Hey everybody! I hope you are all doing well and if not, maybe reading the latest chapter of this little fanfiction will help cheer you up. I know I look forward to hearing from you guys so I hope this is well received. The chapter takes place during season two, episode 19. There are things I have planned for this story that I wish I could just skip to, but I can't. I hope the pacing of the story is satisfying to you all as readers and you will stick with me as I continue exploring this story.
Chapter Fifteen: Playing the Hero
If there was one thing Niklaus Mikaelson was used to, it was being the bad guy. He had been called many things in his life: bastard, devil, monster. There was a time when he thought he might be something different, someone better, and he had chased that possibility a few times over the years for various reasons. But the truth was, he never had a chance.
Nature or nurture, it didn't much matter. He was who he was. Born a bastard werewolf to a witch who dabbled in the dark arts, he was turned into a vampire hybrid by his parents, only to be cursed to suffer an eternity alone. Now, just as he was about to break that curse, he's met another creature. A kind beautiful creature who understands his agony. And for the first time in a long time, he found himself wanting to be something else. Something he wasn't even sure he was capable of being.
Listening to Elijah speak to Kiara on the phone, hearing him try to ease her fears, made it clear that Elijah believed he would be the one to save her. And it seriously pissed Klaus off. He couldn't explain why, but he was shaking with irritation as he left Alaric's apartment building that morning.
Elijah wasn't the one who had been there for her last night.
He wasn't the one who cleaned up her home.
The one who assured Holly's safety.
And he wasn't going to be the one to save her either.
That was going to be Klaus. For once, Klaus was going to play the hero.
And yet, with one phone call, Elijah took that from him. Annoyed with his brother and the role destiny seemed intent on making him play, Klaus decided to do what he always does: take out his frustration on others.
Back in Alaric's apartment, Katherine was back to babysitting duty. But it was different this time. She found she actually kind of cared about what happened to Kiara now (and not just because Klaus threatened to kill her if she failed to keep her alive). There was something about her that Katherine liked. The girl didn't judge her for her past. She even looked happy to see her when Klaus carried her in last night.
Katherine knew what happened to Kiara after she abandoned her in the Salvatore house. She didn't know it that day—not that anyone would believe her, but Damon told her Kiara had gone home when she came back for the moonstone that day. She should have known he was lying, maybe a part of her did know, but she was too busy worrying about herself to care. It wasn't until a week or so later, she found out the truth. Damon had been keeping her in the basement.
Guilt threatened to crawl up her throat as she looked at Kiara now, but she pushed it down like last night's cocktail and said, "Well, he sure is grumpy today."
When Kiara didn't respond, Katherine stepped further into the bedroom and looked down at her. Her skin was pale and clammy. Her eyes were dull. She looked worse than she did the night before. "You've looked better," Katherine told her.
"I've felt better."
"Don't go and die on me. Klaus will rip my head off. Literally," Katherine said, making the girl smile. Then she asked, "Want some coffee?"
"Some water would be nice."
Katherine headed back toward the kitchen and said, "So tell me, what happened last night?"
"It's a long story," Kiara slowly pulled herself upright so she could lean her back against the headboard. "I was stabbed. My father sent a witch to kill me and Klaus showed up—"
"No, not that." Katherine waved her hand dismissively. She turned on the radio before pouring herself some coffee. "What happened between you and Klaus? You slept in the same bed together and now he's playing the jealous brother? Something must have happened."
"Jealous?" Kiara's eyebrows netted together in confusion. "Did you not hear the part about me being stabbed?"
"Yeah I heard you," Katherine told her. "Not to mention I have eyes, but we both saw him this morning. Klaus practically ran out of here. So spill."
"Nothing happened…" Kiara said, watching Katherine put a hand on her hip and stare at her from across the room. "Okay. Okay. I was scared to go to sleep so he brought me into his head," she tried not to smile. "He showed me the sunset from Venice and we just, I don't know, we talked. That's all. It was nice."
"Sounds like he was putting the moves on you. I thought he wanted you dead. What changed?" Katherine asked as she walked back over with a glass of water in her hand.
"No idea," Kiara sighed, taking the glass. "I did tell him some things when I still thought he was Alaric, maybe something I said made him forgive me?"
Katherine snorted thinking about how he made her stab herself in the legs over and over again while he was away from the apartment the other day. "Klaus isn't exactly the forgiving type. He's a real monster. Believe me, he probably wants something from you," Katherine told her. "Don't be too quick to trust him."
"I'm not," Kiara sighed. "Not usually anyway, but I don't have much of a choice, I have to trust him. At least for now."
