Amount of words: 4 468

Author's Note: I'm so sorry for the long wait (and the short chapter)! The next chapter will be up in a little while :)

IMPORTANT: Remember the memory in Chapter Two? The one with Larissa crying? This has to do with that. Remember, Larissa was crying about "Juan and Jennie" calling her a witch. Here's an extract of it:

But the fact was, I was feeling miserable and my side was aching from where Juan and Jennie punched me. They called me a "witch" and it hurt me really badly.

Chapter Four – Klaus

The first time I met an Original, I had barely been ten years old. It was my birthday, and I had just gotten my heart broken by some jerk. Since my mood was so dark and bleak, Dad decided that it was for the best that my party was cancelled. "I have someone else who is eager to meet you," Dad had told me.

That someone turned out to be Elijah. I could still remember how he interrupted my crying.

"What's the matter, sweetheart?" a cool, yet gentle voice asked.

I sniffled and wiped at my eyes. As soon as my vision was cleared of most of the tears, I studied the man who had spoken. He looked vaguely familiar, but I was almost 100% sure I'd never seen him before. He had straight brown hair and kind brown eyes that contrasted with his pearly white skin. He was attractive, which made me feel shy. The mystery guy was dressed a neat black suit, which I found fit him quite nicely. It was like he was born to wear suits.

"It's nothing," I whispered, still trying to get rid of my tears. I hated crying, especially in front of people I didn't know.

He frowned. "I can see that it is not nothing, dear Larissa. Now please tell me what the matter is," he said. His mesmerising blue eyes bored into mine.

As if I was being compelled, I told him: "My heart was broken by the guy I trusted the most."

"What is his name? And what did he do to you?" he asked.

I tried to not say anything, but the words just came out. "His name is Juan. I trusted him so of course he knew everything about me. He told my mom's Church that I was a witch. They hate me now and think I'm an abomination," I cried.

A fire entered his warm brown eyes. "What are they planning on doing?" he asked dangerously low.

I shook my head and hid my face between my hands. "They can't do much, but they called me out last Sunday, calling me the spawn of Satan in front of the whole community."

"What did your friends have to say about this?" he growled.

I flinched. "Some hate me, and some support me. My best friend is still with me, luckily," I replied shakily.

"The guy that did this to you isn't worth it. If he cannot accept who you are, then he wasn't meant for you to begin with. Don't you agree?"

I nodded at the brunette, feeling a little better already.

He smiled at me and patted my leg. "Good. I shall take care of your little problem. I will see you soon, Larissa." And then he was gone.

My dad had come into my room a while after the mysterious man and told me who it was. I was shocked, to say the least. Why did he even visit me? My dad, unfortunately, didn't say anything to me except, "Just wait, Larissa. Be patient."

The day after the Original came to visit me, I realized no one remembered the fact that I was a witch. I didn't know whether to be relieved or frightened. I went with relief.

After that Elijah's visited me three times, once when my family and I were on vacation in Seychelles, the other time at school under the guise of an outside councillor, and the last time was the night after my thirteenth birthday. He even bought me a present – a beautiful bracelet that you could see was really old and pure gold. That was a while back – about two years. I always suspected that Elijah would be the one to call for my help. I was wrong.

While Elijah was kind towards my family and me, Klaus was the one who scared me. He visited me for the first time on my actual birthday, and he terrified me. He was strangely nice to me, though. As if he wanted me to like him. After that he, too, visited me a few times. "To get to know you better," he'd explained.

And now, two years later, here he was stood before me.

"Larissa," Klaus said, his voice surprisingly warm, "You have grown so much."

Actually hearing him say my name made my nerves calm down somewhat. Suddenly I couldn't understand why I'd been nervous in the first place. This was Klaus – the Original vampire I'd gotten to somewhat know. To me he had been kind, but firm; he understood my troubles, and he was a good listener. Other times he truly scared me, and that was natural. But then there were the opinions of the rest of the supernatural population – they called him a heartless monster. I didn't know who to believe anymore, so I decided to give it some time before I made up my mind.

"Of course I did, Klaus. I'm fifteen now," I said lamely.

He smirked and nodded. "I can see that," he said, his eyes looking me up and down.

I frowned at him, not liking the way he was looking at me. He seemed to get the hint. "I apologize," he said. "It's just that I haven't seen you in ages, and my memory hasn't done you justice. You've changed a lot."

I shrugged. "Not really," I replied.

