Disclaimer: I do not own the Vampire Diaries. If I did, Elijah would have been back much sooner.

A/N: So, no love for the last chapter? I didn't get many reviews. You guys can always tell me what I'm doing wrong, too! For the reviews I did get, they're much appreciated!

Seventeen

AJ stood on the threshold of the pub. A faint wind from outside ghosted past her, giving her the chills, making her shiver unrelentingly. There was laughter coming from the high-top tables and the animated voice of a sports announcer talking about some player she didn't know on one of the several flat screen TVs, making everything seem nearly normal. It almost felt like she stepped into the Grille, if only for a moment.

Her eyes were locked on Klaus, who was chatting away with a man who must be the werewolf. The man had spiky black hair and framed dark eyes indiscernible from this distance. He wore black gloves over his hands with silver spikes on the knuckles. Contrary to the way his appearance gave off a dark impression, she could see a certain amicableness about him. Maybe not an exact kindness, but something close enough to it.

That would hardly matter to Klaus.

Letting out a long breath, AJ stepped back outside and into the cold once more. It felt like she plunged straight into arctic water, though it did nothing to clear her muddled thoughts. Her head swam with images not yet transpired, but ones that had lurked on the edge of her mind ever since she had split in half and had these two warring sides within, years ago. Images of her succumbing to the darkness, the hollowness inside. Images of her watching as walls cascaded with blood, and she didn't bother to stop it, because why would she want to? Dark, horrific images filled her mind's eyes, making her outwardly shudder.

Would she ever be capable of such things?

She chose to head back to the beach house as she rubbed at her arms. People walked to and fro in a leisurely pace, content with their lives and everything in it. Maybe this was just one angle of that teenage girl laughing along with her group of friends as they were laden down with shopping bags and huge grins, but it was still an angle AJ was jealous of. She couldn't have that normal life anymore. She never really had it.

What did she have?

What had happened to her? She thought over the last few days with a frown. Klaus. Klaus had happened to her. But this darkness within—did that mean he brought that out in her? All this time that she'd fended him off, she'd been just fine. And now that she gave into him, the emotions she felt for him, that need for his mere presence that strummed through her body constantly, she was broken again. She was dangerous. Was that his doing?

The answer was simple. No.

Klaus could do a lot of things, but he couldn't make her feel that way about him. He wouldn't. No, Klaus didn't do this to her. She just gave up her inner fight without even realizing it. She'd surrendered and let the darkness begin its reign. How completely reckless! Did she really think that those problems had gone away, that she'd somehow been mended back together the way a surgeon could mend skin and tissue? She had thought that. So she had let her guard down and let the darkness seep into her heart, suck out all the light like a leach; like a parasite that wanted to replace it. Though she had done it unknowingly, it was still very much her fault. This was her fault.

She wanted to bury her face in her hands and just scream. She couldn't do anything right. Not a thing. She'd driven her friends away when they'd needed her most because she'd been so absorbed in Elijah. She'd driven Elijah away because her attentions had turned to Klaus. Now she might drive Klaus away because all of this happened because of what was inside of her. Because she was truly broken in the simplest terms, yet most complex and profound way.

The house wasn't far. She was close to the small wood that wove its way from the back porch to the canopy-covered top of a steep hill. There weren't any people around anymore. Just the occasional biker or couple walking together, hand in hand. She stared at the couple as she walked, knowing she would never have that. Not because Klaus wasn't the let's-take-a-stroll kind of guy, but because she didn't deserve it. She more readily deserved death than anything else.

Something screamed from inside the small forest. The reason she thought it more of a something than a someone was because she'd never heard a human scream in such way before. It was beyond sounding agonizing—it was beyond being tortured. Something horrible was happening.

AJ stopped at the edge of the forest, her entire body tensed as she stared into its shadowed innards. It wouldn't be safe for her to go in.

Safe? The word appalled her. The entire thought ashamed her. Since when did she care if anything was safe for her?

Since the darkness took over.

In an instant, she had made up her mind. Steeling herself, she darted into the forest. She would be good-AJ. She would stop this, whatever this was. The darkness couldn't control her.

Although it was mid-afternoon, the forest made it feel like she'd ducked into a land of nighttime. The canopy overhead was so thick that hardly any sunlight broke through to the forest floor. Where it did, patches of bright green grass grew along with the occasional wildflowers. Everywhere else was filled with dead things—toppled logs, crisp brown leafs and twigs. It was as cold as death, too.

The scream came again, somewhere to her right. It made her blood run icy and a shiver went down her spine. Something was really off. This didn't feel right to her. Still, she gritted her teeth and continued on, hopping over a log or two, shoving through prickly bushes and knee-high weeds.

It seemed that her darker side had a sense of self-preservation she'd never realized before. All the times she'd done the most idiotic stunts, she had wondered if maybe it had been her darker side urging her on, encouraging it. But self-preservation was weakness. It was selfishness. She was neither of those things, and yet every atom in her body wanted her to turn back, to save herself.

