IMPORTANT: This chapter is unbeta'd. As soon as my beta gets back to me and she's edited the chapter, I'll replace the chapters.

Also, thanks for the review VampireJacinta!

Number of words: 3 651

Chapter Nine – Al Maxton

Klaus hummed. "Trouble in paradise, I see." I decided to not dignify that with a response. "I got your letter," he said finally, after a few minutes. "And it made me think."

"And what have you decided?" I asked without emotion. Nervousness churned unpleasantly in my stomach as I tried to think up what my punishment would be.

What he said, however, hadn't been one of them.

"That it's time for you to go home."

My mouth dropped open. He couldn't be serious! Sure, an hour ago I'd wished for the opportunity to return home. But now that it had been forced upon me, I didn't want it anymore. Stuff South Africa, I had a new life here!

"Don't even try to argue," Klaus said quietly. He must've noticed the panic in my eyes, and the increasing of my heartbeat.

"But Klaus-,"

"I told you not to argue with me, Larissa."

My throat started to close up. "Why?" I managed after a few seconds. "Why do you want me to go home? Because of me not showing up last night?"

Klaus's jaw clenched and it seemed as if something was genuinely upsetting him. "I saw what happened today… These people treat you like rubbish, yet you still call them your friends." He growled softly, "Why?"

"Everyone has their faults, Klaus," I murmured in reply. "They are just being immature. They'll get over it soon enough." I hope.

"I disagree with you," the Original said tersely. "They are humans, Larissa, and humans never grow up. They will never grow up."

"I'm human, too!" I snapped. "Your argument is invalid, Klaus!"

His jaw clenched. "You are not human! You are a witch, Larissa Nieuwoudt. Don't ever forget that."

My irritation flared up inside of me, burning me like a veld fire. "Being a witch doesn't make me better than everybody else," I said slowly, my voice like ice. "In this world, we are all equals."

Klaus barked out a sarcastic laugh – which was totally unlike him. Klaus didn't bark. Ever. "I see you have forgotten your father's teachings. Do you not remember what he told you, every night?"

What-

It suddenly came back to me.

"You're a witch, Larissa. You're better than everyone else out there. You're stronger than they are, and more dangerous. Never forget that."

These words had been engraved into my very being since I was a little girl. I'd believed my dad; I'd believed that I was better than normal humans. I'd believed that, along with vampires and werewolves, we were the superior race.

But I didn't believe that, not anymore. The few short weeks spent with my friends had completely changed my mind. We were equals, in every way.

"Calm down, sweetheart. Let's leave this conversation for another time."

I swallowed my angry retort and nodded silently. There was no use in angering Klaus any more than he already was.

Half an hour passed, and with it my anger slowly melted away to resignation. I couldn't change Klaus's mind, no matter how much I'd wanted to.

"What was that display at school?" he asked suddenly. "The kiss in front of Jeremy and your friends."

I blushed. "Um… Hey, I could ask you the same thing!"

"I wanted to send a message," Klaus replied pointedly. "I wanted to show them that you belong to me. Not them, me."

The possessiveness with which he said that surprised me. "I thought you wanted me to be all undercover," I asked confusedly.

"Not anymore. Not after last night."

I perked up. I remembered Jeremy and Elena talking about something huge that had happened. Could this be the same thing? "Why?" I asked warily. "What happened last night?"

Klaus stayed silent for a long time. "I figured out that I have to use the Doppelgänger's blood to create my Hybrids. I gave them a little scare last night at school… Jeremy was a part of all of this, too. You can't trust them, Larissa."

"That's rich," I said snappily, "Coming from you."

"Didn't you hear what I just said? Jeremy is part of this, Larissa."

"So? I am too, Klaus. You were the one who involved me."

"Yes, that is true," he said reluctantly, "But I would never hurt you, Larissa. You know that."

"Do I?" I asked before I could stop myself.

Klaus parked the car. He turned to face me then, his expression serious. "Yes, Larissa, you do." Here he narrowed his eyes to make sure I understood completely. I did. "I will never purposely hurt you, I give you my word. I'll protect you from the world."

I opened my mouth to ask "Why," but in the end just nodded mutedly, accepting his word. Who was I to question Klaus? One thing I admired about the Original was that, no matter what, Klaus always kept his word. So if he said he'd never hurt me, he won't. If he said that he would always protect me, then I believed him.

I just didn't understand why.

"Well, we better get going," the Hybrid said. He opened his car door and climbed out. He was at my door in a flash and opened it for me.

"Thanks," I said and climbed out. I looked at the building in front of me. It was nothing special, but seemed to be a hotel of some sort. "Where are we?" I questioned.

Klaus started walking to the hotel. Not wanting to be left behind, I quickly followed. Klaus didn't answer, so I knew he wasn't going to tell me anytime soon. The Original approached the front desk. "Where can I find Al Maxton? He is expecting me." When the receptionist refused to answer, Klaus compelled the poor girl. "He is in room 452. Fifth floor."

With that Klaus led me to an elevator. "Why are we here, Klaus?"

"You'll see," was his unhelpful response.

