A/N: Important Author's Note at the end, please read!

Do Not Go Gentle

I opened my eyes and the memories came flooding back. What was more shocking was... I didn't regret any of it. Elena and Jeremy weren't home so I had nothing to feel guilty about.

Damon's side of the bed was made up. I got out of bed, got dressed and went downstairs into the kitchen. My raven-haired vampire boyfriend was making me breakfast.

"Pancakes?" he offered, flipping one up in the air. "I found some chocolate sauce."

I laughed and pecked him on the lips. "I'd love some. Where's Elena?"

"Gone to school. Said something about reminding you to help set up the decade dance. Haven't we gone to enough of those?" Damon said.

I shrugged. "Could be fun." The good humour in Damon's mood seemed to fly away. I seriously hated when that happened. "What?"

"I found something in your room," he said.

I knitted my eyebrows together in confusion. "What was it?"

"A drawing Klaus gave you," he answered. I looked down at the ground in shame. "Of you and a horse. Why didn't you tell me?"

I met his gave. He looked hurt. "I just... everything was going so well and I didn't want to ruin it. It doesn't matter anyway. Can we just not talk about Klaus?"

He let out a sigh. "Right. Fine."

"Thank you," I said, relieved.

After a lovely Damon pancake, I went to school to prepare for the decade dance with Caroline. I was scared of Caroline when she was stressed, so I didn't like testing her.

I saw Jacob on the other side of the street. He waved to me and I waved back. I continued to walk down the sidewalk, somewhat distracted. I felt good today. Damon and I had fixed things up. It was nice being in a relationship again, knowing that someone loved you was great. But at least I knew that I didn't need Damon to complete me. I didn't want to be one of those girls who needed a boyfriend to complete them.

I bumped into someone with a very hard chest. "Oh, sorry." I looked up to see who it was. "Klaus. Should I be trembling?"

The hybrid chuckled and walked with me towards the school. "You know I'd never hurt you, love."

"Ah," I said. "Right. So what d'you call attempting to kill half the people I love?"

"Sorry about that," he replied. "But it had to be done."

I scoffed. "Oh, of course. Actually, the first time we met was at a decade's dance like this one. You possessed Ric's body and Bonnie almost died. Good times, huh?"

He stood in front of me, not moving and blocking my way. I tried to go around him, but he stepped to the side. "Why do you always have to cover this - us - with hostility?"

"There is no 'us', Klaus," I said. "There's you, the hybrid who kills almost everyone he makes eye contact with and me, the witch who's about to become dead meat if I'm late at the school to help prepare for another decade dance where someone's probably gonna die. So, if you'll excuse me." I tried moving past him again, but he blocked my way. Again. I huffed. "Seriously?"

"Look me in the eye and tell me that there's nothing between us," Klaus demanded.

I opened my mouth to speak. What the... There was nothing between us. I said that to everyone so why couldn't I say it to him? What the hell was wrong with me?

His eyes were blue, like Damon's, like mine. Damon's were icy while Klaus' were a gunmetal blue, darker than Damon's but colder. Sometimes emotion would spark in them, but then it'd disappear as quickly as it came.

I edged closer to him, completely in a daze and glanced to his lips. This was crazy and impulsive. Back to senses, back to senses, back to your freaking senses! I pulled myself away from him and rushed off, bumping my shoulder off his as I went.

Oh my God.

I almost kissed Klaus.

"So, Alaric is trying to pull himself together, why is that a bad thing?" Caroline asked.

"I just wish there was something I could do," I said, picking up a chandelier. "Where do you want me to hang this thing?"

"You know what, if Rebekah wanted to hang this monstrosity she should have shown up to do it herself." She handed the chandelier to an innocent student. "Just no!"

We turned to see Matt and Jeremy hanging stars on the ceiling. "What are you doing? You can't just hang them! They're supposed to trickle down."

"Trickle, duh!" Matt joked to Jeremy. It was nice to see Jeremy friends with someone who didn't want to kill him.

"Look at them all bromancy," Caroline commented.

"Elena asked Matt to help Jer readjust," I said. "You know how he can't say no to her. Matt got him his old job back at the Grill."

"That was nice of him."

"Jeremy's got a lot on his mind. The whole thing with Alaric has got him really stressed out," I said sadly.

Caroline smirked as she teased, "You sure it has nothing to do with witnessing you and Damon getting hot and heavy in a skeevy motel?"

"I didn't tell you that so you could torture me with it," I said. "Hey, I need to tell you something."

"Oh?" I dragged her over to an empty stop. She almost dropped her clipboard. "This better be important."

