There was a time when life just carried on as normal, and I loved it. Nothing felt out of place, and I was back on track with school having caught up with all the time I'd missed. Matt and I hung out every now and then since Tyler was currently missing, having hightailed it out of town at my strong suggestion he run for his life. This upset Caroline and not only did she blame Klaus, but me too a little. She'd confronted me about it, demanding to know what had happened to Tyler and why I let Klaus chase him out of town, to which I'd responded that it was the safest bet for Tyler right now since he did try and take out an immortal being with a bunch of rookie hybrids and a non-existent witch. It's not my fault he was a dumbass.
This didn't win me any new friends, and now I was permanently blacklisted as public enemy number one, which Elena in particular seemed to be comforted by. She'd shoot me these looks, all haughty and superior, sometimes coming over to talk to me in order to demand what I was doing and who's side I was on, all that crap that I was real tired of. She acted like Miss High-and-Mighty, and it pissed me off to no end. I made it very clear that I had no intention of helping any of them ever again, and that when I figured out where the cure was, I was going to bury it under a mountain of rock and destroy it with every natural disaster I could cook up along with the person it was buried with, Silas.
It had taken me a while, but I finally was brought up to speed with everything, including the origin story of the first immortal being and the cure which had been made by a witch, Quetsiya, for her one true love only to be betrayed by him. It was a whole tragic love story thing that only made me want to vomit, a total cliché story that hadn't already played out a thousand times over in every single century since the dawn of time. Unexpectedly, my information came from an ally I never thought I'd side with. Kol.
Rebekah was angry when she found out that I wanted to destroy Silas and the cure, she and Kol having interrogated that professor to try and find the location but Kol ended up killing him to keep him quiet, and I was cool with that. I promised her that it was for the best, and if she really wanted to be human then I'd figure out how to make her a cure of her own. I mean, someone made it once before, so it had to possible to make it again. I just need to figure out the magic, which meant spending hours at a time trawling through endless memories and information passed down to me from my ancestors to try and figure it out, but so far I was unsuccessful.
The thing that really freaked me out, however, was the fact that it was actually that professor guy who was orchestrating everything behind the scenes. The twelve dead councilmembers, the twelve massacred hybrids, apparently it was all part of a ritual to give Silas power again, but I had no idea how it was supposed to end. It was my intention to stay in the loop with Kol's help, the two of us having struck up an alliance, however on the day he was running around like a maniac trying to kill everyone, I was just about to head out my door to put him in his place and get him to calm the heck down when I found Klaus on my porch.
Holding the door with one hand I halted, blinking at him. I know my arrays and protective barriers were still holding, which meant Klaus had forced his way past the vervain and wolfsbane in order to reach my porch, but now he couldn't go any further. "Nik, what are you doing here?" He smiled at m cryptically, in a way that I had learned to recognise as an indication that he wanted something from someone, or he had a plan and was up to something. Either way, it was now focused on me.
"Do I need an excuse to visit a friend?"
"It's been over a month since I last saw you, and I know you're only here because you want something. Now what is it?" I demanded carefully, eyeing him with suspicion. Klaus smiled, ducking his head slightly as he kept his hands fixed behind his back.
"Might we take this conversation inside, love?" I frowned at him, still wary but considered it.
"I was actually on my way out to take care of your brother Kol. He's a pain in the ass and causing trouble everywhere. We had a deal that he'd keep things on the down low but so far, discretion hasn't proved to be one of his strong points." I told him which made Klaus brighten rather dramatically, exclaiming with sarcasm that his brother Kol was the exact same reason he was here to see me.
"You see love, I have been made aware that you are currently in possession of my rather special daggers, and since Kol has conveniently taken mine, I am left with no other alternative than to beg for the dagger back from you." He came clean pretty quick, and I frowned at him a little further before pushing the door open and letting him in, dropping the barriers so that he could enter freely and walking away in order to head to the kitchen.
"So basically you're saying that you tried to get the dagger from Rebekah assuming that she had it, but then you learned that it was actually with me, and now you want it to drive it into Kol's heart, right?" I listed off, turning around once we were both inside to face Klaus who followed me in leisurely.
