Disclaimer: I do not own the Vampire Diaries.
A/N: Thank you all so much for the wonderful reviews! They simply make me write more. I loved to hear your input!(-: Also, I'd really like to say thanks for sticking with my story this long. Honestly, I would still be writing quite terribly (and probably not writing this! )-: ) if it weren't for my reviewers and readers who really help me to continue. So thanks, and enjoy!
Thirteen
Elijah stood in the doorway of the cafeteria, his hands in his pockets. He was as immaculate as ever, yet his haste to rush to the school was evident in his cool, dark eyes. He took in AJ and Klaus's position with masked indifference.
AJ's mouth dropped open. She firmly closed it several times until she gave up. "Elijah?" she whispered. Though she had only just heard his voice over the phone minutes ago, the sight of him truly took her by surprise. Especially after being pretty much ravished by Klaus.
Elena and Stefan, still present, were both silent as the scene unfolded before them.
Elijah's gaze was boring into Klaus now. "Having your fun, Klaus?"
Klaus was calm. He leaned against AJ as if to make a point, resting his hands on her hips. His eyes danced with darkness. "Oh, you could say that, brother. I've been having all sorts of fun. You don't mind that I borrow your toy, do you?" He leaned his head closer to AJ's neck, a wicked smile on his face.
Elijah clearly held back any sort of quick retort. He stepped slowly into the room instead, running a hand absently along the edge of a table. "If you knew what was good for you, you wouldn't call her that. But I suppose after all this time, you really don't know, do you?"
Klaus shifted slightly. AJ only knew because she could feel it, and cringed inwardly at the confluence of desires that stirred within her at the movement. She needed to focus.
"Well, that's what your girl's for, isn't it? She sure straightened you out. Have you seen yourself? You reek of humanity. But then again, you always did, didn't you?"
"I hardly view that as a bad thing. I'm certain AJ would agree." Elijah's eyes finally met hers, and she had to look away quickly. So much guilt had welled up in her chest that she thought her heart would explode as it pounded relentlessly against her ribs.
"Klaus," she urged, giving a soft nudge to his chest. "Let me down."
He regarded her with a haughty expression, quirking up an eyebrow. "I find I rather like where you are. Once we get rid of him," he nodded his head in Elijah's direction as if he were nothing more than a stranger, "I'd like to pick up where we left off. Actually, he doesn't even need to leave. I'm perfectly comfortable with an audience."
Anger swelled up in her chest, mixed with the guilt. "Don't do this to me. Of all people Klaus… don't do this. Just let me down."
His face was masked. Her arms slid from around his neck to her sides as he lowered her back to the ground. She took several steps away, unsure of what to do. The tension in the room was nearly suffocating. Both brothers were staring at her intently, waiting for her next move. She felt like a chess piece suddenly. The game itself was a mystery to her, making things worse. What if she made the wrong move?
Swallowing hard, she looked up at Elijah.
"I was afraid you wouldn't come." Her voice was light and wavering, timid.
"You should know that I'll always come for you," he said steadily, keeping out any sort of emotion.
Closing her eyes, she let out a shaky breath. He had every right to be mad. "I do know that. I just didn't think there'd be time…"
"I came as quickly as I could." His liquid brown eyes flicked between her and Klaus with grim amusement. "I just can't tell whether I was too late or not."
"Oh, I'd say you came just in time," Klaus said, smirking.
AJ gave him a hurt look. When her eyes returned to Elijah, they glinted with sorrow. "Elijah… I can explain—"
"You shouldn't have to explain," Klaus cut in abrasively. "What is there to explain? Nothing. I think it's all very clear. Isn't it, brother?"
AJ looked helplessly between the two.
"What's clear to me," Elijah said, and if AJ hadn't heard him speak so many times before, she would have missed the strain in his voice, "is that I should have realized your intentions when I saw that dreadful necklace hanging about her neck in Chicago."
Looking down, AJ's lips parted in surprised. The sun pendant gleamed under the florescent lights. She could feel the cool tranquility it emanated. But what did Elijah mean? What did either of them mean?
Beside her, Klaus stiffened. "I suppose it's foolishness on your part then, especially since you had your chance to take her, and you didn't. Anyway," he was swift to change the subject, "you've come just in time. Stefan was just about to get a taste of the precious doppelganger, weren't you Stefan?"
