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He tossed his keys up absentmindedly; they jingled each time they returned to his palm. He stiffened for a moment when he realized he wasn't alone in the house, but relaxed a bit when he heard who had entered his home during the short absence that had been his trip to the Gilbert house.

It took a single arch of his keys for him to make the deduction.

Catching the glinting metal he flashed towards the steps leading down to the basement.

"What are you doing here?" He crossed his arms.

He paused on his path upwards and gave a pointed look to the surrounding walls.

"I live here," he cocked an eyebrow.

Stefan walked around his brother and up the stairs towards his bedroom. Damon followed and eyed the bags in his hands.

"Feeling a little hungry, brother?" He kept talking when Stefan ignored him. "Remember what mom used to say? If you wat in bed you'll attract ants, or…" he tilted his head; the final word faded to a confused murmur: "… mosquitos."

Damon's eyes raked over the smooth wood of the box. The hinges on the lid faced him so he couldn't see the interior, but the sight was not necessary to make his exasperation flare. His voice dripped with sarcasm when he addressed his brother again.

"I see you're embracing the clichés. What's next, Stefan? Are you going to hiss at the son? Maybe you'll cover yourself in glitter and sparkle in it; that would make Blondie's day. You gonna cover the mirrors? Oh…" Damon's eyes grew round, "… are you going to turn into a bat?"

"No," Stefan circled the box and set the blood bags on a small table, "but I'm considering tearing out your tongue."

Damon looked from Stefan to the casket in front of him and back a few times as his brother reached inside and grabbed something. His eyes widened when Stefan yanked his arm back and silver glittered in the stream of sunlight.

"Maybe I'll cut it out," he flipped the blade around and spun the point on his fingertip. "That would be a much better use for this. Don't you think?"

Damon flashed around the side of the coffin. He gave his brother an incredulous look before turning his gaze to the satin interior. He stared at the woman's grey skin and beaded dress.

"Hmm," Stefan hummed, "you're finally speechless."

"Who the hell is she?" He pointed to the woman. "And why would you wake someone related to Klaus?"

She knew he hadn't told anyone yet. The first person that would have been privy to the secret of her evening endeavors was Damon. Everyone knew Damon was horrible at keeping secrets. If the elder Salvatore had known he would have revealed the information to her friends, probably in a scathing way that accused them of knowing all along. If her friends had known she would have been ambushed for a frientervention.

She loved Caroline dearly, but sometimes she had a habit of sticking her nose where it didn't belong, and of getting judgemental. She could already imagine the scene in one of their living rooms. Knowing the bubbly blonde she would have a special banner made up for the occasion, and would have forced everyone to write letters or something to her in an attempt to talk her out of her 'insane' choices.

Stefan hadn't told anyone.

She was one hundred percent sure.

Ninety-five percent sure.

Alright, maybe sixty.

She would have been sure of her declaration if he'd let her leave the house, but he seemed intent on keeping her inside. She might have pushed the matter further if not for the half-crazed look in his eye. She was positive he would follow her home to make sure she was safe, and remained free from the meddlesome personalities that made up her friend group. In the two hours since she had come to the mansion it had become very clear that he did not trust Stefan.

"You know I have to go home at some point?" She watched him pace the length of the 'family room', as she had dubbed it. "Jenna's not gonna buy the 'I fell asleep studying at Caroline's house' two nights in a row."

"He wants something," Klaus muttered darkly. "What does he want?"

"Revenge?" Elena guessed. "You did compel him, you almost let his brother die, forced him onto a blood high…"

"You've got a long memory," he inhaled sharply.

"It's only been a few months," she pointed out, "and Stefan's not the forgiving type. He still pissed with Katherine for compelling and turning him while he was human. The only reason he wasn't mad at me when he thought I kissed Damon is because he found out later it was Katherine." Elena tilted her head and narrowed her eyes. "He really hates Katherine," she whispered, glancing at him, "and you."

"I'm rather used to that," he chuckled, "it happens a lot."

"You might try being nicer to people." She cocked an eyebrow.

"I'm nice to you," he gave her a pointed look.

"Oh please," she rolled her eyes, "you're a jackass, you just happen to be less of one with me."

"I can be nice," he met her eyes.

Her breath hitched under the heat of his gaze that was suddenly inches from her face. Tilting her head back she licked her lips and did her best not to show how his proximity was affecting her.

"I…" she swallowed as his fingers skimmed her hip. "I thought you needed my help to get them back."

"I do," he dragged his left hand up her arm lightly, barely touching, "but first I need to know what he wants." He was waiting for the second call that he knew was forthcoming.

"You out of town," she guessed. His thumb caught her bottom lip and she melted.

"Where would he take them?" He drew his hands to her hips and grasped her shirt, pulling it up and over her head.