"I almost kissed Klaus," I admitted guiltily.

She dropped her clipboard. "Oh my God. You... you didn't." I nodded to her, pursing my lips tightly together and a guilty expression on my face. "You did. Elena owes me ten bucks."

"You're not going to tell her, Caroline," I said. Then I realised exactly what she said. "Wait, what? You two were betting on me and Klaus?"

She nodded, now she was the guilty one. "What are friends for?" she asked in a squeaky voice. "So who are you bringing to the dance? Klaus or Damon?"

"What do you mean? I thought you, Elena, Bonnie and I were going as girl dates?"

"Hm, Elena's going with Stefan and Bonnie has a date." She winked at me.

"Who?"

"Jamie called and wanted to see her so she asked him," she told me.

"Ooh la la," I sing-songed.

"So, here's a thought, why don't you ask Damon?" Caroline suggested.

I gaped at her. "I can't ask him on a date! I almost kissed his arch-nemesis... our arch-nemisis!"

"All the more reason! Look, it might distract you from your Klaus feels," she advised. "Come on, you have to."

I put my hands on my hips, grinning madly. "Caroline Forbes, are you suggesting that you approve of me and Damon?"

She laughed. "Maybe I am. Damon loves you and you love him. And after everything you've been through, you deserve that. He's your epic love."

I squealed girlishly and wrapped my arms around her. "I'm glad I got your approval. You've got no idea how much that means to me."

She patted my back, giggling. "Oh, I think I do."

I pulled away from the hug. "I'm gonna call him."

"You do that," she said. As I left the hall, she called after me, "I love you!"

I spun around. "Love you too!"

That was what it was like before the supernatural came into time. People used to look at Caroline and I as if we were crazy. And there was a large chance that we were...

I dialed Damon's number on my cell. I knew his number off by heart by now. It was quicker to dial it than to go to my saved contacts.

"Hello?"

"Hey, Damon. I was just wondering if you wanted to go to the decade's dance tonight?"

Words couldn't describe how awkward this felt. He was a one hundred and sixty somethingth year old vampire and I was asking him to a high school dance.

"I'd love to."

That came as a shock. "Ugh... great. See you there."

"Bye."

I hung up and put my phone back into my pocket.

My dress was a dark purple. My hair was pinned up in a loose, curly, messy bun to the side. I wore a headband with a floral pattern on it. I touched my necklace. It was the necklace my mom gave to me for my sixteenth birthday.

Someone knocked on the door. That'll be Damon, I thought. "Coming!" I yelled, rushing down the stairs. I opened the door to Damon. "Hey."

He offered me a white rose corsage. "My lady."

I took it and smiled at him. "Thank you."

I pinned it to my dress. "You look stunning," he said.

"You don't look too bad yourself," I replied. "Shall we go?"

He linked his arm in mine. "Yes, we shall."

Bonnie looked happy as she danced with her date, Jamie. The two of them had one thing in common, they were both abandoned by Abby. Who could walk out on their own kid/kids? I was a little disgusted with the witch-turned-vampire. Even if it was for Bonnie's safety, she should have said goodbye.

Stefan and Elena were dancing and smiling. They had gotten back together, apparently. The blonde vampire pecked Elena on the lips before twirling her around. I was happy for her. Stefan was getting his blood intake under control. Everyday, the two of us would hide in the Salvatore basement. I'd give him a blood bag, he'd beg for more and I'd hand him one spiked with vervain. That put him off it.

Caroline was enjoying her evening with Tyler, who had just came home after weeks breaking his sire bond to Klaus to be with the girl he loved.

Damon spun me around and dipped me. The song turned into a slow one and we begun to slow dance. Klaus showed up.

"Mind if I step in, mate?" Klaus asked Damon.

"Yeah, actually, I do," Damon spat. The dancing came to a halt.

"Louise?" He turned to me. "Come on, one dance, I promise I won't bite."

Just because Damon treated me like I didn't have a choice, I convinced myself. Klaus offered me his hand. "Fine."

He brought me away from Damon, who left the gym. "You would've loved the 1920s, Louise. The girls were reckless, sexy, fun. They literally used to dance until they dropped."

"I take it their dance partners never dropped?" I questioned.

"You should be nicer to me, I'm leaving tomorrow." For some reason, that saddened me. "I'd invite you to come with me but we both know you're not ready to accept my offer. Perhaps one day, in a year, or even in a century you'll turn up at my door and let me show you what the world has to offer."

"Sure I will," I countered.

"You mark my words. Even with a vampire, a small town life won't be enough for you."