Katherine raised an eyebrow. "You really think Klaus is going to save you?"
Kiara shrugged. "That or I die today."
"Well, Klaus does seem intent on keeping you alive, for some reason..." Katherine folded her arms in front of her. "You sure you don't know why?"
Kiara shrugged. "No idea."
"Then you need to be careful," Katherine told her, taking a sip from her drink. "I know what it's like to get in the middle of two brothers. You fall in love with them and it'll blow up in your face. It's not worth it. The Mikaelson's break everything they touch."
Kiara frowned and looked down at the glass of water in her hands. "Elijah said Klaus killed your family. I'm sorry. You didn't deserve that."
Katherine looked at her over her cup. "No one's ever said that to me before."
"Then I'm sorry for that too."
Katherine blinked a few times. "I think this morning calls for something stronger than coffee." She turned back to the kitchen and searched the cabinet until she found some bourbon. She smiled, shaking it for show before bringing it to her lips.
Suddenly, Damon's voice traveled down the hall outside. At first Kiara thought it was a hallucination, a new symptom of the blade's continuous draining of her energy until Katherine looked at her with a surprised expression on her face. Kiara just shrugged at her in response. Neither of them was Damon's favorite person so neither of them had any reason to expect any kind of rescue. And yet, here he was.
"I don't think this is a good idea," Someone said as they approached Alaric's apartment door.
"You're an investigative journalist," Damon reasoned. "We're investigating."
There was a knock at the door and the woman with Damon said, "Alaric, are you home? It's Andie—Starr. Jenna's friend?"
Katherine rushed to the door, but she couldn't touch the doorknob. After a couple of attempts, she threw up her hands and shot Kiara an exasperated look.
With all of her remaining strength, Kiara pushed her hands down onto the bed to try to stand up. Moving was such a struggle for her at the moment, but she wanted to help Katherine if she could. As if reading her mind, Katherine stepped toward her.
Suddenly the door was pushed open and Kiara relaxed.
"Thank God," Katherine said, sarcastically.
Andie strolled into the room, studying Katherine, and said, "Wow! You were right. She looks exactly like Elena."
"Yep," Damon said, trying to walk into the apartment. But he couldn't. He looked at Katherine and said, "Thought you might be dead."
"Unfortunately not," Katherine said. "What are you doing here?"
"We are here to rescue you," Andie said, stepping further into the room.
"No, sweetie. We're here to see if she deserves to be rescued," Damon corrected her.
"Right," Andie pointed at him and glanced around the room until her eyes caught Kiara laying back down in the bedroom. "Hey! Isn't that Kiara?"
Kiara offered her a weak smile and a wave.
"Wow, nothing gets past you," Katherine said.
Curious Andie stepped toward the bedroom to talk to her. She had seen the girl around but had never had the chance to talk to her. Now that she knew the girl was a succubus, Andie wanted to talk to her even more.
"Kit-Kat? Didn't expect to find her here, but I figured you still might be kicking," Damon said. "Alaric-Klaus was blending way too easily. Figured he probably had some coaching." He held up a bottle and wiggled it.
Katherine shifted on her feet. "Is that…?"
"Vervain? Your salvation?"
The closer Andie got, the clearer it became that Kiara was really hurt. The hilt sticking out of her chest almost looked fake until Andie noticed the dried blood around it.
"Oh my god!" Andie put a hand over her mouth. "You—there's—"
Kiara almost smiled again. "I know."
"What happened?"
"Isn't it obvious?" Kiara raised an eyebrow at her. "Someone stabbed me."
"Well, yeah, but… why?"
"Again, it should be obvious."
Katherine stepped forward to take the bottle from Damon, but he pulled it away. "Give it to me," she said.
"Answer one question first," he said. "You double-crossed us with Isobel. Why?"
"I didn't think you could stand a chance against Klaus so I was looking out for myself."
"And where did that get you?" Damon asked before handing it to her. "Here. Be careful with that. If he finds out you have that, you're never getting out of here."
Katherine took a small sip and coughed.
"You owe me," Damon pointed out. "And I will collect. Come on Andie," he said, his eyes searching for her in the apartment.
"Wait," Andie looked at him and then back at Kiara. "Kiara needs help too."
"No!" Damon yelled. "Don't touch her."
"But—"
"If Klaus finds out we were here, we're both dead. Now let's go."
"He's right," Kiara assured her. "It's better if you just go. I'll be okay."
Andie's shoulders dropped and she gave Kiara a sympathetic look as she turned to leave.