She wouldn't do it.

Another scream. Maybe what was bothering her was the fact that this person wasn't screaming for help. They were screaming like there was no end to their torment, there was no rescue for them. It was dreadful.

Beneath her boots, leaves crunched and twigs snapped. Every time there was a popping snap! she was reminded of bones breaking or Stefan's neck being twisted until he lie contorted on the floor of that musty old truck.

"Hello?" she called out. It'd been several seconds since the last scream, leaving her uneasy. The forest whispered with wind from every direction. "Where are you?" Maybe it was unwise to pull any attention to herself—it was, since part of her was thinking exactly that—but she called out louder. "Where are you!"

"No!" Someone wailed—a girl. "No! Go away! Get away! You have to run!" Sobs followed, a pitiful, heart wrenching sound.

AJ picked up the pace, turning forty-five degrees to the right as she took off in a sprint. The girl was close.

Hairs on the back of her neck pricked up on end. This isn't right this isn't right this isn't right. A terribly insidious feeling crept over her.

The forest was very small. She broke through to a triangular clearing within seconds. The sun poured through to the green grass, the flowers. There was a pond several paces to her left. But that wasn't what nearly stopped her heart and took her breath away. She gazed wide eyed and speechless at the gory scene before her.

This is impossible. This can't be right. It can't be happening.

But it was.

There was a great grey boulder standing upright in front of her, several feet away. Its surface was smooth and straight, like a chalky wall. A girl was bound to it. Her blood stained the grey rock, making it shades darker as it trickled down to the grass below. Her body was a mess; a serial killer's artwork. She was full of deep, scarlet red wounds and lesions. Some were so deep the sinew of muscle could be seen beneath, or the bloodstained ivory of bone. Her left shoulder drooped, sickly dislocated from the rest of her body. The clothes she wore were tattered and torn. She moaned and cried in pain through gritted teeth. Her dark hair fell around her face. It was plastered to her head with sweat and gore. Bangs stuck to her forehead, nearly masking her eyes.

AJ knew those eyes. They were her own.

"Keep walking, mate," Klaus directed the werewolf absently as his eyes searched the street for AJ. "You'll only serve to make things infinitely worse for yourself if you refuse."

The entire street, for as far as he could see, was void of any dark haired girl with eyes that shone like sunlight shimmering down on a lake in the brightest of days. Whenever he looked in those eyes, he saw the blues and greens and grays and deep browns, superimposed by those golden specks as if they were a pond of water catching the reflections of everything around them. They'd captivated him in the oddest way the first time he'd seen her. Those eyes were missing right now. He pressed his lips together, hard.

Maybe she was angry with him.

Klaus pushed the werewolf in impatience, making him walking faster.

"Man, you have to understand—I don't want anything to do with this. I told you where the pack is going to meet, but you have to let me—"

"Tell me," Klaus said tersely as he decided AJ most likely headed back to the beach house. "Do all werewolves like hanging about bars? I found my last one there. He was more entertaining, though. Wouldn't talk for hours. I think I'd appreciate that right about now."

Blake, the werewolf, swallowed loudly. A sheen of sweat appeared at his forehead, and his raven-black spikes seemed to wilt. His eyeliner had smeared and he had bitten his black-painted nails down to the nail beds. He walked stiffly in the direction Klaus shoved him in.

"W—what do you plan to do with me?" Blake asked, his voice a raspy whisper.

Klaus rolled his eyes. "Well first, I'd like to find my girl. You don't mind if we take a little detour, do you?" Blake only trembled. "I didn't think so. Then, you, I and she will head to—oh where did you say it was? Portland?"

"Y—yes." Blake pinched his eyes shut. He still couldn't believe this was happening.

"Good. Then we'll all head to Portland and see if we can make use of some blood I have stored away. You don't need to worry, Blake," Klaus patted him on the back roughly. "You'll like it. I promise."

Blake said nothing. Klaus was thankful for the silence. He kept his eyes out for AJ but couldn't help running things over in his head as a small bout of worry grew in his heart—something that had never happened before. He would have deduced the feeling to weakness once, but she'd shown him that it wasn't weak to care for someone. Not at all.

It had been extremely unwise of him to leave her outside, by herself. Any number of things could have happened. The first that came to mind would be Elijah. Elijah could have realized his mistake in losing her and came looking for her. But the mere contemplation was absurd. He had made certain that Elijah would never be able to lay a hand on her again after he had left her that night at the school. He'd even reunited him with the rest of the family, a thing Elijah hardly deserved.

"What—what is that?" Blake asked suddenly. His ears had perked up almost as if he were in wolf state. His tanned skin went paper-white. "Do you hear that, man? What the hell?"

Klaus stopped and listened. He'd been so absorbed in his thoughts he hadn't registered the strange noise. It sounded like a mix between stifling a scream and sobbing. He knew exactly where it was coming from.