"You did change a lot," he said a little more firmly. "You've grown from a teenager into a lady."

I raised an eyebrow. I felt awkward. "Why am I here, Klaus?" I asked to distract him.

"That is for me to know and you to find out," he said cryptically. "I can not divulge too much information to you right now, we have an audience." He nodded behind me.

I turned around and saw Matt staring at me with wide eyes. His eyes snapped between Klaus and me, before he turned and stormed back into the Grill. An alarm immediately went off in my head. "What's wrong with him?" I demanded. "What did you do to them, Klaus? How do they know who you are?"

Klaus just looked at me with those amazing blue eyes of his. "Tell them that I am an old family friend. You don't know that I am an Original, or that I am a Hybrid. You tell them nothing except that you knew me through your now-deceased mother. Do you understand?"

I was lost and confused, but couldn't ask Klaus anything before he blurred away. I walked back into the Grill with uncertainty, but I knew I had to keep up pretence. So I put on a sad, tired mask and walked over to Jeremy. I ignored the stares from Damon, vampire Blondie, the witch, Elena, and Matt.

Jeremy shot me a distrustful look as I took a seat opposite him. Matt had obviously already told him that I was talking with Klaus. "What?" I demanded, pretending to be offended. "What did I do now?"

"How do you know Klaus?" he asked, his voice steely.

I let my mouth fall open in shock. "How do you know Klaus?" I asked him.

"I asked you first," he shot back. Jeremy's eyes bored into mine.

Gah, childish much? Whatever. "He was a friend of my mother back when they worked together at the Journalism Academy of South Africa, but he moved away. He just saw me now and asked me how my mother is. He didn't know she'd passed away," I said, quickly improvising. Here I was again with my half-truths. I didn't have to fake the sadness, though. I missed my mom so much…

Jeremy's eyes instantly softened. "I'm sorry, I didn't know about your mom…" his voice trailed off.

I just shrugged. Damon approached us and slid in next to me. "I don't trust you," he said bluntly.

I gave him a weird look. "And that's supposed to bother me, why?"

"Lay off her, Damon," Jeremy jumped in to defend me.

"You can't seriously believe her sob story?! I bet you her mother isn't even dead, and that she and Klaus are working together!" Damon growled, his eyes boring into mine.

Slowly, without my will, my eyes started to fill up with tears. The lack of control I had over my emotions these days was really starting to bother me. I promised myself to get it under control later. I stood up from the table and glared at Damon through blurry eyes. "My mother's dead, you insensitive asshole!" I whispered brokenly and quickly left the table. I had to get out of the Grill, away from the prying eyes and stares. How dare Damon imply that I was lying about the death of my own mother? I mean, who does that?!

On my way out I bumped hard into Matt, making him drop the dishes he carried. "Sorry," I muttered and continued on my mission of leaving the Grill. Outside I breathed in deeply, letting all of my stress, sadness and frustration out.

My phone buzzed with a text that read: Go home. I'll be there. Klaus.

I sighed and texted Kerri, asking her to come pick me up. She quickly replied: You can walk. It's not that far.

A few seconds later, she added: Sorry. Stuck at work.

I pursed my lips and quickly let Klaus know that I was going to take awhile. No sooner had I pressed SEND, a dark black Mercedes came to a stop next to me. The tinted window rolled down and I was met with Klaus's profile. He nodded at me to get in, which I did without hesitation. As soon as my door closed, Klaus stepped hard on the gas and we sped away from the Grill. Klaus shot me a look and frowned when he noticed my tears. "What happened?" he asked with genuine concern.

I just shook my head and looked out of the window as we sped away. While we drove Klaus started telling me what was going on. He confirmed my theories on the blonde vampire Caroline, the witch Bonnie, and the doppelganger, Elena. What shocked me though was the fact that Damon was a vampire. For some reason my magic hadn't picked it up.

"When's the last time you've practiced magic?" Klaus asked.

"Excluding yesterday for a simple Sober Up spell, a few months," I admitted.

"That's probably why you couldn't pick it up. When you start to lose touch with your magic, your senses begins to dull," he explained. After a moment, he asked, "Why have you gone so long without practicing?"

"My mother passed, remember," I reminded him.

"She passed away two years ago," Klaus said, puzzled. "I visited you the day after, had I not?"