After they were gone, Katherine turned up the music on the radio and danced back into the bedroom, bottle in hand.
"Someone's in a good mood," Kiara grinned at her antics.
"You kidding? Damon's right, this vervain is my salvation," Katherine said. "Speaking of which, why didn't you go with them?"
"Look at me, I can hardly move and Klaus's witch friend is kind of my only hope at the moment," Kiara sighed and forced another smile. "Besides, I can't ditch you now. We're just starting to get to know each other."
Katherine smirked. "Funny."
"Well the good news is, thanks to Damon, it looks like you might still have a chance to get out of here alive."
"I'll drink to that," Katherine said, taking another sip of the alcohol. She offered Kiara some, but she just shook her head. Katherine put the bottle down and said, "You should feed."
Kiara shook her head. "I doubt it will do anything for me now."
"It's worth a shot," Katherine shrugged, sitting on the bed to lean over her.
"Katherine…" Kiara groaned. "I don't think it's a good idea."
"Relax," Katherine laughed and bent down to kiss her, careful to avoid the protruding object between them.
This time, there was no hesitation on Kiara's part. She couldn't fight the need to feed even if she wanted to. She sucked down Katherine's energy like the starving succubus she was. When she felt her strength coming back, she reached out to grab onto Katherine's curls making her moan in content. Their tongues danced together and the taste of whiskey invaded her senses. She could feel the vampire's hand moving up to cup her cheek, wanting to touch more of her. It was a welcome distraction. Once she felt more like herself, Kiara turned away from Katherine and sucked in a breath.
"Thank you, Katherine," she said. The pain in her chest was a dull ache now. "I think I actually feel a little better."
"That makes two of us," Katherine smiled.
Kiara watched her start dancing again as the song changed to something more upbeat. It wasn't until Katherine grabbed her by the hands and pulled her to stand up that she started to dance with her. The two of them danced around the apartment. For a moment, they were both able to forget the dire situation they had found themselves in. Their fates both tethered to the same man many feared for centuries.
When the doorknob started jiggling, Katherine quickly pulled Kiara to the couch. Klaus walked through the door not looking any happier than when he left. If anything he looked more annoyed than before as he tossed Alaric's keys across the room.
"Mind turning that down?" he asked, stepping toward them.
Katherine lowered the music with the remote and with a bowed head, she asked, "Why so grumpy?"
"Well, this body has outlived its usefulness."
The dismissive way Klaus spoke about Alaric bothered Kiara, but she didn't comment on it like she usually would. Instead she watched the two of them interact. She listened to how he spoke to Katherine. It was so different from how he spoke to her.
Katherine's warning to be careful around him left her feeling self-conscious. Like she couldn't trust her own instincts anymore.
"Do you want a drink?" Katherine asked, trying to cheer him up.
"No, Katerina, I don't want a drink."
"Come on," she stood up. "It might loosen you up."
He grabbed the bottle and threw it against the wall. The glass shattered into pieces on the floor. Kiara jumped in surprise as he grabbed Katherine by the shoulders and said, "What I want is for you to sit down and shut up."
Katherine did.
Then as if just remembering Kiara was in the room, he turned to her and asked, "What are you doing up?"
It was strange. Mr. Saltzman had never looked at her with such irritated eyes before now. All at once Kiara realized she missed him. She may not have been as close to him as Elena and the others, but she cared for the man. If nothing else, he was her favorite teacher and over the past couple of weeks she thought the two of them had really bonded. They hadn't, of course. It had been Klaus the whole time. Now she was left trying to make sense of it all.
When she didn't answer, Klaus continued, "I thought I told you to save your strength."
Kiara stood, careful not to look in Katherine's direction, and crossed arms. The demanding tone he was suddenly speaking to her in was rubbing her the wrong way. She knew she shouldn't, but she couldn't help herself. The words just spilled out of her mouth. "Sorry, I didn't realize that was a command, sir."
Klaus raised his eyebrows at her attitude, but thankfully Maddox opened the door at that moment and distracted him.
"Maddox, what took you so long?" he asked.
"You've got a lot of luggage," Maddox told him and glanced at Kiara. "Plus those extra errands you asked us to take care of took some time…"
The statement piqued Kiara's curiosity, especially since Maddox looked at her before saying it, but she wasn't about to push her luck in asking about it anytime soon.
Two men came in carrying bags and placed them down on the floor. Then a beautiful black woman strolled into the room, already smiling in Klaus's direction. Kiara knew exactly who she was. She looked a lot like her brother. A pang of guilt washed over her.
"Greta. Finally," Klaus said.