"Clever as always, Ophelia. I like that about you." He said to me so I rolled my eyes sceptically.
"It's not rocket science to figure that much out, stop trying to butter me up. Why should I give the dagger back to you? How do I know you're not going to one day use it on Bekah again, or Elijah?" His eyes flickered at me, annoyance showing in his face.
"Yes well, you seem to have a deep sense of worry for my dear brother and sister." Unable to help it, I smiled at him. It made me laugh inside just how pouty this guy could be, and part of me thought it was cute. The way his mouth would press and curl slightly, the slight twitch of his eyes and the sharp look that followed, like a little kid who'd been told 'no'.
"Jealous are we?" Teasing him a little, I folded my arms as I regarded him curiously. Now he pretended to be aloof, that he didn't care to hide the fact that he had been jealous, making me smile all the more. Gradually he softened towards me, seemingly becoming transfixed with my expression as he searched it, taking a step closer towards me.
"Where is the dagger, Ophelia?"
"Right here." I spelled it into view, making it materialise into my hand after rolling my wrist, making his brow quirk in surprise, but when he went to take it I pulled it back from him. "Kol and I are on the same side, Klaus, I don't want anyone to raise Silas, and that's what's going to happen if you all go after that cure. I can't let that happen. Which means I can't give you this dagger until I know exactly what you're after." Putting the dagger down on the breakfast bar, I then turned back to Klaus who glanced at it, seemingly weighing his options before he exhaled deeply and looked back at me.
"You know I don't easily reveal my diabolical plots, love. It keeps me ahead in the game."
"Come on Nik, you should know by now that it hardly matters whether you tell me or not. I'll find out eventually, either by snooping or I'll just get a real handy vision telling me everything I need to know. It's only a matter of time." Tapping my head to emphasise my point, Klaus leaned in a little closer to me. His eyes scanned my face before dropping suddenly, looking to my neck where I was wearing his pendant he'd given me for Christmas. It made me flush slightly, pulse going a little haywire from embarrassment as I caught that heated look in his eye, one that was heavy and filled me with a pressure that I hadn't ever noticed before.
"I see you like my gift."
"It's pretty, sure. You just happened to catch me wearing it today." I told him dismissively, however he must have been listening to my heartbeat because he could instantly tell that I was trying to be cryptic. It made him smirk at me, returning his gaze to mine as his hands lifted to brush back my hair and run a finger down my neck slowly. As my stomach tightened, I frowned as I had instinctively drawn in a breath. What the hell is wrong with me? Push him away, Lia, don't let him do this. Go on, push him away.
But I couldn't, or I was just admitting to myself that I didn't really want to. There had always been something about Klaus that I couldn't quite help but feel drawn to. He was attractive, I couldn't dent that. Maybe it was his accent, or the way his eyes searched mine as if looking for something familiar in me that he saw in himself. That loneliness, the fear of being left behind, the parallels between us becoming our bond and from there, we had somehow grown closer. His hands were wrapped around my neck and the back of my head now, pushing through my hair as I just watched him steadily, curious as to what he was going to do.
Without even meaning to, I started thinking back to all the times he'd sat beside me whilst I'd slept. The novels, the poetry, every time he'd talked giving me something to focus on other than silence. I could remember the words as they'd flowed off his tongue in a lyrical murmur that had more often than not made my heart stir with emotion as the escape allowed me to feel things through the literature. I had loved those moments, and I had come to appreciate him for it, but now I was suddenly starting to feel more.
Attraction. A powerful attraction that felt like a fire burning its way across my chest. The fact that I knew it was wrong made it burn all the more. I shouldn't like him, he'd done countlessly terrible things to many innocent and good people. He tried to murder Carol, hurt people for his own gain, he was violent and temperamental and he even abused his siblings' love for him then turned around and betrayed them whenever they pissed him off. I shouldn't like him, and yet I did. It was those other moments that made me think, maybe there was still a chance for him.
