A/N: The long awaited update is officially here. I feel terrible that it has taken me this long to publish the next chapter. Unfortunately, life and writers block has majorly gotten in the way. I won't drag on with details but my personal life has been quite up and down since the start of August. I've re-written this chapter more times than I can count and honestly, I'm hoping this is up to par with the others. I won't promise that the updates will be as good as they were in the beginning, all I can say is that it won't take me another three months to update. I hope that those of you who are still waiting for this update, and who are still encouraging me enjoy this chapter.
The first thing I hear when I answer my phone is Nik's agitated voice, "You didn't tell me your sister survived the sacrifice."
"In my defense, you never asked if she did or not. Besides, I did tell you that I was going to do everything I could to make sure that she lived." I tell him calmly.
"I'm not sure whether to thank you or be angry with you, love." He says vaguely, "I suppose that will be determined by whether or not your little witch friend can help me with my very large hybrid problem."
"Nik, are you in town right now?" I ask him bending down to grab my shoes.
"Just arrived at the high school." He tells me.
"I'm on my way."
Pulling into the parking lot I notice most of the students leaving, which is an odd sight since it's prank night. Stopping a random guy, "What's going on?"
"Prank night was busted." He shrugs walking off.
Rolling my eyes, I walk through the halls my ears straining to hear Nik's voice. Stopping in front of the gym, "And for Tyler's sake, you better hurry."
"Oh my god! Tyler!" I hear various voices yell.
Pushing the door open, "A bit dramatic don't you think?" I ask with a smirk.
"Olivia, love how nice of you to join the party. How is dear Christopher doing?" Nik asks smugly.
"He says hello…for some reason he actually likes you." I laugh, my eyes drifting towards the blonde vampire next to him.
"Ah yes, Olivia this is Rebekah. Rebekah, Olivia Gilbert." He gestures with his hands.
"Oh my god…you really found her." She says softly, her eyes looking me over. "After all these years."
"Technically, Elijah found me first." I tell her, "I've heard a lot about you."
"Olivia! Will you stop talking to them like you're best friends!" Elena shrieks, "What the hell is going on? Tyler is dead!"
"He's not actually dead." I roll my eyes, "Bonnie, I would go and get that grimoire. If not, well then Tyler really will die."
"So this is the latest doppelgänger." Rebekah says startling Elena as she walks around her, looking her up and down unimpressed, "The original one was much prettier."
Stifling my laugh at the offended look on Elena's face, I look around the gym to notice it full of cups…a bit novice on the prank night side honestly.
"Enough, Rebekah." Nik sighs out, "Take the wolf boy elsewhere, would you?"
Smirking at Elena, she walks around to grab Tyler by his arm and drag him out of the gym.
Grabbing Elena's arm, "Just ignore her. Petty little thing." Nik says to her quietly.
"Oh I don't know, Nik, I rather enjoyed her." I say with a smile as I walk over to wrap my arms around him in a hug. "Thank you."
"Don't mention it, love. You'll make me seem soft." He mock glares as he pulls away from me.
"I can't believe you, Olivia." Elena mutters as she crouches down in front of Dana and Chad. "How can you be friends with him…after everything he's done and you stand here talking as if he didn't kill me!"
"Jesus Christ Elena! If you took your head out of your ass for one minute, you would realize that who I choose to associate with and have in my life is absolutely none of your business." I tell her seething, "You know nothing about me anymore, you have no idea what I'm capable of, what I will be capable of. No clue as to what my life is going to hold in the next few months, and honestly your life is nothing compared to what I'll have. To who I'll have."
"You don't even sound like you anymore! How can you be so selfish?" Elena asks, anger in her eyes.
"I spent the majority of my life being selfless. Doing anything I could to help other people. I'm allowed to be selfish with this. I'm allowed to do what I want regardless of what anyone else thinks of me." I say with finality, as the door to the gym opens.
Looking over I see Stefan, walking into the gym the emotion barely betrayed on his face.
"Stefan…" Elena whispers as she stands up.