I nodded. "Yes, you did. But I'd started to get nightmares about her. She kept appearing in my dreams, and I wasn't sure if it was the spirits trying to tell me something, or if it was just my mind playing games. I guess I just got so scared and unsettled by it that I thought if I stopped practicing, it'd go away. It did."

"Did you figure out what it meant? The dreams, I mean," he asked.

I shook my head. "Unfortunately not," I replied.

"It's a shame," Klaus said thoughtfully.

Just then I realized we've actually been in the car for a LONG time, and we weren't in Mystic Falls anymore. "Klaus, where are we going?" I asked him slowly.

He just shot me a look. "It doesn't matter. You will be back in time for school, do not worry."

That wasn't really reassuring, but I was here to work for Klaus. So instead of complaining, I shut my mouth and took out my old Blackberry. I texted Gabriel: Are you still mad at me? I miss u. I can't believe you didn't say goodbye.

After a few minutes with no reply, I sighed and put it away. I missed my friends from South Africa, especially Tayla and Gabriel. Everyone still refused to talk to me, though.

A few hours passed in silence and we finally stopped at some woods in the mountains. Like usual, I hadn't been observing where we were going. I climbed out and followed Klaus into the woods. He got impatient with my slow, human speed and grabbed me. With a blur we reached his destination.

Another vampire stood waiting, and when he saw me he lifted an eyebrow. He looked similar to Damon, so I guessed this was the famous Stefan Salvatore. "Why is she here?" he asked Klaus.

"You don't need to know," Klaus said bluntly. "Larissa, this is Stefan Salvatore. Stefan, meet Larissa Nieuwoudt."

I nodded hesitantly at the brunette. There was something off about him, but I couldn't place my finger on what it was.

"What happened while I was gone?" Klaus asked Stefan as we walked deeper into the woods.

I stepped carefully, mindful of the loose branches all over the place. I wasn't exactly known to be a graceful teenager.

"I'm still waiting for them to wake up," Stefan said quietly. He looked reluctant to talk in front of me, which I could somewhat understand.

Klaus turned his head and gave me a long, considering glance before turning back to Stefan. "Why have they not awoken yet?"

Getting the point of Klaus's look, I tuned out and listened to the sounds of nature around me. Up ahead there were birds chirping; I could spy a little nest just ahead of where I was standing. I smiled and looked to my left. There was a beautiful plant (one I couldn't identify), but it was nearly dead. Feeling sad for it (and a need to do some minor magic), I kneeled down and placed my hands onto its stems gently.

"Word gesond, kry lewe,"I chanted in Afrikaans. [Get healed, get life]. I repeated it a few times and watched with amazement as the plant came back to life right before my eyes. I stood up and dusted my hands on my tights. I observed the plant with a satisfied smirk and turned around to see if either vampire noticed. My eyes widened when I noticed Klaus and Stefan had disappeared, and I felt like hitting myself. Stupid, I chided myself, and hurried into the direction I suspected they'd gone.

A few minutes had gone by when I heard a commotion up ahead. I slowed down my walk and hid behind one of the trees. I peeked around the edge and saw Stefan talking to Elena, Damon and… Mr Saltzman?! My eyes widened and something of what Klaus had told me repeated in my mind.

"In the end, I killed the vampire, the werewolf and the Doppelganger," Klaus ended. "Which made my turning into a Hybrid successful."

"And the Doppelganger was Elena Gilbert?" I'd asked.

At that moment in time it hadn't registered in my mind. So, let me get this straight. Klaus thought the Doppelganger to be dead, but there the little bug was, talking to Stefan? Klaus's right-hand? This wasn't making any sense.

After a few more seconds, Stefan blurred away from them and the trio left. I turned around and headed in the direction Stefan had gone. The woods were eerily quiet and I shifted uncomfortably as I walked. A twig snapped behind me. I didn't have time to react before I was grabbed and pinned to the ground. I opened my mouth to scream, but was cut off by a large hand being out over my mouth.

It was Stefan. "Calm down," he hissed at me, eyes blazing.

I stopped struggling and breathing all together, lying as still as possible. My chest heaved as I continued to look into Stefan's green eyes, waiting for him to let me go.

A few seconds went by and he finally let me go. He extended a hand and helped me up.

"What the hell, dude," I demanded, brushing the dirt off of my ass. "Why did you tackle me?!"

Stefan just shot me a glare. "They almost saw you."

"So what? That brunette girl is supposed to be dead!" I yelled at him, waving my fists at him.