And with that, he left. I stared after him. Why was I upset that he was leaving? I wanted him to go.

Didn't I?

And I was being twirled around by Damon. He swept me off my feet - literally - and spun me around. I giggled. "Damon, I'm in a dress!"

That didn't stop him. I clutched onto his neck for dear life. He eventually put me back down on the floor. "I just wanted to give you some fun memories of this night before I shatter them all."

I sighed. "What happened?"

"Ric isn't taking the herbs," Damon explained. "I think evil-Laric is out to play."

I gaped and stepped away from him. "We have to tell Elena and Stefan."

We went over to the two happy lovebirds. "Hey, us four need to talk," I said.

"If Alaric is sick then we need to find a cure. Something," Elena insisted.

"We tried medicine, we tried magic," Damon said.

"Why don't we get him off vervain, compel him?" Stefan jumped in.

Damon scoffed. "What? To pretend to be Alaric? The guy that we know is gone. We're talking about someone who not only hates vampires, but vampire sympathisers. Which makes two of his most obvious targets - I don't know - you two!" He gestured to Elena and I.

"What you think he'll go after Elena and Louise?" Stefan asked.

"What exactly are you suggesting we do?" I inquired.

Damon looked sad, but determined, when he said, "I'm suggesting that we put him out of his misery."

"What?" Elena and I exclaimed.

Jeremy joined us. I guess he heard our conversation... "No, no way in hell!"

"Oh come on, It's what he would want. It's a mercy killing," the vampire insisted.

Jeremy shook his head. "You're out of your mind!"

"Hey, Jer..."

He whipped around and stormed off. Elena gave me a small smile and followed him.

A few minutes later, Jeremy rushed back inside, breathlessly. "E-Elena. She's gone to meet Esther."

"What?" I said, shocked.

"Come on, we have to get her!" Jeremy replied.

He rushed out of the school. Salt was circling the school. "It's salt. The binding agent for her spell."

Jeremy was able to step over it. "We're trapped here," Damon stated.

Damon went inside to get Bonnie as Stefan paced. "We'll get out of here and we'll get her. Calm down," I said to my very anxious best friend.

Klaus was walking out of the school angrily. "Rebekah, call me back immediately! I only came to this ridiculous dance because you begged me to and now you're nowhere to be found." He stopped suddenly when he saw the salt. "What is this?"

"Your mom's back," I told him. My phone rang. I took it out of my purse and checked it, gaping as I saw who it was. "It's Elena." I answered the call. "Hey, Elena, where are you? Are you with..."

"Hello Louise."

I turned around. Stefan and Klaus looked both angry and worried. "Esther," I said venomously. "Where the hell is my sister?"

"I assure you, she is fine. And she will be as long as you do everything I say."

"What do you want?"

"You will come to the address that I give you, alone. You will not tell your friends where you are. Or else I kill them all."

I scoffed. "And your children are the abominations."

"Do you understand?"

Stefan shook his head frantically. "I understand."

I hung up and slipped my phone back into my purse. "What part of 'shaking my head' do you not understand?" Stefan asked angrily.

"She threatened your lives and Elena's," I pointed out. "You think I was just gonna stand idly by?"

I walked up to the barrier. Klaus had gripped my wrist firmly. "Louise. This is suicide."

I narrowed my eyes at him, channeling my power. Klaus grunted and held his head in his hands.

Shooting Stefan an apologetic look, I stormed out of the school and past the salt barrier. I had to make sure my sister was safe. Even if it was the last thing I ever did.

Esther had called me back with the address. The Salvatore mausoleum, that's where she was. I walked cautiously into the crypt. Esther was making a potion and preparing for a spell. She looked up and smiled eerily when she saw me. "Ah, Louise. You came. Wise choice. The moon is not at it's apex, so I'm afraid your gifts won't be of any use to you against me. And, I have a confession."

"What?"

"I lied." I shot her a confused look. "It was within my reach to help the luna bruja, and I did. With the power of my ancestors, I have granted you a full, human life. An apology on my part."

I gaped at her. "You lied to me about this? Why?"

"Because I planned to use you to destroy my children. You would have died anyway and I thought that would have lessened the grief of dying."

Glaring at her, I spat, "Oh, how kind of you." I eyed the bowl suspiciously. "What do you want from me?"

"Your blood," she answered. "And the doppelganger's."

Ric was standing next to her, but it wasn't 'Ric' as I knew him. It was Evil Alaric, the dark side of my guardian. "She wants to turn Ric into another one of them! Into an Original!"

My gaze shot over to Esther, who hadn't budged. "No... no! You can't! You can't do this to him!"

