Chapter 8

As you can tell I don't have the best control over my fears. I'm the biggest scaredycat in the world, just ask any of my family. One time I peed myself in a haunted house when I was little. It wasn't even scary, I just saw a fake spider and freaked out. That's why I wasn't that surprised when I was told I had fainted.

It might have also been due to my lack of sleep but I just love blaming other factors.

I woke up lying in my bed on my side. I groaned as I rubbed my pounding head and looked up at my clock.

1:00. 'Why am I waking up so early?' I thought to myself. I started to shake my head to try to clear my mind and heard something from behind me.

It sounded like a light footstep. I glanced just slightly over my shoulder and saw a person standing there shifting their weight from side to side. They looked like they had their back to me.

As silently as I could I reached over to the thing of shelves on the right of my bed. I grabbed the hammer that was on the second to top shelf and held it in my hand as I pretended to get more comfortable. I heard what sounded like the person turning around and gripped the hammer tighter in my right hand.

"Madeline." The man said and he tapped my left shoulder.

It was like a reflex, my right hand with the hammer swung around to hit the man who had tapped my shoulder. I heard a loud crack and I was pleased.

I thought I might have another minute to hit him again but no such luck. I felt my hammer being taken from my hands. The person who was taking it was so strong I had no chance to get it back.

I pulled my fist back and swung it toward him hoping it would hurt but I felt my hand caught in another hand. I tried to pull it out but again I had no chance.

The person grabbed my other hand and just then my brain registered that someone was talking.

"Madeline. Stop." Said the voice over and over again. I recognized that voice.

"Madeline. I'm not going to hurt you." It said again.

It took me another minute to realize that it was Elijah that was talking. When I figured it out I stopped struggling immediately. When he figured I was done with my tantrum he let my hands go.

"What's going on?" I asked after a minute of silence. When he didn't answer I grabbed my head and lay down on my pillows. I had a killer migraine.

After another minute he asked me a question, "Why do you have a hammer next to your bed?" Why was he always asking questions and never answering mine?

"In case an ass-creep, i.e. you, sneaks in my room and tries to kill me." I said back looking at my ceiling.

Elijah made a scoffing sound and placed the hammer down on my bed. I grabbed it and put it back where it belonged on my shelf. It goes on the second shelf right next to screwdriver, which I have there for the same reason.

"Can you tell me what's going on?" I asked him turning over to face where he stood next to me.

"You fainted a few hours ago. I brought you in here." He said to me.

My brain tried to comprehend what he just said. I fainted? That meant I had probably gotten scared.

"Why did I faint?" I asked him. My head was pounding again. I just wanted to go back to sleep but I had to find out what had happened.

"I probably shocked you by what I said. I shouldn't have said it so bluntly." He said as I sat up in my bed. My head started to hurt worse from the sudden movement. I grabbed my head with a hand and looked over at him.

"What did you say that shocked me so much though?" I asked getting frustrated that he couldn't just give a simple answer.

"I'll let you remember on your own. I don't want to give you another shock like before." He said and turned away from me. "You really do need to learn how to control your fears." This guy was so freaking annoying, why couldn't he just answer my questions? Then he goes and tells me to do stuff, uh, no.

"Why did you stick around then?" I said angrily to him, "Why didn't you just dump me here and leave?'' I indicated to my room.

"Just wait a moment to wake up and you'll remember what I said." He said still with his back toward me. He opened up my trophy case and started ruffling through the numbers I had to wear for races.

I sat pouting on my bed and waited to see if my memory would come back into my mind. It was like trying to remember a dream, very difficult, and frustrating.

After I had sat there for a few minutes I groaned and put my head in my hands. I just couldn't remember.

"Can't you just tell me?" I asked him. Not surprising me, he didn't answer. Not annoying at all or anything like that.

Finally, a million and a half minutes after I had started trying to remember what I had fainted over, I remembered. I had actually stopped trying to remember and that's when I did. I'll have to remember that for next time; start thinking about unicorns driving motorcycles and you'll remember everything you forgot.

Klaus will want to kill me? That thought stuck fear into my heart all over again. Then I remembered what Elijah had said before about controlling my fears.

I realized that I had been breathing fast so I tried to slow it down. Elijah had turned around and was looking at me as if he was waiting for me to freak out again. I actually couldn't get my breathing under control and he came to stand in front of me.

"Maddy." He said. "I'm going to help you okay?"

I nodded my head and then I saw his pupils dilate.

"You're going to not be so scared of things anymore. You'll just be a normal amount of scared and not faint or freak out."

A minute passed of me just staring up at him, not freaked out anymore and then I finally asked, "Why did you say you would protect me? We met like yesterday."

