Present.

Silence befell him once again and his eyes became more piercing, he grabbed her by the waist and put his hand on her head, opening the gap between her jaw and shoulder further, revealing the vein in her neck; he plunged his fangs into her skin and drank, she winced slightly from the pain from the first initial contact but she was too weak to scream or cry.

Her eyes where closing slightly, all she could see was the trees in front of her but as her vision became blurry, everything was out of focus and she felt numb, eventually her eyes closing; he stopped feeding the second she fell unconscious and her heart rate started to deplete, he cradled her limp body in his arms and disappeared from the bayou, her torment won't end there.

-w-

Elena was slowly starting to wake, she was unsure where she was but it was dark, she could barely tell the difference from when her eyes where closed; her vision was still slightly blurry and her head throbbed from pain, she used all her strength to return to a sitting position, she rubbed her eyes and blinked several times, forcing her vision to return to her.

She was underground still, trapped in a cave of some kind, there was a single candle with a flame that was burning down slowly, it couldn't have long been left there; beside it was an unopened bottle of water, she scrambled towards it, dragging her knees across the stone floor until she could reach it, she twisted open the top and drank it like she hadn't had any liquids in weeks.

Remaining still for a few more long minutes, she glanced around the area and took in all of her surroundings, there wasn't much but the candle, a few boulders and a single exit that she could try her luck with escaping once again. She was more reluctant this time, when she managed to climb out of the tunnel she was in previously, she had been met with a ravenous Klaus.

Her mind flashed back to that night, her memory had been foggy due to the blood loss but it started creeping back in, flashes of his piercing eyes, the way his teeth glinted in the moonlight and the feeling of him draining her blood; a small tear escaped her eye at the thought of it, she was a wreck, a man whom she had loved and trusted completely had done this to her, she wasn't understanding how this could be part of some master plan to keep her safe.

She pulled herself up from the ground, using the stone wall to aid her; she walked towards the candle and picked it up, using it to guide her through the caves, she slowly walked through the exit, finding only one straight path that could either lead her to more trouble or an unknown location potentially with more supernatural beings that want to kill her, either way, she was taking a risk.

She walked further down the tunnel, there was no escape holes above her like last time or even a crack of light at the end of it, there was nothing, she must be so far underground that she wasn't reaching the world above anytime soon.

Her mind wandered to the Mikaelson family and what they where all doing and whether they where safe, Elijah had warned her to stay home but she didn't, she went to the compound and got herself kidnapped, she worried the most for him currently, he was always trying to protect the family even when they defy him, she hadn't heard from Rebekah or Kol in days, she feared they where dead or in serious danger and she hoped Klaus wasn't intentionally trying to kill her, this all had to be part of a plan, it had to be.

She clung to her sanity as much as she could with the further she walked, she was quite slow in pace and weak, maybe she hadn't walked as far as she thought; just as she was about to walk around a bend in the path, she heard footsteps coming up behind her, her heart fell into her stomach and she started to run, was it another one from The Order? Or was it Klaus? She dreaded to think it.

She didn't stand a chance on foot, she knew she was going to get caught, all she could do was attempt to defend herself; she stopped dead in her tracks and scoured the floor for a weapon of some kind, the footsteps where nearing her and she was frantic, she picked up the first rock she could find and held it close, pressing her body against the bend in the wall, hopefully the shadows would cover her.

"Elena?" She heard a familiar voice call out, it didn't sound too friendly, very abrupt and she knew she didn't stand a chance against him, "you can't run, my love, I will catch you."

She stepped out of the shadow and threw the rock towards him but he caught it with ease, all she could do was stare at him, gaze into his eyes and hope there was some remnants left of the man she knew, "why are you doing this, Klaus?"

He remained silent as he approached her, with every step he took closer to her, she took one back; he only smirked at her feeble attempts to escape him, he was a hybrid, the first of his kind and a thousand years old, she had no power here and she knew it but she was braver than anyone could imagine, she'd fight until her last breath.

Grabbing her arm, he used his speed to race through the rest of the tunnel, it was mere seconds before they reached the end; there was a large door hinged into the stone with a plank of wood as a lock, he lifted it from its holster and tossed it to the side. Elena began to panic more, she had no idea where this door lead to or what to expect when they entered it.