"I am making him better," Esther assured me. I scoffed at her. "I will use him as a weapon to end my children. He will be in possession of an indestructible white oak stake." She gestured to a silver stake. "They are an abomination to nature and it is my duty to end them."

"You're the abomination!" I insisted. "You use the lives of innocent people to get what you want. You're just like the rest of your family: Elijah, Kol, Rebekah, Klaus. But like Elijah, you call yourself moral and that you're just doing the right thing, but you're not. Think of all the good vampires out there-"

"There is no 'good' vampire," Esther said, cutting me off. "Most, if not all, vampires have killed. That makes them evil."

"And you haven't? Didn't you kill that Tatia girl?" I pressed.

"They feed off innocent blood and do not feel remorse for their actions. They must be killed," she said, avoiding the subject of Tatia. "All of them."

I stared at her, my mouth wide open. "Ric, this isn't what you want. It's not who you are," Elena said.

"You don't know who I am, Elena," Ric replied. "You only know the weakest parts of me, the man who lost his way befriending vampires instead of killing them."

"You don't mean that," I said, recovering from my previous shock. "You care about Damon, I... I know you do."

"They're all monsters," Ric said monotonously. "The blood of their victims is on my hands. Jenna's blood is on my hands."

"When you are ready," Esther told Alaric.

"No Ric, please don't. Don't do this. I won't help you, I'm not gonna give you my blood, you're gonna have to kill me!"

I nodded in agreement. "That won't be necessary," Esther said, holding her hand out towards my sister.

Elena's hand started to bleed from her palm. Esther grabbed Elena's wrist roughly and pulled her over to a bowl in the middle of the crypt. The blood poured into said bowl. She let go of Elena and my sister backed away from her. The psycho witch turned to me. "I hope you're not silly enough to fight me."

She handed me a knife. I eyed it skeptically, but did I really have a choice? Willingly or not, she was going to get my blood. I took the knife from her and sliced my hand open. I placed the knife on the table beside the bowl and balled my hand into a fist. Blood dripped into the bowl.

Esther picked up the bowl. "Drink. And let it be done."

"No Ric please, don't!" Elena pleaded. Ric took the bowl from Esther. "No!"

Alaric gulped down the blood. "Is it finished?" he asked Esther.

"Not just yet."

She staked Alaric with the indestructible stake. "No!" I roared, but it was too late.

Ric was dead and in transition.

I pulled the stake out of Ric, placing it beside his limp body."He'll wake soon. When he does he may for a time be his old self. If so you can say your goodbyes before his transition is complete."

"You said you wanted to undo the evil that you created, but this... this is just as evil!" Elena exclaimed, tears in her eyes.

Esther shook her head. "Alaric will never be what my children became. I have granted him enough power to complete his task. Then, when the time is right, he will die."

"How, if he's immortal?" I pressed.

"All you need to know is that when this is over we will have rid the earth of vampires once and for all," Esther assured us.

"Yeah, but you'll be killing the good along with the bad, you're no better than Klaus!" Elena bellowed.

"Am I not? I desire a world where you and your loved ones will not suffer at the hands of vampires, like your Aunt Jenna did," the Original witch said.

Elena spat angrily, "Don't you dare use Jenna as an excuse for what you've done."

"You may draw comfort knowing that your aunt is not in the place that I was anymore. She no longer knows the torment of The Other Side. Though made a vampire, she remained pure and finished whatever business she had on this earth. She knows peace. Which is all any of us can hope for."

I heard a noise coming from outside. Esther did too and walked outside of the crypt. "Don't move!" Matt's voice roared.

"Where are my sisters?" Jeremy's voice asked angrily.

We rushed outside of the crypt. "Jeremy!" Elena said.

"Let 'em go," he demanded.

"How foolish of you, to risk your lives in defense of those who will kill you. But if that is your choice..." Esther casted a nonverbal spell. Jeremy and Matt turned towards each other, pointing their weapons towards the other.

"Matt! Matt drop your gun!" Jeremy begged.

Matt looked just as confused as the rest of us were. "I can't! I'm not controlling it!"

"Esther, stop it, please!" I begged.

All of a sudden, Matt and Jeremy got their control back. I turned towards a dead Esther and a confused Ric. "Oh my god. Where's my ring?" None of us knew what to say to him. "Tell me what happened."

"You-you can't die!" Elena sobbed. "You can't leave us, Ric!"

I swallowed, tears rushing to my eyes. We were going to lose another family member. Hadn't we lost enough? Mom, Dad, Jenna, John... and now Ric. It felt like the universe just loved picking off parts of my family. And Jeremy... could he handle this?