A sudden, terrible realization dawned on AJ. She'd forgotten all about Stefan—he was, well she didn't know what to describe him as. But he definitely wasn't himself. In that moment, he looked completely sinister. Deadly.
"Sounds find to me," he said with a wicked smile in Elena's direction. His usual bright eyes seemed void of any life, replaced by something unfeeling and cold.
Two things happened before AJ could process them: Stefan had fanged out, and was now cornering Elena; and AJ herself was hurtling towards them to act as a barrier.
A scream pierced the air—one that wasn't her own. Hands had grabbed her and jerked her back, and suddenly the world was a blur and she felt completely weightless, like a bird that'd taken flight. Before she knew it, she was greeted by the night air, gasping in a huge breath before yanking her arm out of his grasp.
When she turned on him, she was surprised to find it was Elijah, not Klaus. She was even more surprised that it surprised her.
"E—Elijah?" she stammered confoundedly, blinking up at him.
His mouth was set in a grim line. There was hurt in his eyes. "Surprised? You aren't the only one."
He turned on his heel to walk away from the school, but AJ latched on to his arm. "Elijah—please," her voice broke. "Look at me."
"I would," he said without turning around. "Except every time I do, I see him on you. I see everything I've done to get you back, and what a waste of an effort that was." His voice took on a tone of hurt. "You know, I remember that night you came home completely distraught because of what he did—what you did. When he first kissed you, which only happened because you had deceived me and snuck out to meet him. You'd been terribly afraid that you'd lost me, hadn't you?" He turned, now, and met her eyes. His own were so unlike what she was used to gazing into that it took several moments for her speak.
"Yes," she whispered. "I knew I'd made a terrible mistake, going there—letting him do what he did. Reacting the way I had. I didn't deserve your forgiveness."
"And do you, now?" he inquired almost coldly. "Do you think I should forgive you right now? I'm not a fool, AJ. I know he didn't prompt what happened between you two. Klaus does many things, but that is not one of them."
"I—I—"she stopped, searching for the words. "No," she breathed finally, with anguish. "No I don't deserve your forgiveness. Because you're right. You're completely right. I kissed him—I chose to."
He nodded knowingly. "You chose to, but did you want to?"
She looked up into his clear eyes, seeing the man she'd fallen in love with. The patience, the nobility, the kindness. He was so many things she could never be. He'd made her a better person. But she'd been apart from him for so long, she'd been with Klaus. Things changed, and yet her heart still yearned for her to reach out and touch him, kiss him in the way that was like breathing: an intense need she'd always have, something so easy and familiar.
All of that was impossible now. She wouldn't deny it. It would only hurt him further, and her heart strained just to think of doing that. She felt torn in two, ripped apart, unable to find her other half.
"Yes," she admitted, tears pricking at her eyes. "I did want to."
A flash of anger shone in his eyes that was so intense, she took a startled step back. He breathed out slowly, shaking his head. "Yes, I might have known."
"Elijah—I'm so sorry—I love you, I do, but things have gotten so screwed up—"
"Stop," he said, eyes closed. "Just stop. I saw it in Chicago. I saw the change in you, there, but I wouldn't admit it to myself. I thought it was just the show you'd put on for him, to get him to trust you so maybe you could find a way out on your own. You're clever like that. But that wasn't the way things were, and I know it. Things have changed, haven't they?"
She held back her tears, a lump in her throat. "Yes," she barely whispered. "They have."
He nodded. "I want you to know something," he said quietly, looking at her intently. "I do forgive you. As much as I don't want to, I do. I love you. This doesn't change that. But I can't look at you, AJ. Not now."
Elijah turned to leave again, and this time she didn't stop him. She stared after his retreating figure, wishing she could find the words to make up for everything. But she didn't want to make up for anything—she'd done as she'd wanted to do for so long, it felt like a weight had been lifted from her shoulders. It was a relief, actually; truly a relief when she thought about it. But Elijah… she couldn't bear watching him leave. It felt like he was taking half of her heart with him.
The scream in the cafeteria—Elena's scream—echoed in AJ's head. It reminded her of the matters at hand. Startled by her thoughtlessness, she spun on her heel and made to head back inside the school. Only, she stopped, hard, with surprise.
Rebekah blocked her path.
"Rebekah," AJ looked confoundedly at the vampire. "I need to get back inside. Do you know if—"
"If your doppelganger friend is all right?" Rebekah finished bitterly. "Quite unfortunately, I do. She fares just fine. Klaus is taking her to the hospital right now. He wanted me to find you."