"Hello, love," she said, mocking his accent.
"Hello," he said back.
"Nice body," she said, checking Alaric out. "You ready to get out of it?"
Klaus nodded and a large box was rolled into the room.
Kiara watched alongside Katherine as the witches prepared to perform the body-switching spell. They placed candles in a line and got down on their knees in front of the box. Klaus ignored them the entire time. Instead he spent his time whispering to Maddox about something.
When the witches began chanting, Kiara started to feel light-headed. Her vision blurred and she was afraid she might faint so she backed up to sit down at the little dining room table behind her. The discomfort in her chest was getting hard to ignore again.
The flames on the candles grew in size for a moment and the witches stopped their chanting.
Alaric gasped and looked around confused. He was back. "Elena? Kiara?" he tilted his head before collapsing face down on the floor.
Kiara instantly stood, hoping to see if he was alright, but a wave of dizziness forced her to sit back down again.
Maddox stood and opened the door to the box so Klaus could stroll out looking unreasonably pleased with himself.
He glanced down at the Alaric's body and smirked. "Now that's more like it."
Kiara swallowed, trying to catch her breath. She felt like she was floating in the ocean, fighting to keep the current from pulling her underwater. Her muscles were sore. It was hard to breathe and she was scared. But she couldn't keep herself from asking, "Will he be okay?"
Everyone turned at her. Their eyes instantly shifted to mixed looks of concern and surprise. She could only assume she looked as bad as she felt.
Klaus studied her for a moment with furrowed eyebrows and walked towards her. "I'm more concerned about whether or not you'll be alright, love," he said, placing a hand on her forehead. "You're burning up."
"I'm—" She coughed, suddenly feeling like she was choking. She gasped, covering her mouth as something came up her throat. At first, she thought maybe she really was drowning somehow. Maybe the blade was spelled to fill her lungs with water in the end. But when she looked at her hand she found it was dark red, which could only mean one thing. Blood. "Well that's not what you want…" she mumbled.
"Let's get you back to the bedroom, love," Klaus said, his hands already on her to help guide her movements.
Kiara nodded and stood only for her knees to buckle under her. She was rejecting Katherine's energy like a bad organ transplant and all the strength she gained from the feeding was being drained out of her system. She felt him grab her around the waist as he called for Maddox. She searched for something to say, something suitable as last words, but it was too late she was slipping into the depths of her own subconscious.
When she opened her eyes, she was staring at a blue sky filled with white fluffy clouds. For a moment, she thought she was dead—that the afterlife really was a beautiful existence in the clouds hovering above the loved ones she left behind. Then she realized she was laying on a bed, not clouds. In fact, she knew exactly where she was. And she feared she might not get the peaceful afterlife she was hoping for after all. Perhaps this was her own personal hell. Why else would she find herself in her old bedroom?
"About time," A voice she hoped to never hear again said. "It's just like you to keep me waiting."
Her eyes snapped up to find him sitting in a chair across the room. "Yeah? Well, it's just like you to have me stabbed in the chest, dad."
He looked exactly how she remembered. Dark wavy hair and permanent frown on his face. The disappointed tone he spoke in was entirely unique.
"I've always hated it when you called me that," he told her. "But I'll allow it this time considering the circumstances."
Kiara looked away from him, unable to stand the distant way he looked at her. Like she was nothing. Less than a stranger. "This isn't real. It can't be. You have to be some kind of illusion or something."
He continued as if he hadn't heard her. "I've been waiting for this for a long time… and now our story is finally coming to an end."
Kiara's mind flickered through memories of his cruelty, trying to figure out if this was something that had happened before. She couldn't remember those words ever coming out of his mouth, but she had spent so long trying to bury the memories of her time in that room, it was hard to pull them back to the surface. Only some of them were easily accessible now. Like the time she hung onto his leg in an attempt to keep him in the room with her. She wanted him to play a game with her, tell her a story, anything, but he just pushed her away. Moments like that happened so often they eventually all blurred together. Whenever she was too scared to sleep by herself at night, she would call out for someone, but no one came. When she begged to see her mother, he refused. When she called him dad, he corrected her. It's Orion. Not dad. Not daddy. Not father. Just Orion.
There was one memory Kiara could never keep down. One that haunted her still despite her best efforts to forget. They say you never forget your worst days. Kiara's was the night her mother died. Her father barreled into her room and had her caretakers hold her down as he ran a knife across the delicate skin of her wrist. It was the moment she realized that no one was looking out for her. Even those closest to her were capable of causing her harm. She wasn't safe with anyone. It was one of the last things her father did before Holly came to rescue her. To this day she wondered if he needed her blood for something or if he had just wanted to hurt her. At the time it hadn't mattered. All that mattered was the stinging pain of their betrayal.