Stefan winced and quickly glanced around, looking as if he expected Klaus to appear and kill him at any moment. "You don't understand," he said tightly. "Just leave it, alright? You don't know anything."

I shook my head angrily and said, "I'm not going to lie to Klaus."

"Do you want me to compel you?" the vampire asked threatingly, taking a step towards me.

My eyes widened and I quickly shook my head. "Fine, I won't tell him. But I deserve an explanation, and if it isn't a good one I will be telling him," I threatened.

Stefan nodded stiffly, just as Klaus arrived. The Original vampire's expression was murderous and his clothes bloody. He said something to Stefan lowly so I wouldn't be able to hear, and then disappeared off into the trees.

I shivered; it was starting to get dark. A cold wind started to move howling through the woods, lifting my hair all over the place. I grimaced and quickly collected as much of my curls as I could in one hand.

"Where's Klaus?" I asked over the wind.

Stefan didn't reply. He approached me slowly, grabbed my arm, and blurred us away from the little clearing. Within seconds we had reached a little cabin. From outside it looked small and lonely; the grass was growing wildly, some of the windows were cracked or broken, and a heavy stench of decay hung in the air. I wrinkled my nose and lightly punched Stefan. "What are we doing here?" I whispered, goose bumps rising on my skin. "This place is freaking me out."

Stefan didn't answer me. Instead he walked to the front door and knocked demandingly. "Open the door!" he called.

I waited with bated breath as the door was pulled open harshly by a young man. He was wearing skinny jeans, a v-neck, and an old, frayed leather jacket. In his fingers was an almost finished cigarette. He looked to be in his early twenties. "What?" he demanded. His reddish brown eyes flicked from Stefan to me, and then back to Stefan.

Stefan's eyes widened and he stared intensely into the man's eyes. "My friend here needs a ride home. You will take her."

The man repeated Stefan's words dazedly.

"What are you doing?" I asked sharply. "You're not sending me back to Mystic Falls with this random stranger!"

Stefan turned around and shot me a smirk. "Enjoy your ride, Larissa," he said. I barely blinked and the vampire was gone.

I stared at the spot where he'd stood, my mind blank. How the hell could he leave a fifteen year old girl alone with some creep?

"Come on, doll, we need to go," the man's rough voice said.

I shook my head. "No way, dude. I'm not going anywhere with you." I moved to grab my cellphone when I remembered it was in my school bag…which was in Klaus' Mercedes. CRAP!

I growled and stalked to the guy. I followed him as he walked around the cabin and we reached his car. I was reluctantly impressed by the sweet ride; it was a classic red car, whose make I couldn't make out. As we walked closer, I saw the sign said MG, not that I knew what it meant.

I climbed into the car and, without asking, turned the heat full blast. "Please hurry," I said quietly. "I just want to go home."

He nodded and reversed out of his garage. Within moments we were on our way.

"I'm Cole," he introduced.

"Larissa. I'm not in the mood for talking. I'll be sleeping. Just wake me up when we're in Mystic Falls, alright?"

He nodded.

I sighed and closed my eyes. Hopefully we'll be in Mystic Falls soon.

~IYCSMN~IYCSMN~IYCSMN~

I was shaken awake a few hours later.

"We're in Mystic Falls, doll. Where do you live?" Cole asked.

I rubbed sleep from my eyes and mumbled the address. He nodded and followed my directions. Within a few minutes we reached Kerri's address.

"Thanks," I said as I climbed out of the car. I stretched my stiff limbs and offered Cole a half-smile. "What's the time?"

"Half past four am," he replied with a frown. "I need to go, nice meeting you." Without another word he drove away.

I sighed and slowly walked to the front door. I didn't have a key yet and I knew Kerri would be pissed at me for waking her up, but I didn't have a choice. I pressed the doorbell and waited nervously for the blonde to let me into the house. I tapped my foot and rang the bell again.

A very tired and ruffled-looking Kerri opened the door. "What the fuck, Larissa? Where were you?!" she yelled as soon as she saw me.

"Klaus had me, I'm sorry," I said quietly, my eyes lowered to the ground.

Cursing, Kerri stepped inside to let me in. I mumbled an apology and raced up the stairs to my room. I would have to get up soon to get ready for school, but I decided to get a few minutes' sleep just to help. My nap in the car hadn't helped at all; I'd continually woken up from Cole's reckless driving, and from the nightmares that plagued me. In total I'd probably gotten three hours' sleep from a six hour drive (Cole wasn't the fastest driver, and stopped everywhere). The little sleep I'd gotten only made me more tired than before.