She released a soft gasp as his fingers began to explore her smooth skin setting her body on fire. If he was hoping to make her concentrate he was having the opposite effect. Her breathing quickened. Tiny moans fell from her lips as he pinched her nipples through the lace covering her breasts.

"Elena," he prompted, pressing a knee between her thighs.

"B-boarding house," she guessed.

"Too obvious," he leaned in and pressed his lips to her jaw. He traveled the smooth expanse of her throat with gentle kisses, teasing nips, and soothing licks.

"It's…" she bit her bottom lip. It was growing increasingly hard to think, and nearly impossible to think. She rocked down and groaned when he grabbed her hips and held her still.

"Think, love," he sucked on her pulse point.

"I d-don't know," she sighed.

He pulled back to give her room to breathe and stared down into her eyes.

She relaxed marginally, but her heart continued to pound wildly in her chest, and the fire burned deep in her belly.

"I'm not exactly privy to his inner thoughts," she pressed her hands to his chest.

"Perhaps I should send you off to pry," his eyes flickered over her flushed face.

She released a humourless laugh and shook her head while rolling her eyes.

"What was that about being nice?" She cocked an eyebrow.

"First and foremost," he took a step back, "I'm a tease. I would love to help you out, but you said it yourself: your aunt won't believe you've fallen asleep at your friend's house again. And since you have her and your brother on vervain I am incapable of compelling them."

She bit her lip, not wanting to leave, but knowing she had to because he was right. Part of her wanted to crawl right back in his bed and curl up in his arms where she had gotten the best sleep she'd had in years, but she couldn't.

Another part of her wanted to break one of the rules she had set in place and let him into her house, but there he could be seen.

"I thought you didn't want me out of your sight," she shivered as the cool air filtered around her naked torso.

"I'll have someone watching you." He bent and retrieved her shirt.

"That's not creepy," she tugged her shirt back on, "or suspicious."

"You're mine," he cupped her chin, "let your friends believe I've got you surrounded for whatever reason they want, but you are mine and I will ensure you're safety."

She was a feminist. It was the twenty-first century. She didn't belong to anyone, but still his verbal claim on her sent a thrill down her spine.

Nobody liked being confined, but to be trapped within her own body was unbearable. She had been alive for countless years and suffered horrors better left to the shadows, but nothing compared to the death sleep. Nothing was as bad as his wrath.

She was trapped, and it always felt like an eternity when she became aware of it. The only positive aspect of his 'justice' was the oblivion, but when he finally deemed the time fit to awaken her awareness seeped it and it was terrible.

Her body, for all intents and purposes, was dead. What little blood remained lurched through her veins like sludge until finally at long last it reached her heart that might have squeezed out a single beat in a minute; when it arrived at its destination she gasped.

The breath burned her lungs.

She saw nothing but red when her eyes opened; it was her body's demand for sustenance. She was so hungry that she didn't question the glass pressed into her hand. It could have been poison for all she knew; she drained the liquid and sighed in relief as her body began to function once more, but she knew she was nowhere near sated yet.

"Your brother is a real piece of work."

She licked the liquid from her lips and looked up.

"I've been saying that for centuries," she rasped. She let him help her from the coffin and took the glass after watching him fill it with blood from some sort of bag. She drank slowly while running her eyes over his clothes. "How long?"

"When did he put the dagger in?" Stefan held the blade by the point. She was wearing the clothes he had last seen her in, but she had always loved that dress.

"After the raid," she closed her eyes. Her last memory was clear as if it had happened moments before; he'd killed her because she wanted to leave him, because she had dared to forge her own path separate from him.

"1921," he murmured, "It's been eighty-nine years."

"You left me asleep for eighty-nine years?" Her body grew tense. In her long life she had only been daggered for one other long period of time; she could still remember sitting up on that table. Fifty-two years Marcel had let her, and now Stefan had left her nearly twice as long.

He saw the fire flashing in her blue eyes and reached out to hold her shoulders.

"I left you asleep for three months," he stared into her eyes. "Before he left the raid Klaus compelled me to forget you both. He only lifted the compulsion three months ago. Between his paranoia and being compelled into complacency it took me all of that time just to get your coffin away from him."

"Why he chose to wake you is beyond my comprehension," a voice drawled from behind her. "You don't look like much to me; at least your brother looked capable of helping kill your other brother."

"Ignore my brother, Bekah," Stefan glared over her shoulder, "he's an ass."

"Yeah," Damon scoffed, "ignore me. That sounds like a great plan." He eyed Rebekah sceptically. "How exactly is she supposed to help get rid of Klaus?"

"Not everything is about getting rid of Klaus," Stefan shook his head.

"I'm going for a run," she shouted towards the kitchen.

She pulled her hair into a high ponytail before bending to lace up her sneakers. With her headphones in and her phone tucked into a pocket she opened her front door.