Relief poured into AJ's chest, but she was still wary. "A hospital? Why… well, why would he take her there?"
"Because we can't kill the bitch," she snapped, angry. "She's not supposed to die."
AJ's eyes turned skyward as an overwhelming sense of gratefulness washed over her because of this absurd new twist. Klaus didn't kill Elena. He wouldn't kill Elena. Elena was safe.
Rebekah was peering around, a frown on her face. "Is it true that my brother's here? Elijah?"
"Uh…" AJ hesitated, feeling light headed by all her shifts in emotions. Now there was the overwhelming guilt she thought she could drown in. Maybe she wanted to drown in it. "He was. But he left." She couldn't read the abstruse look on Rebekah's face. Was the Original happy? Sad? Some twisted mix of the two?
"Oh," Rebekah said simply, turning back to AJ. Her eyes were piercing. She reached out and grabbed AJ's wrist, her touch bruising. "Come with me then."
AJ yanked her wrist out of Rebekah's grasp, mostly out of tendency. "Rebekah… what's been going on? Why did you help me?"
Rebekah crossed her arms. "Help you? Don't be absurd. Come."
"No—Rebekah. When I woke up in the truck, you told me where to go. And the whole 'Nik bought it; I may not like you but my brother does' part. You kept giving me weird looks, too, like I was supposed to get something. What's going on?"
Planting her hands on her hips, Rebekah rolled her eyes. "You haven't figured it out yet? How long have you been with my brother, exactly? And I mean Klaus, not Elijah." At the hurt and surprised look from AJ, Rebekah huffed. "Yes, I know about you and Elijah. Pitiful, really. How it's just like the Salvatore boys vying for the doppelganger." There was a definite hint of malice in her tone. "That necklace," she pointed a slim finger at the sun pendant, "should have been your first clue."
Her hand found the pendant like it was a part of her. Looking at it with scrunched eyebrows, thought back to the cafeteria, when Elijah had made a point about it as well. What's clear to me is that I should have realized your intentions when I saw that dreadful necklace hanging about her neck in Chicago. But what did that mean, exactly? The necklace protected her from the spirits—it was an amulet of protection. Didn't he know that?
Rebekah scoffed. "You're really still not getting it. You'd think Klaus could find himself a clever girl."
"He gave it to me to protect me," AJ said slowly. "What else is there to get?"
"I shouldn't even tell you," Rebekah said in that high-pitched, snobbish tone. "You should just ask him."
"Except that he won't tell me," AJ reasoned, maintaining her temper. Sometimes Rebekah could really make her want to smash things. "So I think you should."
Rebekah glanced down at a phone to check the time, slightly irked. With a bored sigh, she said, "We have three minutes."
"Plenty of time," AJ said hastily, suddenly feeling paranoid. Was the necklace meant to bring down her protection from him? From being compelled? A thousand different scenarios crossed her mind, none ending very pleasantly.
Rebekah crossed a short distance to lean on one of the seniors cars, cocking her hip. She looked regal, as always, in her delicate poise. It was the scowl that marred her beauty, but it seemed to soften profoundly. "My mother—the Original witch—made that for him, long ago," she began, looking at the pendant reminiscently. AJ was left staring, mouth open. Their mother was the Original witch? How had she not put this together sooner?
"Mind you," Rebekah continued, ignoring AJ's shock, "this was before it'd been found out he wasn't my father's son. Still, she had known, and she had still loved him. She had made that for him, specifically. I would have thought you'd have at least heard about these things in your history books. It's a token of his love. And since you accepted, it means you are his."
AJ gaped at her, eyes popping out almost risibly. "What? He—he never said—I didn't—"
"Oh, like you never even considered it," Rebekah's tone was accusatory. "When a man gives a woman something of his to keep, to wear, to flaunt to others, what else is it supposed to mean?"
Stuttering, AJ shook her head. "But—the spirits. It protects me. That's why he gave it to me."
"Another reason why mother gave it to him." Her eyes were lost in the past, some distant memory she was looking fondly upon. "She'd said, 'May your loved one always be safe, and always have a part of you, my dear Niklaus.' If you ask me, she was rather fond of him, in a way different than the rest of us." Her eyes focused on the present, her tone bored one more. "Anyhow. She spelled it so that whoever he chose to give it to would always be connected and all that. Don't you feel something when you wear it?"