"I have to, Elena."

My brother joined us in the crypt. "Damon's here," Jeremy told Ric. "And Klaus took Esther's body."

"Does he know about the stake?" Ric pressed.

He shook his head. "No, only that she tried to turn you into a weapon and failed. What's going on?"

"Listen Jeremy, I'm not gonna complete the transition. My dark side was dangerous enough as a human. I can't be a vampire."

"So, what we're just gonna lock you in here and let you die?" Jeremy exclaimed. "No... no we can't!"

"Listen, Jeremy, it's the right thing to do, okay?" Ric insisted. "After everything that's happened, after all that I have done. Maybe I had it coming."

Jeremy turned around and walked towards the door. "Hey, wait, Jeremy. Ric, this isn't your fault, we-"

"Please, you guys, let's not make this any harder than it already is. You two should go. Damon's here. He'll make sure it'll all go down the right way," Ric assured us. Jeremy contined to walked away. "Hey, hey..."

"Don't," Jeremy urged. "Don't give me some crap speech about how I need to be the man of the house."

"Okay. I won't." Ric hugged Jeremy.

He left the crypt. "This is all my fault," Elena insisted, crying. "You moved out, you gave me your ring back, you didn't want any part of this and I.. I forced you to stay and take care of us.

"Don't do that, okay. Taking care of you guys has been... has been the closest I've ever come to the life I always wanted," Ric said.

Elena wrapped her arms around Alaric and sobbed into his shoulder. "You should go."

She nodded and left the crypt, wiping her eyes. "We can find a way," I said once she had gone. "We can find a witch, Bonnie, she, I-"

Ric shook his head. "No. This is it, Louise. You have to be the strong one... for them."

But I wasn't strong. I was barely keeping myself from breaking apart. I was losing yet another father figure, another guardian. Another loved one. It took all I had in me to not cry. "I can't," I sobbed. He put a hand on my shoulder. I pounced on him, engulfing him in a bone-crushing hug. I held onto him for dear life. "I don't want you to go."

All the wall I had built since my parents' death came crumbling down. When Jenna and John died, I didn't cry. I just felt... empty, sad. Like a shell. I couldn't do that anymore. I wanted to break... but Jeremy and Elena needed me and I couldn't bare to be called 'weak.'

"I have to," Ric said. "I can't hurt anyone else. If I... psycho me... ends up killing Klaus, then Stefan, Caroline and Damon die." He smiled sadly. "You should go. This is... becoming too painful."

I nodded and opened the crypt door. Outside, Damon, Caroline, Tyler, Matt, Bonnie, Jeremy and Meredith were waiting for him. I walked over to Damon, who put a comforting hand on my shoulder.

Ric teared up when he saw us before retreating into the tomb.

Back at our house, I reached under the bed and pulled out the crossbow Ric gave me. I choked on tears. He was dead. Ric was actually dead.

I heard crying coming from downstairs. I wiped my eyes and went downstairs. Jeremy was on the couch, weeping over the death of yet another loved one. I went over to the alcohol cabinet and took out some tequila. He looked at me questioningly.

"We need it," I said, pouring the two of us shots.

I handed him one and downed my own. Jeremy drained his glass. "He's gone," my brother whimpered.

I sat down next to him and put my head on his shoulder, pulling the blankets over us and switching on the TV. We sat in silence for the rest of the night.

Important A/N!

I've decided on when I'm going to make Louise a vampire and yes, I have taken in your suggestions and used them in my decision, though it won't be in the exact way Elena became a vampire, but in that time period (in the next few chapters). Elena will become a vampire too, but her transition won't be as rough as it was on the show.

As for the flashbacks, if I post Season Four, there'll be a lot of them included, one of them being the first time she met Damon (not the same as the Delena first meeting since she can't be compelled).

I do read your suggestions and reviews, a lot of them impact the plot of this story, but as well as that I have to consider what's best for this story and Louise's character development. I hope none of you are too angered if I don't use your suggestions, but I definately take them into account.

This is, essentially, a Damon/OC/Klaus fic. Klaus will go to New Orleans as planned (as far as I'm concerned) and Louise isn't going to make her choice until the last few episodes of Season Four, which I hope to post if you, the readers, want to read it.

So, if you guys would like to read a sequel, press that review button! This story will definitely be finished, since I have all of the chapters written and ready to go.

Sorry for the extremely long Author's Note, I just needed to get out what I needed to say. The sequel will probably be posted within two weeks, probably less, when all of the chapters of this story are out.

Review or PM! A.S.A.P!