Nobody liked being confined. She often felt like she was caged within the walls of her house.

She loved being outdoors, surrounded by nature. She loved being outdoors, beneath the sky. She loved being outdoors, in the open air. She loved being outdoors, feeling the ground pass beneath her feet. She loved being outdoors, being free.

"That's not going to happen," he smirked. "I'm not leaving this town without Elena."

"That's cute. You think you've got a choice. Well… I suppose you do."

His anger simmered beneath the surface of his skin.

"Leave town and take your hybrids with you or you really will find your family's coffins at the bottom of the oceans."

The line clicked.

He growled and slammed the phone onto the kitchen counter. The glass shattered beneath his hand and sliced into his palm.

"That better be an empty threat," she arched her back. Bracing her hands on the headboard she stretched like a cat and fixed him with a pointed glare.

"On the contrary," Stefan dropped his phone on the bedside table, "I have every intention of dropping the caskets at the bottom of the ocean."

"Sounds like a good place for the dagger," she muttered. Her eyes darted to the length of silver.

She wrapped the sheet around her torso and sat up against the headboard. Her eyes found Stefan's gaze when he pushed her mussed hair from her face.

"Where are my brothers, Stefan? What have you done with them? You must have them, or Nik wouldn't have sounded so angry."

"They're being shielded by a witch friend of mine," he took a deep breath, "I needed leverage."

She slowed down and came to a stop as her playlist was interrupted by the preprogrammed ringtone. She braced her back against a tree and answered the call.

"I'm going to kill him and everyone he's ever met!"

"You said you wouldn't," she panted, "unless he hurt them." Her breathing slowly leveled out. "Stefan's many things, but he wouldn't hurt someone just to spite you."

"He has threatened to drop them at the bottom of the oceans if I don't leave town."

"So," she slid down the length of the tree, "he's taking a page out of your playbook? Isn't that exactly what you told Elijah you did?"

"I was lying, love. I'd never harm my family, but Stefan is angry, and angry people tend to act rashly."

"Speaking from experience?"

She dropped her head against the bark of the tree with a thump. Overhead an angry squirrel chittered and dropped an acorn. The projectile hit her forehead with a thud. The sharp point drew a small bead of blood that trickled down towards her eyebrows and over the bridge of her nose.

His response to her startled yelp was instantaneous.

"What happened? Are you alright?"

"I'm fine," she sighed. "A squirrel decided my head was the perfect spot to drop an acorn." Reaching out she picked up the small nut and tossed it off the path into the woods.

"Squirrel… where the bloody hell are you?"

"In the woods," she shrugged, her shoulders scraped the tree. "I went for a run."

"With Stefan out for blood? He knows how important you are to me!"

"I thought you had me under hybrid guard?" She felt the coy smile lift the edge of her mouth and bit it back down.

"You said you were going home. I told her to watch your house and keep out any who would do you harm."

"You don't have much faith in your hybrids do you?" Elena drew her knees to her chest; a thin layer of sweat cooled her skin in the sudden breeze. She couldn't exactly blame him for questioning matters; it wasn't like the few wolves he had turned were fond of him.

"They have no respect."

"If you want people to respect you do something worth respecting," she scoffed. "Stop ordering them around, or turning them against their will."

She thought back and tried to remember the last time her blood had been used by him; it had been awhile, definitely before they started sleeping together. In fact she couldn't remember him taking her blood again after he had returned from the wolf hunt in Portland.

"You shouldn't be out on your own right now."

"What's the worst Stefan could do to me?" She ran her finger tips over the skeletal remains of a few leaves.

"Kill you, turn you: I could tell you tales of his atrocities. Stories so horrific that you would never sleep again; I could tell you tales that would shake you to your core and chill your blood…"

"Let me guess," she sighed when he grew silent and summoned her best imitation of his accent, "You happen to like my blood warm."

She heard him chuckle at her attempt.

"Hot actually."

She heard the suggestive quality of his voice and could almost see the twinkle in his eye; it sent a rush of warmth through her body to pool in her belly.

She blamed his accent. Everything sounded sexier in his husky voice, and when he decided to use it to his advantage she was a goner; he had tied her to his bed more than once and left her there, talking to her in that sinful accent, working her over with his voice until she was desperate for his touch.

She straightened her spine before she could lose momentum and wound up in a puddle on the forest floor.

"Stefan wouldn't do that to me," she shook her head as if he were in front of her and not miles away. Her eyes flickered over the path when she realized she had run much farther than she had planned.

"You have too much faith in him."

"I'm hanging up now," she stood on shaky legs. "I'm going to call Stefan to figure out what's going on, and prove you wrong."

She disconnected the call over his protests and estimated she had about twenty minutes before he found her.

Her outgoing call was picked up after a few rings.

"Do you have a death wish? Why would you take Klaus' family?"

The voice was slightly distorted as if it came from a distance, telling him she was using the headset that came with her phone. Since he knew she had Bluetooth in her car the headset told him she had likely gone out for a run.

Stefan pointed down the rickety stairs for Rebekah and stepped back to lean against the wall and take the phone call. He watched her descend the stairs and prayed she didn't take it in her head to host a more lively family reunion; it was risky enough with her awake.

"I needed leverage." He gasped in false confusion. "How did you know I took his family?"

"Cut the crap Stefan, you know."

"Oh," he hummed, "you mean I know that you're screwing him?" He glanced at Rebekah when she reappeared with a scowl on her face. "I think you should re-evaluate your priorities because it looks like you're the one with a death wish."

"I don't have a death wish."

"Oh," Stefan's brows rose, "so you're not sleeping with Klaus? That wasn't you leaving his house the other night, or with him earlier today?"

The blood drained from Elena's face. She had known it was a possibility when she had made the suggestion to Klaus, but she hadn't been convinced he had seen her until that moment. She still felt secure in the knowledge that he hadn't told anyone else though.

"What do you want me to say?" She closed her eyes and raked her hands through her hair. The microphone slid down her collarbone.

"Tell me I'm wrong and you're not in the middle of the stupidest decision of your life, or suicidal."

"Just because I'm sleeping with Klaus… it doesn't mean I have a death wish." She crossed her arms.

Her feet were about to start the return to her home when the air was suddenly knocked from her lungs. A small scream tore from her mouth as the headphones were torn from her ears and tossed aside; she thought she heard them land in the bushes several feet away.

She didn't get out a second cry. Only whispered words and loud choking sounds slipped through her lips as she stared into the eyes of an angry hybrid.

"Are you sure about that?" The short woman's mouth twisted in a malicious sneer.

Elena managed to croak out a few syllables around the hand that shifted to her throat. They were whispered and barely audible, but she knew the other woman could understand her; she thought the hybrid's name might have been Mindy.

"I thought you were a victim," she tightened her hold around Elena's neck. "I really did, but you're not. You probably gave him what he needed willingly."

She struggled to breath around the hand and pulled weakly at the arm she had no hope of removing. She had never liked exploiting loopholes but her vision was beginning to fade around the edges.

"You're… sup… pr-protec…"

"He told me to not let you get hurt or abducted from your home," Mindy growled. "You're not at home," her lips twisted in a smirk. A few more seconds and she would rid the world of his lover and his only way to make more hybrids that would follow his every order.

Elena struggled, but the fight was bleeding from her limbs. The little that she could still see blurred until Mindy was a smudge of dark colour in front of her. She was certain she was going to die right there in the woods.

She was just wondering what would be on there to greet her when she was released and her body slumped over in the dirt.

"What's going on?" Rebekah eyed the small device in his hand. She could hear the sound of a struggle on the other end of the call. The other woman's voice had been distorted but she had caught a snippet of the conversation and gathered that Stefan's acquaintance was indeed sleeping with her older brother.

It also sounded like Stefan was right; she was going to die for it.

"Are you just going to stand here and listen to her die?" Rebekah stared in horror. "She clearly has poor taste, but nobody should die because of their choice in bed mate."

He hesitated a moment before hanging up the phone and nodding.

"Stay here," he moved towards the door, "on the off chance your brother is out and about."

She nodded and watched him flash off before turning back to the stairs. The witch in the cellar had denied the existence of the coffins she knew were there. She knew the short brunette was lying, her heart had given her away; it was a minor annoyance and partially her fault. She had insisted on seeing her siblings were safe the moment she knew Stefan had them and they had rushed over without giving the young witch a warning.

Bonnie, Stefan had mentioned her name on the journey to the house, was a loyal friend and wouldn't reveal the coffins until Stefan gave her the okay, but Stefan wouldn't be able to do that for a little bit now.

She descended the stairs slowly into the cellar to wait with the witch for Stefan and the poor soul who had been foolish enough to climb into her brother's bed.

She struggled to get her coughing under control and looked up through the water clinging to her lashes. The image was still blurry but she was ninety eight percent sure of her deduction.

"Stefan?"

"Like I said," he flipped over the headless corpse with his foot, "you're…"

She didn't find out what he was going to say because he was cut off by the load snap of his neck. She watched her ex fall at her side and lifted her eyes once more.

Gentle fingers tipped up her chin. She winced when they made contact with the bruises along her throat. She didn't even grimace when he placed his bleeding wrist to her lips.

"I'm going to kill him for this," he growled while watching the bruises fade.

She grasped his arm before he could make good on his promise, but it was a few minutes before her windpipe had healed enough for her to tell him what had happened.

The first arc is looking like it will be 2 chapters long.

As always I love hearing what you think.