Ignoring her, he looks at Nik. "Klaus."
"Come to save your damsel, Mate?" Nik asks him.
"I came to ask for your forgiveness." Stefan tells him, "And pledge my loyalty."
"Well, you broke that pledge once already." Nik remarks.
"Elena means nothing to me anymore." He says looking at her, "And whatever you ask of me, I will do." He tells Nik as he walks in front of him.
"Fair enough." Nik smirks standing up. Turning to me he offers his hand for me to take, rolling my eyes I grab it and walk next to him, towards Elena. "Let's drink on it. Kill them."
Chad grabs onto Dana's arm as the stand up, fear evident on their face. Turning back to look at Stefan, he hasn't moved an inch.
"What are you waiting for Stefan?" I ask him sarcastically. Knowing how unlikely he is to actually kill them, especially in front of Elena.
"Kill them." Nik says again.
"No! Stefan, don't. He's not going to hurt me. He already said—" Elena shouts before she's cut off as Nik backhands her to make a point.
Rolling my eyes at his flair for the dramatics, I watch Stefan run at him, his vampire visage out to play. Nik easily takes control of the situation and within seconds has his hand around Stefan's throat, squeezing tightly.
"She means nothing to you? Your lies just keep piling up." He growls out angrily.
"Let her go! I'll do whatever you want, you have my word!" Stefan pleads with him.
"Your word doesn't mean much. I lived by your word all summer, during which time I never had to resort to this. Stop fighting." He compels.
"Don't do this. Don't do this." Stefan shakes his head, as much as he can.
"I didn't want to." Nik tells him displeased, "All I wanted was your allegiance. Now I'm going to have to take it. You will do exactly as I say when I say it. You will not run. You will not hide, you will simply just obey."
"No!" Elena cries out in a whisper, getting to her feet she plants herself in front of me. "How can you let him do this?"
Laughing a bit, "Let him? In what world do I have any control over another being? Nik is allowed to do as he pleases, there isn't much I can do to stop him, even I if I wanted to, which I don't."
"You've really changed…I wanted to believe after the summer away you would be the same Olivia, but you're not. You're cold. Heartless. Practically evil." She grits out.
Setting my jaw I look her in the eye, "If you truly think that of me…you haven't seen anything yet, Elena." Walking to stand next to Nik I bump her shoulder as I pass forcing her to move.
"Just get it over with Nik, this is taking far to long." I tell him quietly.
Smiling down at me, he nods slightly before looking back at Stefan, "Now kill them. Ripper."
Watching his face closely, I can see the immediately response he has. His features changing, eyes growing darker and then he's passed me, latched on to Chad's neck.
"It's always nice to see a vampire in his true element." Nik taunts Elena as he crouches down next to her. "The species has become such a broody lot."
"No. You did this to him." Elena refutes.
"I invited him to the party, love." He mocks, "He's the one dancing on the table."
"Where is it?!" Rebekah shouts as she throws the gym doors open, and marches towards us.
"Where is what?" I ask her confused by her rage.
"Where's my necklace?" She says walking towards us.
"What are you talking about?" Nik asks her annoyed.
"She has my necklace. Look." She tells him as she hands him a phone. Curious, I walk over and glance at the screen, before looking at Stefan disbelieving he could be that stupid.
"Well, well. More lies." Nik grits.
"Where is it?" Rebekah growls at Elena.
"I don't have it anymore." She shakes her head.
"You're lying!" She yells as she grabs her and bites her neck.
Seconds later Nik pulls her off, "Knock it off!"
"Make her tell me where it is, Nik!" She demands.
Clasping his hands together, he once again crouches down in front of my sister, "Where's the necklace, sweetheart. Be honest."
"I'm telling the truth. Katherine stole it." She tells him, holding her neck tightly as she continues to bleed.
"Katerina. Of course." Nik mutters, "Well, that's unfortunate. If we had the necklace it would make things a whole lot easier for your witch, but since we're doing this the hard way, let's put a clock on it, shall we?" He says as the buzzer sounds and twenty minutes begins to countdown.