It felt like I'd just closed my eyes when I was being woken up by Kerri. She refused to say a word to me; she only dragged me to the bathroom for a shower. The water was scalding hot, but I had no energy to adjust the temperature. I robotically washed myself, and after a while I slowly climbed out.

I walked to my bedroom and took a seat on my bed. I once again checked Mystic Falls' temperature, and saw that today would be cold, too. I sighed and quickly dried myself off. I got dressed in my undergarments and then tried to decide what to wear. In the end I shrugged and grabbed a red tank top, skinny jeans, and a gray Black Veil Brides hoodie. I also grabbed a pair of converse. After getting dressed I walked back to the bathroom. I applied some product to my frizzying hair and on a whim decided to blow dry it. I never did this, seeing as it made my hair worse. But I decided the heck. After about twenty minutes I was done. If I had more energy I'd have been crying with frustration at the halo of blonde hair surrounding my head. With a tired sigh I added more product and gathered my hair into a messy braid with some loose strands.

I looked at myself in the mirror. My skin was paler than normal. Underneath my blue eyes I had dark circles from the little sleep I've gotten. I sighed and tried adding some makeup to give me some colour. It helped, but barely.

"LET'S GO, LARISSA!" Kerri's voice yelled from downstairs.

I grabbed my iPod from my room and jogged downstairs to meet Kerri at her car. "Where's your bag?" she asked me.

"It's in Klaus's car," I mumbled as I climbed into the car.

"Why is it there?" she asked as we drove.

"I forgot it there."

"How could you forget it? I mean he did drop you off."

I decided not to tell her that I'd been sent home with a random stranger.

The rest of the drive passed in silence and soon we were at my school. I silently got out. Kerri sped away without a goodbye, but I didn't let it bother me too much.

Once again I was really early. I looked around to see if I could spot anyone I know, but didn't see anyone. I pursed my lips and decided to sit on my own underneath a tree. I didn't really care that the ground was slightly wet; I wouldn't die or anything.

I grabbed my iPod and put the earphones in my ears. I decided to listen to some local South African music. Hearing the numerous songs made me miss my friends so much.

I wondered what Gabriel was doing? Was he missing me, or had he completely forgotten my existence?

And Tayla? Would she always stay mad at me, or would she eventually forgive me? What about Alicia, Megan and Kiselle? Would they accept me back with open arms if I were to go back to South Africa, or would I be thrown out?

"You seem to be thinking deeply," a voice said, breaking into my thoughts and music.

I quickly took out my earphones and glanced at the person next to me. It was Jeremy. I shrugged and nodded my head. "I guess."

There was an awkward silence. "Are you okay after yesterday?" he asked concernedly.

I smile and said, "Yeah. Damon's an ass, though."

At this Jeremy chuckled. "Yes, he is," he agreed. After a few seconds, he asked, "Larissa, where's your school bag?"

Crap, how was I supposed to explain this?!

Then, as if in answer to my thoughts, some random chick approached me. She looked friendly enough, dressed in skinny jeans and a nice top. In her hands she carried my school bag!

"Hey, Larissa! You forgot your bag at my house yesterday," she said and dropped it by my feet. She smiled brightly at me, waved, and left again.

"Well, that was random," I muttered under my breath, hoping Jeremy didn't hear.

He didn't. He shot me an impressed look and said, "I didn't know you were friends with Cailey."

Oh, so the girl's name was Cailey. She was probably compelled to bring my bag to me. "Yeah, I guess we're friends," I replied.

I drummed my fingers on my lap, not sure of what to say.

"Um, what do you have first period?" Jeremy asked finally.

I shot him a look, but said, "Maths. You?"

"History," he replied with a grin.

"That's unfair!" I exclaimed. "Mr Saltzman is the best!" As I said it I couldn't help but be reminded of the fact that he, Damon and Elena were at the mountains yesterday, speaking with Stefan.

"Are you sure you're alright? No offence, but you look like the living dead," Jeremy remarked.

I smiled unconvincingly. "Yes, Jeremy. I'm fine," I said, lying through my teeth.

I could already feel the fatigue seeping through my bones, and I just knew it was going to be a long, endless day.

~ IYCSMN ~ IYCSMN ~

Thanks everyone for the reviews and follows/favs, I really appreciate it :)

xx