AJ could think of nothing to say. Her fingers were pressed to the pendant, running over the surface she already had completely memorized.
"I'll take that as a yes. Which brings me to my next and final point. You only feel the connection if you, in turn, care for him. Mother always found these things romantic, but she also wanted to protect his heart. Now," Rebekah stood upright, her delicate features tight with impatience. "We must be going."
"But—but—Rebekah!" AJ exclaimed. "You can't just tell me this and expect me to…"
"Oh save it," Rebekah said briskly. "You can talk to him about it. I've had about enough of this mushy love talk." A tiny glint of delight in her eyes said otherwise, but AJ didn't point it out for fear of becoming the next victim of the vampire's fickle temper. Obediently, she remained quiet, which was something she'd never think to do except that her thoughts were teeming with other things, keeping her in a distracted silence.
Soon, they were outside the hospital. AJ blinked up at it, as if it were some foreign thing she'd never seen before. Emerging from her thoughts, she glanced around to find Klaus waiting by a car. Before she knew what she was doing, she was briskly crossing the parking lot to him. He straightened, as if expecting some sort of greeting. When she reached him, her hand lashed out, smacking him clear across the face.
"AJ," he said with exasperation, holding a hand to his face. "Love, I'd hardly say twice in less than an hour is very fair. Elena's fine, I assure you. No need to take your frustration out on me. Of course there are other ways…"
AJ's face went white with rage. "You never told me! How could you not tell me? Not ever? There were so many chances, and you just never told me!"
Klaus looked at her as if she'd gone mad. "Told you what? If you mean Elena, as I said, she's fine and—"
"Not Elena," AJ hissed, and felt a twinge of guilt for not being mad about that, too. "This." She held her hand to the pendant, giving him a dark look.
He blinked down at it, and then over her shoulder at Rebekah. "You just can't keep your bloody mouth shut, can you? Always have to meddle your way into things. Someone should just marry you already. Then you'll be content with your own theatrics."
Rebekah gave him a smirk, tossing her hair over her shoulder. "Someone had to tell the dear girl. You weren't going to. Not for… oh, how long?"
Klaus snarled at her. AJ shoved at his chest. "Hey! Don't blame her for being honest with me! What the hell, Klaus?"
Returning to a calm state, he sighed. It was then that she could truly see how tired he was, how frustrated he was, and something else she couldn't read. "This is not how I had planned to tell you," he said, not without giving Rebekah a dark look. She decidedly walked off, leaving them alone.
"Did you even plan to tell me at all? Or was it just some way to get back at Elijah? You knew that he'd know what it meant. He probably assumed I did, too, until I told him you only gave it to me to protect me. You're so manipulative." She went to turn on her heel to leave him, but he caught her arms, tilting his head down to catch her eyes.
"I did do it to protect you," he said earnestly. "And I think you know that."
"Do I?" She was harsh, feeling her anger rise and rise. "Because after all the things you said about not really caring about me, not really caring if I lived or died, I think I've gotten just a little confused. Oh, and calling me your 'toy', too. Yeah, I really get the vibe that you just want to protect me." Wrenching her arms out of his grasp, she folded them over her chest.
"Love, I—"
"Don't call me that!"
He sighed. Before he could speak again, Damon was there, arriving from nowhere. His dark hair fell into his face, his eyes wild and angry. After one short glance at AJ, he was in Klaus's face. "Where is she?"
A muscle jumped in Klaus's jaw. He stared Damon down. AJ saw the switch from kind-Klaus to heartless-Klaus flip like a light switch, darkening his features. "She's perfectly fine. Simply giving a little charitable donation. I highly suggest leaving it alone, mate."
"I'll die before I let you hurt her."
Klaus smirked. "As much as I'd like to take you up on that offer, I promised your brother I wouldn't kill you. Unlike him, I keep my word."
"Just let him go in Klaus," AJ demanded, still furious.
Klaus held her gaze steadily. "No. I can't." Looking back to Damon, a shift of something sinister passed through his eyes. "Now that I really think about it, I hardly think your brother would even care if you died. Not the way he is now."
He shoved Damon into the car behind him, preparing to rip his heart out.
"Klaus!" AJ cried, rushing at him at the same time Damon said, "What about Mikael?"
Klaus went completely stiff. "Who?"
"Oh, I think you know," Damon said in that voice he used for negotiations that tended to get pretty ugly. "How would you like it if Mikael found out you're here?"