He pushed open the door and continued to walk her through; she had walked into a basement, the ceiling was high at least 12 feet, she assumed that's how far underground she was, the room was empty save a few boxes and it was as bleak as the tunnels, it was just stone walls and floors and an old wooden staircase at the other end.

"Stay here," Klaus spoke before releasing her arm and closing the tunnels door, he exited the room and presumably locked the door behind him; although she was happy to be out of the tunnel, she still felt no relief in this room, the constant four walls would drive her insane.

All she could do was sit on the floor, she had her knees brought up to her chest and her head rested on them; it had been hours and still no sign of Klaus or anyone for that matter, she could hear footsteps on the floor above her but they generally passed right over her, she kept thinking about what there intentions where with her, did they want her dead? Did they want her to torment Klaus? The options where endless.

Not long after, Klaus had returned to the basement, he didn't say anything and only grabbed her arm once more, he gently pulled her up onto her feet -which gave her hope that he wasn't completely lost- and guided her through the basement and up the stairs, when they reached the top, they entered into a house, it looked run down and old, like no-one had lived there for decades, there was furniture covered in plastic and damp marks stretching across the walls, cracks in the plaster and tattered carpets.

"Klaus, where are we?" She reluctantly asked, with very low expectations of an answer; he continued walking her through the house, so far, it was empty but she could hear footsteps on the floor above.

He took her upstairs on the 1st floor, it was a lot of the same, they bypassed this floor and went straight for the next staircase; the second floor seemed to be the bedrooms, from what she saw at a quick glance, she saw several rooms, one was a bathroom and the others had the bedroom furniture but she only seconds to peak as they continued up.

This staircase was smaller, it was at the end of the hall and appeared to lead up to an attic; Elena swallowed a lump in her throat as Klaus took her up, once he opened the door at the top, everything completely changed; the room was medium sized and housed items of ritual, relics and many cauldron-type bowls, Elena was starting to assume the worst, was she going to be used in another spell?

At the end of the room, there was a large window with the hooded figure that originally took her standing in front of it, his eyes watching the outside world. He didn't turn around when they entered, simply remained silent and watching out of the window.

He wasn't what Elena had expected, he wore a black hoodie, black jeans and steel-toed boots, very typical of the average man but she knew he would be far from it.

"Will that be all?" Klaus asked, taking a few steps further into the room.

"You're dismissed," the man spoke, his voice was deep and very collected but it still struck a chord of fear within Elena; Klaus turned around slowly, his eyes locking onto Elena's as he passed her.

"Don't leave me here," she spoke in a hushed tone, his gaze following his; in response, he shook his head slightly, his eyes spoke all the words he wanted to say, she saw his regret, his fear and his warning, do as he says.

He closed the door, leaving only Elena and the hooded man; he turned around, revealing himself properly, he had a large scar on his face that lead from his right eye and down to the corner of his lips, he had a beard and moustache and piercing blue eyes, his hair poked out from the sides of the hood and was brunette in colour; something about him consumed her with fear.

"To finally meet a doppelgänger," he spoke, a small smirk spread on his lips, "the answer to all our problems."

"What do you want?" Elena's voice was shaken, barely an ounce of bravery in there.

"All in good time," as he walked slowly around the room, he used his index finger to light the candles spread across the room, he must have been powerful to use magic without a spell, all the more reason for Elena to be scared, "do you know who I am?"

"Not exactly," Elena responded.

"Good," he was cold with a hint of paranoia in his tone of voice.

"I do know one name," she said nervously, she was trying to buy herself some time, in hopes that someone had a plan to get her out of here, "The Order?"

"How did you hear of this name?" He asked, turning his attention to her; his eyes pierced daggers into hers, she could feel how much he wanted to hurt her.

"I read about it," she shrugged her shoulders lightly, her eyes looking anywhere but on him, "there wasn't much information, only that you're powerful."

"Indeed," he turned his gaze away from her once more, returning to the window he first stood at, "I look down at this world, I see nothing but bloodshed and heartache, war at every corner and humans willing to harm each other for power and greed, I come from a time when it wasn't like this."

"How old are you?" She asked, without much thought put into it, it was more of a reaction than anything else.

"Old enough," he vaguely responded, "I want to be able to rest in peace, I have spent centuries on the other side, waiting for this moment to arrive, I cannot move on until my life's work is complete."

"What work is that?" She asked, becoming slightly more nervous.