Elijah sat down next to me, "My mother made me realize a while ago how wrong it was to hurt humans. Since then I've tried to make it so that no one who doesn't deserve to die doesn't."

"So you're basically a superhero. Saving all the regular people and all?" I asked with raised eyebrows.

"Yes and I did mean what I said. I hope that my brother won't harm you if Caroline asks him not to." Elijah said.

I was confused. Who was Caroline and how could she help? 'Guess you just have to ask and find out.' I said to myself.

"Who's Caroline?" I asked him.

"A girl that Klaus loves." Elijah said. So, he loves her, so what? How was that going to help me?

"Well how is she going to protect me then? Wouldn't she want the same thing if they love each other?" I asked. I hoped his plan would work out because right now it didn't seem all that good.

"I never said they loved each other." He said. That made it clear, not really, he loved her she didn't love him. What does that have to do with me? "He'll do everything for her."

"But she doesn't care about him." This was starting to make some amount of sense.

Elijah nodded his head at me looking glum. I pulled the covers off myself and swung my legs off my bed. After braving the fearful jump of my feet to the ground I walked to my bedroom door.

"Where are you going?" Elijah asked walking behind me.

"I'm starving to death." I said opening my door and tiptoeing out of my room. I realized Elijah was still behind me as I went through the dinning room. When I made it to the kitchen I opened to the fridge and looked at it for a minute.

"Ugh!" I said banging my head against the fridge. There was nothing in there I could just eat. I actually had to make something.

"What?" Elijah asked.

"Nothing." I replied to his nosiness. Well, maybe it wasn't nosiness seeing as I had almost yelled and banged my head on a fridge. Never mind it doesn't matter.

I grabbed some apples, some cheese and looking back I grabbed a carton of eggs. I put that all down on the counter and went to the pantry. I retrieved a taco shell and set to work making scrambled eggs.

Once I had a beautifully scrambled egg I put cheese and salt on it. Then I shoved it in the taco shell. I turned around and jumped onto the counter to eat. Elijah looked at me like I was crazy.

"What?" I asked at his look.

"You're eating a egg in a taco." He said as if something was wrong with that. I saw nothing wrong with that myself.

"Yes I am.'' I shoved the last bit in my mouth and licked my fingers. "And now it has vanished. Perfect magic trick free of charge by me, Maddy." I bowed as well as I could from the counter.

I reached over to where I had set down the apples and grabbed them, putting the bag in my lap. I opened the bag thing and grabbed an apple out of it. I took my time eating it, still sitting on the counter. After like 5 minutes Elijah left the kitchen and I watched him walk back into my room.

I sat there for like 10 more minutes eating my apples. When I was done I put the bag back into the fridge and started to walk back toward my room. On my long trek I heard a crash coming from Rose's room.

I changed route immediately and ran to her room. I pulled open her door and turned on the lights.

"Are you okay?" I asked.

I looked over to her bed and saw that she wasn't in it but on the ground. In her bed I saw that in it was Cassie and Cecilia. Oh, I didn't know they were having a sleepover. It looked as if Rose had been pushed out of the bed.

I could already tell they were going to yell at me for turning on the lights. I decided I didn't want to deal with it. They were barely even awake yet. I closed the lights again and the door and ran away back into my room.

When I got back in there I saw that Elijah was once again looking in my trophy case.

When he heard me he turned around and asked, "What are all of those for?'

"They're for me being fabulous at track. Stop being so nosy.'' I said as I hopped into my bed. Donald ran into my room and jumped on the end of my bed and curled into a ball.

"Can you close the door?" I asked Elijah. I pulled the covers over myself and tried to relax a little. Before he could make it over to my door another cat ran in. Thank goodness it wasn't Albert. I liked Molly.

"How many cats do you have?'' He asked while closing to door.

"Just three. These two are my friends but Albert is an annoying butthead." I racked my brains for what we had been talking about before I went to get food. "When is that girl Caroline coming?'' I asked when I remembered.

"She's driving here now. She'll probably be here in a few hours." Elijah said.

"Awesome." I said as I yawned. My eyelids began to flutter closed. "Can I sleep now?"

"Sure." He said. I didn't hear any implication that he was leaving though so I opened my eyes and saw he was still there.

"Can you leave while I sleep?" I asked probably sounding rude.

"Yes. I'm going to make sure Klaus doesn't find out yet."

"You do that." I yawned again and closed my eyes. "But I swear to God if you are here creeping again when I wake up I will hit you with my hammer and then stab you with my screwdriver."

He chuckled and I heard my window open. "Goodnight Madeline."

"Goodbye ass-creep."