Whether he was real or not didn't matter. Kiara couldn't help herself, she had to ask, "All I ever wanted was to be loved, but you couldn't do that, could you?"
Suddenly two figures burst into the room. She recognized their faces.
"Hazel? Robin?" she asked. The names rolled off her tongue for the first time in years. They took care of her once. She almost missed them, but any good memories she'd had with them were tainted by the memory of that terrible day.
They didn't respond. Instead they stepped toward her and slammed her up against the wall. Kiara wasn't strong enough to fight them. It was like she was a child again. Weak. Helpless.
"What are you doing? What's going on?"
"It should have been you, you know," Her father said. Now standing in front of her. His hand closed around her throat.
"No! Stop it!" Kiara tried to pull away, but she was trapped there. Pressed against the walls she swore she would never see again.
"It should have been you!" he yelled at her. There was so much hate in his eyes she had to squeeze hers closed.
"Daddy, please." Tears rolled down her cheeks. "I'm sorry."
Kiara wasn't just there, in that room. She was her again. The broken little girl that lost her mother too soon. The little girl who desperately reached out for the love of her father all her life. The girl who Holly rescued. Now she was just the girl who almost got away. The girl who was finally facing the death her father wished for her all those years ago. Perhaps this was meant to be. Perhaps she was always meant to die by his hand, one way or another.
"Kiara?" she heard someone call. The familiar voice broke through the moment, waking her up, reminding her that this was all in her head.
In a blink, her father was on the ground and Klaus was standing in front of her.
"Klaus?" she whispered, not believing her eyes.
He ripped her old caretakers off of her and pulled her into his arms. "It's alright, love. I won't let them hurt you."
His warmth surrounded her, instantly making her feel safe. Even his earthy scent, an alluring mix of sandalwood and vanilla, was comforting. She couldn't stop herself from pressing her face into his chest and crying. "Thank you," she murmured against the material of his shirt. "Thank you."
And then she was awake, staring up at the plain white ceiling of Alaric's apartment.
Her heart thudded wildly in her chest. She could hear Maddox chanting. His voice sounded muffled like he was a distance away. Her head still felt light. Her body heavy. The ability to keep her eyes open was slowly coming back to her, but she could feel the unmistakable pressure of someone holding her hand just fine. She glanced to her left to see it was Klaus.
If she doubted Klaus's presence in her dream was real, she only needed to look at him to know the truth. His eyes spoke the words he couldn't. He had been there. He saw it.
Each breath she took was a battle and she knew that she was fading. Still the foreign words continued to fly out of Maddox's mouth at lightning speed. She was vaguely aware of a tightening sensation circling around her heart—a string-like spell connecting her to Klaus. Then she felt a tug and gasped—a survivor taking her first breath of air after gulping down buckets of salty water. Maddox stopped and so did the aching in her chest.
The spell was done. Kiara and Klaus were linked.
Some shout-outs:
darklou: Thank you for the review, as always. I was sad about the Martin witches too. I wanted to try to find a way to save them, but I couldn't see it working well with the plot I have planned. It seems this will be the time when Kiara learns that she can't save everyone, unfortunately. :/
iblamegreenburg: Thank you for the review. It really made me smile. I'm glad you liked the last chapter!
VeronicaG145: Thank you so much for taking the time to review the story. I'm happy you like it. I do plan on continuing with it and reviews like yours really help motivate me to write.
ignira: Oh you are? I wish I could watch it with you, no one ever watches TVD with me. And I feel the same way. There is something about Klaus that just draws me in. Maybe it's because Elijah tends to feel too stoic and withdrawn sometimes? While Klaus can be cruel and reckless, he is also passionate and funny. I'm trying not to favor one brother over the other as I write this because I want the characters to feel authentic. I want to do what feels right for Kiara and the Mikaelson brothers, and not force anything. I want to thank you so much for continuing to read and review. It really means a lot. I send lots of love right back to you!
So that's chapter fifteen. I hope you guys liked it. I have some ideas of what's to come next, I just need to rewatch the next couple of episodes to see what would usually happen and work Kiara's part into it or around it or whatever. I am so thankful for all my lovely readers and even more so for those that take the time to review. If any of you wish to share your thoughts, maybe you aren't comfortable reviewing, please feel free to message me. It's always good to hear from my fellow Vampire Diaries fans.
Thanks for reading. :)