"Twenty minutes. If Bonnie hasn't found a solution by then, I want you to feed again." He tells Stefan as he walks in front of him, "Only this time, I want you to feed on Elena. You know you want to." He taunts.
"No! Klaus! Don't do this to him!" She yells.
"No one leaves. If she tries to run, fracture her spine." Nik says as he grabs my arm and we walk out of the gym.
"You're really going to have him feed on my sister?" I ask him incredulously. "After all I've gone through to keep her alive."
"Come on, love, she does deserve to be in a bit of pain. Especially when she causes you so much." He tells me gently.
He isn't wrong. I know that, I know its horrid of me to even have the thought that if she were to get hurt, I may feel a tad better about all this. Her ungratefulness has hit a new level, and I'm finding it harder and harder to try to keep her alive. To go against Nik, instead of help him.
My silence saying the words I can't form. "Don't worry, Olivia…all will be better soon. I promise."
"It's getting harder." I admit, "The dreams have been so frequent this summer. I know it won't be too much longer, but it's driving me mad that I can't have him to myself yet."
"The two of you together, from what I can tell anyway, will burn cities to the ground for one another if you so much as asked." Rebekah comments, "We've been waiting for you to be born for a thousand years, and I've seen him talk about how he'll treasure you once he finds you. You're fierce, Olivia. Your loyalty and love isn't given out easily, but I'm more than happy that we have it."
"Your family has helped me in ways no one I've known my entire life has ever tried to." I tell her, "Nik may be an arrogant hybrid ass, but he's been more caring towards me than my own flesh and blood. Elijah too. I know we'll get along just fine, besides, you could really use a girl to talk to." I laugh.
"Yes…having a sister will be a nice change." She admits softly as we walk away towards an empty classroom.
"Well, the verdicts in. The original witch says the doppelganger should be dead." Nik announces as he waltzes into the room.
"Does that mean we can kill her?" Rebekah asks enthusiastically.
"No, I'm fairly certain it means the opposite." He tells her.
"What?" She asks as she grabs Caroline and pulls her back.
"Call it a hunch. Elena's blood, drink it." He tells Tyler, holding it out in front of him.
"No! No, no, no, Tyler, don't!" Caroline shouts.
"Shut up, Caroline!" I say as I walk towards him, taking the vile of blood from Nik I lean down in front of Tyler, "Drink it, Ty…otherwise you'll be dead. It's not time for you to die."
Glancing from me to Nik a few times, "It's okay. You'll be okay, all you have to do is drink." I tell him softly.
Taking it from me slowly, he drinks it before collapsing on the ground in convulsions as he groans out in pain. Screaming loudly as he holds his head, I look towards Nik with a smile on my face…it's working. Tyler's head shoots up towards Nik as he looks down at him, Tyler's eyes a piercing gold, the hybrid visage clear as day.
"Well, that's a good sign." Nik says with a smirk.
"You're supposed to be excited." Jenna laughs at me from her perch on the counter top.
Not lifting my head of the table, "I should be, I want to be. Senior year, it's supposed to be fun but all I can think about is having to deal with Elena and the Scooby Gang bullshit." I groan out.
"That's why I called Kyle this morning, he said they'd be here in a few days." She tells me, finally getting up to hand me the travel mug of coffee that just finished brewing.
"Oh yeah, I'm sure Kyle's coming down here to see me." I laugh, "Chris yes, Kyle is all for you."
"I…thank you, Olivia." She says sincerely, "I've never been this happy."
"You deserve all the happiness, Jenna." I hug her, "I will take full credit at your wedding though."
"Yeah, yeah…go to school." She laughs as she pushes me out of the kitchen.
Truthfully the beginning of my day went rather well, a bit surprised to find out that Nik ran off to create more hybrids leaving Rebekah behind with me. It'll be nice to have her around though, seeing as everywhere I look I'm met with disapproving looks from the people I've known my whole life.
Shutting my locker I'm almost out of the building when someone grabs my arm from behind.