"You're clever, but lying," Klaus said evenly. "You know nothing about him."
"I know that he's already coming," Damon said almost cheerfully.
Klaus hesitated. AJ watched things in a blur. He threw Damon on the ground before rushing at her, pulling her along with him at an incredible speed. She was beginning to thoroughly dislike the trend and what it did to her stomach.
Three seconds later, she jerked her arm out of his grasp with enough force to send her sprawling into a patch of grass. Klaus stopped immediately, helping her to her feet with near-impatience.
AJ jumped away from him. They were in the middle of a deserted road leading out of Mystic Falls. Behind them was the town, off in the distance, casting a small amount of light onto the road. Beyond, on the other side, was a vast space of darkness, like an oyster that sucked in anything gloomy and gaunt.
"What was that about?" she demanded, breathless.
Klaus paced for a moment. "AJ—we haven't the time. We must leave now."
"Why?" she again demanded, defiantly tilting her chin up. "Damon said Mikael—as in your father. What's wrong if he's coming here?"
"I will tell you later," he spoke through clenched teeth. He held his hand out. "Come. Now."
Backing away, she shook her head. "Where do you plan on going?"
"Anywhere," he said hastily. "Away from here. But we must go now AJ. There's no time to waste."
"What about Rebekah? Elijah? If you're taking off because of something to do with your father—what about them?"
"It doesn't matter!" He ran his hands through his hair, pacing again. "They will be fine!"
She ceased her torrent of questions, studying him before her. Finally, in a quiet voice, she asked, "Why take me with you?"
He stopped so suddenly that she was surprised to see there was no momentum to make him wobbly on his feet. He looked at her, his blue eyes so deep and unguarded. "Because you aren't safe here."
"Says you," she refuted, still quiet and pensive. "You, who never told me about this." Again, she made a point of the necklace.
Klaus crossed the short distance to her, his hands slipping into her own, his eyes looking into her soul. "I promise you, I will tell you everything you want to know. I swear it. But I can't tell you anything if you aren't safe—if you aren't with me."
AJ searched his eyes, her thoughts reeling, her stomach flipping with emotions. He wanted her to leave with him—to somewhere. So many faces flashed in her mind's eye; Elena, Damon, Stefan, Elijah. She would have to leave them, again. For how long? For what reason? Did she really trust Klaus? Could he really mean it—that she wasn't safe here, not without him? Could he mean anything he said? Why did she suddenly doubt everything about him?
She bit her lip, looking down at their intertwined hands. His engulfed hers, holding them tightly, his skin rough yet somehow smooth at the same time, like a rough silk. The pendant was nearly throbbing at her throat with a cool heartbeat of its own, its sense of tranquility changed into something more passionate, more deep.
"AJ," he said, tilting her chin up so she met his azure eyes. "Tell me you'll come with me."
She didn't realize she'd been holding her breath until a sharp pain tore through her chest, and she sucked in air. Her eyebrows were knitted together, her eyes lost in his, her mind lost in thoughts. Tell me you'll come with me.
Glancing over her shoulder, she saw the town again. That's where Elena was. Damon and Stefan and Elijah, Bonnie, Matt, Tyler, Caroline. The people she cared about, who cared about her. What would they think if she left them behind? If she chose to leave with Klaus?
Elijah's face stuck in her head, his liquid brown eyes looking at her with hurt instead of love. She never thought he'd look at her that way. It split her heart in half, watching him leave the way he did. Knowing that he still loved her, but he couldn't bear to look at her.
But Klaus didn't want to leave her. He wanted her to go with him.
She closed her eyes, squeezing his hands gently before looking up at him. The pendant seemed to pulsate wildly at her throat, almost urging her forward.
"Yes," she breathed, meeting his eyes again. "I'll go with you."
Relief spread across his face. He cupped her face and kissed her, pressing his lips onto hers not softly, but with need and passion. She never believed someone's knees could go weak until that moment. She nearly gasped at the flurry of emotions that overwhelmed her, and automatically wrapped her arms around his neck, pulling him closer.
He pulled away gently and took her hand. She knew there was no turning back. Looking toward the dark road ahead of them, she bit her lip.
Tell me you'll come with me.
But what am I getting myself into?
Well, what do you think? Thoughts on the necklace? Elijah? Klaus, AJ? There's something about this chapter I liked more than the others, I just don't know what it is. Review! (: