New Beginnings

The gravitational pull on Earth seemed to being pushing down on his heart as he violently sped to Elena Gilbert's white house. He was driven by an odd emotion somewhere between fear and hope- most would call it worried. He wanted, more than anything, to abandon all emotion and retreat into the darkness as if he never felt for the girl. He also wanted to take her cold body in his arms and pray that she woke up.

Over the years, he had often been blessed with having a sister who was more or less nosy. She was "In the neighborhood" when she witnessed the terrible act that Caroline Forbes had Performed on his sweet, pure Elena. Her hysteric call brought Klaus out of a daze he desperately wished to have again. The memory of her words echoed throughout his brain as he passed street light after street light. "Oh Nik, it's absolutely awful…" She cried into the phone, "Caroline has…she has…Elena… Oh Nik…" It didn't take Klaus long to figure out the words she left out of her sentence. "Nik…She's all alone on the floor and I can't get into the house because I wasn't invited in." Rebekah cried, "Please hurry."

It was the third time in his life that he heard Rebekah use that tone of voice. It dripped of the pure despair, agony and misery that inhabited Klaus' soul. The first time he heard his sister speak in such a way was when she'd discovered her mother had been slaughtered. The second had been when her lover had been killed by their father in New Orleans.

His lights revealed his sister's figure as he pulled into Elena's empty driveway. Apparently, Caroline did not call a soul to confess the dreadful act she'd done. Klaus walked towards the door, placing his hands on the frame as his sister approached him. "She's all alone on that cold floor…" Rebekah reminded him in a shaky voice. "What if she doesn't wake up?" Her fear reflected his own, "Niklaus...what if she doesn't wake up?"

"I don't know, Rebekah!" He yelled, "What do you want me to say? If she doesn't wake up..." He took in a few breaths before he started to speak again, :If she doesn't wake up it is my fault. If she does wake up it is my fault. I know, more than anything, she didn't want this life. She doesn't want to drink blood for survival, she doesn't want immortality. She wanted fat children and a lawn mower!"

"Dreams change...you know that." Rebekah said, "I know one thing...Elena Gilbert does not want to die."

Klaus moved away from his sister, extending his arms in a T-like position. "Rebekah, she is dead. Her neck is broken, her life has been ripped away from her in a second!" He snapped his fingers, "Her hopes, her dreams, her plans- they are done! They are gone and they are never coming back!"

He saw red for a few moments as he thought of what Caroline had done to her "best friend" in a fit of passion. Still, he could not hate Caroline Forbes for being a monster because he was a monster too. He has broken more necks that one could count, he has drained more bodies of blood that one could measure. He could not fully hate her...but he vowed he would end her. He had killed for far less.

His ear pricked at the sound of her gasping breath, "Caroline..." She croaked desperately as she moved across the kitchen.

"Elena!" Klaus called out to her as he stood at her doorway. She walked towards him, clearly confused. "You have to let me in, love."

"C-c-come in." She stuttered breathlessly, "I don't understand what's going on Klaus." She whimpered.

Klaus tried to push pass the seal that kept him feet away from her- but he was unable. "I can't get in."

"What do you mean you can't get in?" She started to become hysteric, "Klaus, am I dead?" Her breathing picked up as she fumbled through her walkway, "Oh my god I'm dead, I'm dead...I'm dead." She kept repeating until she made it outside. "Caroline killed me." Her eyes were wide, red, and full of tears by the time she reached his arms. "I don't want to be dead." She sobbed, "I had so much left to do."

"I know you did, Elena." Rebekah wrapped her arms around Klaus who held Elena closely, their arms enfolding her in a perfect circle. "I'm sure you know the options you have and the choice you have to make." She whispered. She often wondered about the process of making such a choice seeing as she never had to make it. She would not blame Elena for living out her last day and dying peacefully... nor would she blame her for living a life full of struggle but adventure.

Klaus touched Elena's hair, "You can make new plans... you can see the world and have a billion more birthdays with interesting people. Your life is not over...unless you want it to be."

"I'm not ready to die..." She bawled for what seemed like hours until Klaus suggested they take the event back to his home where he could secure comfort for her.

Upon arrival, Klaus led her to his bedroom where the sun could not harm her eyes. He said his room was designed to "preserve the art. and the things he cared most about." He asked her if she wanted him to bring a TV to the room in which she replied, "It probably isn't the best time to be watching Jersey Shore." She believed her quip humorous, and in a different scenario it would have been if he had known what Jersey Shore was and if she were not on her possible deathbed.

They lounged in silence for hours until she stated, "This will be a first date you will never forget." He responded with half smile, "Klaus...I'm not ready to die. I'm not ready to close the curtain just yet. I may not be able to achieve the same goals I had hoped to accomplish but I won't be dead...I wouldn't be leaving my family and friends behind."

"You want to change?"

"Yeah, and I mean if I'm unhappy with my decision I can just run into a stake or something!"

He also did not find that joke funny.