"We need to talk." Caroline said as she forcefully pushes me into Alaric's classroom.
Yanking my arm out of her grasp, "Fucks sake Caroline!"
"It's been a long day, I'm sorry if that was a bit to forceful." She tells me, slightly apologetic.
Looking around, I barely glance at the faces that surround me. "What is this, some kind of intervention?"
"In a way." Bonnie says, "We're concerned."
"Concerned? About what exactly, because from where I stand, I'm the only person in this room that has any chance of living with how much you've pissed off an Original." I say mockingly.
"Klaus is dangerous, and he needs to die." Damon scowls, "I won't let you endanger Elena again."
Turning slowly to look at him, "Excuse me? Endanger her? Fucking hilarious coming from you! I saved her at the expense of losing my biological father after you forced me to search for another option!"
"You're friends with the enemy! You can't be trusted!" He shouts at me, stepping closer.
"I haven't trusted you for months, Damon. It doesn't hurt my feelings in the slightest that you don't trust me, you don't need to." I shrug, "You probably shouldn't. According to Elena, I'm cold, heartless and selfish. There's no telling just how far I'll go to get what I want."
"How can you turn your back on us like this?" Bonnie shakes her head, "We're your best friends…and you choose them?"
"I didn't choose anyone over anyone, Bonnie. I'm allowed to have friends outside of this little group, outside of Mystic fucking Falls. I was told the truth about me, what I am, why I am. I wanted to tell you all the truth the, but I can't. It's not the time, and I know how you'll react. You all want to see this as black and white. Good and evil. Well news flash, the world isn't like that! It's full of grey areas and I happen to be a grey area.
"I will gladly hurt anyone who gets in my way when it comes to the people I love, or the things I want in this life. I will gladly protect the ones I love; I've proven that time and time again. I don't owe anyone anything. Some of the choices I've made have been questionable, but I don't regret a single one of them. If you want to make me the bad guy, go ahead. Get together and talk shit about someone you supposedly care about, it won't change anything." I tell them with conviction.
"So that's it?" Damon scoffs, "You won't help us because Elena hurt your feelings?"
"No, Damon. I won't help you because you have no clue just how small you are in the world. Not everything revolves around my sister, my life certainly doesn't." I tell him coldly. "I've given up quite a bit of my time and energy to save her life and you have successfully fucked up every single plan I laid out for you to follow. I have no desire to help anymore."
"You're no better than the Originals then. An enemy." Damon glares.
"I'd rather be like them, than you." I laugh. "I wish I could say that I'm surprised at this turn of events, but I can't. I never expected any of you to side with me at all; it's always been Elena. I'll live, I do have other friends, people I consider family. I just wonder how long you can all keep this up, keep acting like nothing is wrong in this group of yours."
"You know it's not like that, Olivia." Caroline argues, "We love you. We just want you to be happy, and this…I mean they can't be trusted!"
"You don't know them enough to make that kind of judgment. You know the basics, the superficial façade they show the world, and I know them deeper than that. You can believe what you wish, but if you keep going up against them, you won't make it out unscathed." I warn them.
"You would let them hurt us? Me?" Elena asks me.
"I can't stop them from doing anything. Free will, Elena. I've asked Nik for a lot with keeping you alive and honestly they only reason none of you have been seriously injured by his hand is because of our friendship, but I won't continue to ask him to spare you if all you're going to do is put yourselves in danger because you can't accept reality." I explain to her calmly.
"He has a hold over Stefan! He's evil and I want him gone!" Elena yells, "I thought I could count on you!"
"You insult me, then expect me to help you?" I scoff, "Honestly Elena, you really should see a therapist with how delusional you're being."
"If you walk out of this room without helping us," Damon starts.
"Nothing will change." I cut him off, "I don't care for you and quite frankly I hope Nik tears your heart from your chest while I watch. I'm not the person you want to continue threatening, Damon."
The next few weeks will change things, if none of you can see past this town and your little problems…then there's nothing for me here." I say walking towards the door, "If you ever pull a stunt like this again, you'll regret it."