Each time he'd held my hand and told me gently about the weather changing, all those hours he'd spent painting beside me or reading aloud so that I wouldn't feel alone. Every moment I'd caught a genuine smile, no matter how brief, and the way he'd seemed to accept that I was not his enemy and allowed me to become something of a friend. The thrill of being so close to such a dangerous person made me want him all the more, and that terrified me, yet not enough to make me push him away.
As he came closer to me, my eyes naturally sunk lower and flickered, lifting my face towards his as I felt his warm breath fan across my face as he exhaled. Everything else was completely forgotten, my mind emptying itself so that all of my senses would naturally attune to Klaus and nothing else, my fingers twisting into his jacket as the distance continued to close. The gradual touch of lips was smooth and unhurried, though my entire body flared with a tingling sensation. I could feel just how close he was to me, our warmth merging as the form of his mouth began to press further against mine.
Feeling his grip in my hair tighten to pull at the thick strands, I unwittingly made a groan as I pulled Klaus closer towards me, moving in my own time as I felt him tense against me like he'd shocked himself by what he'd done. Well, no going back now. Might as well enjoy it. Kissing him was probably one of the best times I'd ever experienced. He held nothing back, it wasn't in his nature. He was animalistic in his hunger as he started to pull on my hair and clothes, gripping onto areas of my skin just to cling onto me more tightly as my back was suddenly pressed against the breakfast bar and I gasped as I answered in kind, meeting his fervour with the fiery passion I had to offer. It was breath taking, and I thought it was perfect, making me want more of him right there and then, but then Klaus let go of me with one hand which at first I didn't notice, too busy feeling his hair underneath my own hands as I captured his lower lip and pulled lightly, brushing the tip of my tongue against him which earned a feral growl in reply.
There was a moment, a brief moment where I thought that we were truly connecting, but then I felt Klaus grimace slightly before all at once, I felt a sharp sting in my neck. It made me gasp, jerking violently as a cold serum was pushed into my bloodstream and I blinked, eyes shooting wide open and began to water both from the stinging sensation and the fact that Klaus had…he had tricked me. I stared at him, already starting to feel woozy and disorientated from the drug. It was fast acting, whatever it was, meaning it had to be a strong dose. That…bastard.
"Forgive me, Ophelia, forgive me." He murmured, eyes damp and watering as if he actually felt my pain, but there was no way. My neck was inconsequential compared to the hurt and betrayal I now felt, like something was breaking inside me. Gripping my neck where he'd stuck me, I could also feel the scars from Stefan's fangs and bitterly thought how ironic it was that Klaus had stuck the needle in the same side that had almost been ripped out by a bloodthirsty vampire. Both had hurt just as much as this.
"Get away from me." Shoving him off me the way I should have done the moment he'd gotten too close, I staggered as my vision began to swim, forcing me to grab hold of the breakfast bar as one of my legs gave out and I breathed through my panic, tears streaming down my face. That traitor. That backstabbing liar! I'm going to kill him, what has he done to me? Am I going to sleep for another month like last time? It didn't feel like a poison, just a powerful sedative. That was something at least.
Looking up I saw the dagger just in front of me, blurry and sometimes I saw more than one but as I fought against the sedative that was quickly working its way through me, I lunged for it. "No!" Klaus tried to stop me but my magic got there first, and I sent it away to be hidden somewhere safe so that at the very least, I had the satisfaction of keeping it out of Klaus's hands. "What have you done?!" Groaning as my head began to spin and fade out, I lost my grip on the bar and dropped straight into Klaus's arms that reacted when I started to fall.
When my head rolled back and I got a clear view of his face, or what I presumed to be his face, I glared with all the disdain and hatred I could possibly muster as I seethed, trying to breathe through the sleepiness that was dragging itself through me. "Don't look at me like that, love. I had to. You were going to stand in my way." He said to me, his voice filtering through even as the blackness continued to creep in, so I summoned the last of my energy to answer back, desperate for him to get his filthy hands off me as I continued to try to push him away even as I fell unconscious.
"I despise you, Niklaus."