reasons." I admit. "He wanted to and he did try but then Damon and Stefan... He was afraid, perhaps of the consequences that could come from it."

Klaus hums as he narrows his eyes at me. "And your witch friend?"

"They convinced her that I'm compelled. Although I will admit that they had tried to compel me."

"Perhaps you're too forgiving." He counters simply. "Because the witch could have done something, perhaps your human brother couldn't.. but the witch certainly could have."

I shrug my shoulders. "Perhaps. While I have learnt that I may not be able to rely on her I suppose it will depend. Although I won't be alive much longer as it is."

Klaus narrows his eyes on me as he wraps an arm around my shoulders, tucking me against him loosely. In a way it feels like he didn't expect to do it either. Taking a deep breathe I work on relaxing myself, I know that I'm nervous and I know that I can pull away if I want too. Then suddenly the warmth is gone and he's pulling himself to his feet.

"Apologies." He says stiffly as he stands and then mutters lowly to himself, perhaps hoping that I won't hear him. "I don't know why I did that."

Then swiftly he leaves the room.

--

A week had passed and the planning for the ritual was nearly complete. We were all aware of the threat that the Salvatore's pose, perhaps me and Caroline realized it more then the witches and the originals did. In the end it pulled us into chaos.