Pushing the werewolf forward so that they moved rapidly, Klaus headed to the forest.

AJ's mouth had gone bone dry. She stared back at herself with wide, terrified eyes. This isn't possible.

Once or twice, she'd tried stepping forward, tried to remove this illusion from her head like it was a mirage and she just needed to be more mindful of herself. It wouldn't go away. In fact, it seemed to become more real with every passing second.

Her feet were glued to the ground. The initial shock hadn't yet worn off.

"You have to go," the girl—herself—said in a plaintive whisper. Their eyes met and AJ could see her own desperation, her own agony, her own slow and horrible death. "Please."

AJ stammered. Finally her feet moved and carried her forward, to herself. To the part of herself that was bound to stone and shredded and bleeding. Slowly, she reached out to see how terrible this trick of the mind had affected her head. When she pulled her hand back, it was a glove of hot, sticky blood. There was so much of it that she could even smell it. She thought she would wretch.

She looked up again, meeting her reflective eyes. "How—"

"Alex," the girl said. "Alexandra. Please go. Before they come back. You don't have time."

AJ blinked. "Alexandra?" A J. Alexandra Jaeger. What did that have to do with this? "What are you?" AJ demanded, but her voice came out in a waver. She kept glancing down at the muscle spilling from the girl's leg, the blood flowing like a river from a lesion across her stomach. It was too, too real. "Before who comes back?"

The girl laughed, then, but choked just as quickly when blood gurgled out of her mouth. AJ felt specks of it splatter her face and had to resist the urge to gag. The girl sniveled. "Don't you get it, yet? Don't you see? This isn't over. It'll never be over. We're broken, Alex. We're—"she fell into a fit of coughing, but AJ understood.

"Damned," AJ finished, her voice hollow. Her eyes roamed over her own body. "This is our punishment."

"So you do see," the girl's voice was raspy. "What we've done—we can never be forgiven. And what we'll have to be…. Alex, you have to leave him. Leave him now."

AJ's eyebrows pulled together. "Leave—you mean Klaus? Why?" When she blinked again, she realized she shouldn't sound so incredulous. She was having a conversation with her tortured self, after all.

"Lies," the girl whispered. Her eyes flicked around them nervously, as if she could see things that AJ couldn't see. "Too many lies. Too much death."

AJ didn't know what to say—was there anything to say? Could she defend Klaus? He had lied to her, yes. So had Elijah. But why the both of them? What was it exactly that they were keeping from her?

"You know what it is," the girl said, as if reading AJ's mind. "You can still save yourself."

AJ shook her head. "I don't know what it is—I don't understand—"

All at once, pain overwhelmed AJ. The illusion's pupils before her shrank and grew. Then, AJ could feel the tear in muscle, the skin ripping off her bone, the shredding through organs and veins. She folded to her knees, crying out until she screamed. Why was this happening? Why now? What did she do? She was damned. That's what. She was damned.

There were no surroundings, only pain and redness. She could hear nothing but her own stifled screams. She could feel nothing but the slow incisions being cut into her body. She could only taste blood and smell death and fear herself. She'd done this to herself.

Then a warm hand was placed on her arm, another on her back. Words were being murmured to her in a voice she recognized but couldn't quite discern. AJ tried responding but choked on a boil of blood.

Everything seemed to dull. The redness that'd filtered her eyesight began to fade and the pain lessened. She could hear as if listening underwater.

"AJ, love," it was Klaus speaking in a low, rapid voice. "AJ you have to wake up. You must wake up. You're—"

She sucked in a huge breath and rocked backwards, falling into Klaus's encompassing arms. He pulled her close, holding her tight. When she blinked open her eyes, her head had fallen back and she stared up at him. There was something in his eyes she had never seen before: fear. Klaus was afraid. But why?

"What happened?" she asked. Her eyes only fixated on him, his pale blue ones.

Klaus shook his head. "I thought you could tell me."

AJ blinked again and looked back towards the bolder that she'd been bound to. It wasn't there. Nothing was but the start of the forest again. Her lips parted and she wanted to raise her arm to point at it, but it felt laden down with stones. Where did the girl go? The blood? What was coming back for them? There were so many questions she still had. Had it all been an illusion? It had to have been—it'd been herself.

"What happened to you, AJ?" Klaus murmured, glancing down at her worriedly.

AJ shook her head. But when she returned her eyes to his, she found he was staring at the ground, where her hand rested.

Something hot and sticky clung to her hand. She glanced down, too. It was covered in fresh blood.

Hmm… So what do you think? A lot of this was kind of like an allegory… It shall be explained later on. Anyway, thoughts? Reviews please? (-: *(Also! I have several new stories. One is for LOST, another for Twilight. You can check out my page. And I'm also working another another Elijah/OC fic. I'll post it soon. Just wanted to let you guys know!)