"Long before the curse was placed on the Mikaelson family, the werewolves and witches coexisted harmoniously; in fact, some tribes and families had both supernatural beings within there line, it wasn't until Esther took it upon herself to create beings capable of such evil that the balance was completely tipped, it evened out the best it could over the centuries but look at the result, it effects even the humans, war ensues to make up for the all evil that is committed on a daily basis."

"So, what you're saying is if the vampires are all killed, then all the evil will stop?" Elena furrowed her brow, trying to process all the information.

"We like to call it utopia," he turned around to face her, walking towards the centre of the room, "once this mission has been fulfilled, we will be able to die in peace, move on to the next life where we can be with our fallen loved ones, there would be no need for the side, the supernatural beings left will not need purgatory, the ritual itself will destroy it, it was only created by a powerful witch to imprison an immortal one."

Elena was speechless, she had been given so much information that she didn't know what to think, she knew she just couldn't let everyone she cared about die, not like that, "so, what do I have to do with all this?"

"Your bloodline is an ancient one, I'm sure you're aware of your doppelgänger lineage, your blood and the blood of a Mikaelson, will break the original curse, killing all the vampires in existence, coincidentally, your blood also destroys the other side, once these have been completed, we can continue to restore the balance and bring forth utopia."

"You can't just kill every vampire that walks the earth, I care about some of them, a lot of them are evil but some are good, you can't take that away," she exclaimed.

"Unfortunately, there is more evil than good and it isn't worth the cost, this is our life's work, we will complete this by the end of the lunar cycle," his voice turned solemn, "we have a few more preparations and then we will be ready."

"What preparations?" She asked, anything to stall time.

"You do not need to know," he spoke, walking towards a table at the side of the room; there was a large brass bowl in the centre, he began adding ingredients to it, all that Elena could make out was the few herbs and animal bones he threw in, at least, she was hoping it was animal bones.

He picked up a shard of porcelain, it had markings and a fraction of image on it, she was confused by this item, she'd never seen anything like it before, it looked like it was broken from an old clay vase but she couldn't be sure. She watched as he slit it across the palm of his hand and let his blood trickle on to it, placing it inside the bowl.

He picked up a dagger, it was only small, maybe 5 or 6 inches and it had a blood red jewel of some kind forged into the hilt; he started walking towards Elena, in a panicked state, she turned around in attempt to open the door and get out of the room but it was locked from the other side.

"No, you can't do this," she pleaded with him, taking a few steps away every time he neared her; she had to stall, she couldn't be a part of a spell that would kill all of her loved ones,

"what did you do to Klaus? Why is he on your side and all of a sudden attacking me?" She asked, taking several steps away; he stopped in tracks, his eyes falling onto hers with a small smirk spread across his lips.

"Very simple magic actually, it's not completely mind control, he just can't refuse anything I say, quite a handy spell," he smirked slightly, before reaching towards Elena and grabbing her arm, he pulled her towards the bowl and held her hand out over it, sliding the knife across her palm, causing it to bleed out into the bowl.

"Wheres Davina?" She asked, holding the wound with her free hand, she was becoming quite annoyed with how much it didn't hurt getting her hand sliced open anymore.

"She's here, perfectly safe," his attention was completely on the spell, he was still adding a few things to it.

"Just let us go," she spoke, a hint of annoyance in her voice; her eyes where glancing around the room once more, searching for anything that could be a weapon and that was within her reach.

"I don't think I will," his tone of voice was completely calm, he knew how strong he was and how little Elena could hurt him, he was practically ancient and one of the most powerful warlocks to walk the earth, she didn't stand a chance, "in fact, your presence here is no longer required."

"You cannot take me back to those tunnels, I'll sooner kill myself, how will your precious spell work then?" There was anger in her tone of voice, her defensive mechanisms where coming up and she couldn't stand being locked away in a dark tunnel.

His eyes suddenly darted towards her, making her jump slightly at how terrifying he could be; her death was clearly a trigger for him, at least she had leverage, "you'll go where I say you will go, there will be someone watching you constantly in case you feel the need to end your life and I will kill everyone you hold dear to you if anything should happen to go wrong, do you understand?"

Elena looked to the other side of the room using her peripherals, she spotted a knife on another table full of witchy items and ran for it, she quickly grabbed the blade and held it to her throat; he went to leap towards her but she stepped back, holding her hand up towards him.

"None of that will matter, come any closer and I'll do it, if you don't let me and my family go, you won't get your ritual," she folded her arms across her chest, trying to be as firm as she could possibly could considering how scared she was, "The full moon isn't for another week, you have my blood now and there's no reason to keep us here until then, there's no way we'd be able to run without you finding us, I wouldn't anyway in case you harm someone I care about, so just let us go, come back when it's time to start the ritual."

"I don't make deals, I'm not your precious Mikaelsons, you will do as I say or I'll immobilise you until I need you," he was angry, she could hear it in his tone of voice, she knew she was getting to him.

"Do it, how quick can you cast a spell before I slit my throat?" She pushed the blade into her skin slightly, a few drops of blood trickling down her neck.

"No!" He exclaimed, the volume of his voice going higher; he didn't like that he was losing but she pushed a little further in and he couldn't risk it, "Stop!"

"Not until we have a deal," she raised her voice slightly.

"Fine, you can have your deal," once he spoke those words, she moved the blade away from her neck slightly, she left it hovering near in case he was lying.

"I'll honour our deal if you do too, everything will go to plan but you have to release us all, including Klaus and Davina."

"If anything goes wrong between now and the full moon, I will kill everyone around you," he admitted defeat just this once and accepted this fate.

"Nothing will go wrong," Elena spoke, her nerves calming slightly at the thought of being free, even for a little while.

"I will release the hold I have of Niklaus, you're all free to go until the next full moon, do not make me do something we'll both regret, Elena," his voice was stern, he hated having to surrender on this one, "they will be waiting outside for you."

"Thank you," she kept the blade in her hand but removed it from her neck area, she turned around and opened the door, she shot him one last glance and nod before walking down the stairs; all she wanted to do was get out of there, she picked up her pace and ran through the house, descending the stairs until she reached the bottom.

Once she saw the front door, she darted for it, she pulled the door open and stepped outside, only to see everyone standing there, Elijah, Rebekah, Kol, Davina and Klaus, "you have no idea how happy I am to see you all."

"I missed you, girl," Rebekah spoke in an amused tone of voice, throwing her arms around Elena and pulling her into a tight embrace, "drinks tonight?"

"You're kidding, right?" They both chuckled, before Elena released her from her grip; she turned to face Davina, pulling her into a hug also, "I'm so sorry you had to go through this, I'm so glad you're safe."

"I wanted to help, I'm just glad you saved me," Davina spoke sweetly, Elena was really fond of her, so she gave her a tight squeeze before releasing her.

"What? No special hug for me?" Kol spoke sarcastically, a small smirk appearing on his lips; Elena just rolled her eyes and chuckled before he pulled her into a tight embrace.

"I missed you more than I thought I would," she spoke amusingly.

"Ditto," they enjoyed each other's embrace for a long moment before they separated; she moved on to Elijah, a coy smile on her face.

"I'm glad you didn't listen to me and continued on your own plight to rescue us," he spoke, his voice calm and collected as usual.

"So, you're getting it now then?" She smirked slightly, before wrapping her arms around his neck and burying her head in his shoulder; she always felt a wave of comfort wash over her when he held her, "I'll always want to save you all."

"I suppose I should just accept that fact from now on," he wrapped his arms around his waist and pulled her into him more, his hand placed on the back of her head, "thank you for saving us."

"Anytime," she pulled her head back slightly, a kind smile spreading on her lips; she remained in his arms for a long moment before releasing him, turning her attention to Klaus; his gaze hadn't lifted from the ground, not until she had finished hugging the others, he looked at her for a split second, his eyes glistening from the tears that where forced to stay in.

She walked towards him and placed her fingers under his chin, lifting his head in order to meet his gaze; guilt and shame where etched into his facial expressions, she'd never see him so down before, "Elena, I'm-"

"Not now," she interjected, placing both of her hands on his face and bringing him closer to her, she smashed her lips onto his, bringing all the love and passion she had within her into the kiss; all she'd wanted this whole time was to be near him without all the heartache The Order had inflicted upon them.

His hands instantly cupped her face and he sunk into the kiss, even if it was only temporary, all his heartache and pain from the thought of losing her had washed away; she pulled her head back slightly, resting her forehead on his, "let's go home."

Within seconds, they had all disappeared; Rebekah had a hold of Davina and Elena remained wrapped in Klaus' arms as they all sped off in the night, finally returning home.