I huffed. Luckily the ride didn't take terribly long, and soon we were standing in front of the mysterious room 452. Klaus lifted a fist and knocked three times. "Coming!" a muffled voice called. After a few seconds, the door opened to reveal a man. He looked to be in his late 30s, though I couldn't be sure. He was African American, and his body was tall and well-built. "Ah, Klaus," he said. His voice was dark and rich, which was pretty cool. He nodded at me. "Please, come in." He opened the door wider, allowing us entrance.

Huh, so this was Al. I allowed Klaus to enter first. When I entered the room, I wasn't sure what to expect. But a completely empty room wasn't it. What the stuff? Didn't the guy need a bed, or a bathroom or whatever? Clearly not, I thought.

"Al, this is the girl I told you about," Klaus was saying.

My witchy senses tingled. Hmm, what is it? I asked myself.

Al turned dark eyes to meet mine. "My name is Al Maxton," he said pleasantly. "Pleased to meet you, Miss."

I awkwardly took his offered hand in a handshake. "Pleasure is mine," I said, and quickly added, "Larissa Nieuwoudt."

"What can I do for the two of you?" Al asked as he took a seat on a beanbag that appeared out of nowhere. "Please, take a seat," he said. To my astonishment, another two beanbags appeared. Oh right, he was probably a witch/warlock/whatever.

Impressive, I thought. I followed Al's example and took a seat. It was pretty comfy.

"I'm glad you like it, Larissa," Al said with a pleased expression.

Wha- "Did you just read my mind?" I demanded. No-one was allowed to read my mind, dammit. It was mine and mine alone.

"I apologize," the African American said sincerely. "I do it unconsciously to make sure that my company is to be trusted."

"And what did you find?" I asked snappishly, more than a little miffed. "Am I trustworthy?"

"Now, now, sweetheart," Klaus interrupted. "Calm down. Al's here to help. You can't blame the man for simply being careful."

"I guess not," I grumbled. At Klaus's hard look, I twisted my lips. "I'm sorry," I said to Al.

"It's alright. To answer your question, yes you are trustworthy. But that is to be expected, what with Klaus bringing you here."

"Why did you bring me here?" I asked the Original.

An amused smile played on Klaus's lips, immediately putting me on edge. What was the old man planning? "You're here for training, of course."

My mouth dropped open. "You have got to be joking!"

"I'm afraid not," Klaus said. "I thought you could use the help. He may be able to help you with your nightmares, too."

Oh! I'd completely forgotten about my nightmares involving Janco and my mother. "How, though? And is it really necessary to do something about it?" I asked.

Al gave me a serious look. "If a normal human spirit visits you in a dream numerous times to warn you, it is definitely necessary to get help." He allowed me a few seconds to process this, and then requested, "Please tell me about your dreams."

I shifted on my beanbag as I thought of how to best answer the question. "Well, it's always about my mom," I started off unsurely. At Klaus's encouraging nod, I continued. "A few years ago, my cousin Jessie was dating a friend of mine named Janco. On his fifteenth birthday they'd had a falling out, and when I arrived at his home all I saw was blood." I paused as my throat constricted. I swallowed heavily. "I found Jessie's broken corpse in the backyard. My friend…he accidently triggered his werewolf gene."

Al stayed silent as he processed everything I told him.

"Then, as I see Jessie's body, it stands up and talks to me. She asks me things like why I didn't help her, or why I didn't tell anyone about her murder."

"He killed me, Larissa," Jessie said again. Her bloodied face appeared in front of my own and she grabbed my shoulders. She shook me roughly as she cried, "He killed me and nobody knows! YOU NEVER TOLD ANYONE I WAS MURDURED!"

I winced and felt my own tears leaking down my cheeks. "I'm sorry, Jessie! I couldn't tell. Janco didn't kill you on purpose," I whispered.

Her silver eyes blazed with fury. "It doesn't matter! Murder is murder AND I WANT JUSTICE!"

"Larissa, are you alright?" Klaus's voice broke me out of my flashback.

I smiled apologetically. "Sorry, I was just remembering my dreams," I explained. I cleared my throat. "I try to defend myself while she goes on about me never telling anyone. Then, with a flash, I appear at this one beach back in my hometown."

My mother stared down at me – her usually warm green eyes were hard and full of anger. "Why do you keep on protecting him, Rissa? He killed someone," she demanded. Her voice was strong and powerful; just like always.

After a few more seconds, I continued. "My mother is there, and…she warns me…about the Spirits being angry with me. She always ends with: "The Spirits are upset with you. Fix this, or there will be consequences.""

I stared down at my hands after I was done talking. I didn't have any desire to see what Al and Klaus now thought of me. I was horrible to never tell the Police that Janco killed my cousin… where was my loyalty? If I couldn't even be loyal to my cousin, how was I supposed to be loyal to the Original sitting next to me?

Al and Klaus exchanged a few whispered words. Finally, with a nod, Klaus left the apartment. "I'll see you in a few hours," was all he'd said before he closed the door behind him.

"Let's get to work with clearing you out. I'll have you sorted out in no time," Al said with a determined look in his dark eyes.

Xxx

It turned out that, in Al's vocabulary, "no time" translated to 5 hours. I'm not even exaggerating.

I lay on my back, panting, and stared up at the white ceiling. My body felt completely drained – of energy and magic. I had no idea how the hell Al managed to "clear out" my soul, but he did. And no, I didn't come up with that ridiculous name.

"Feeling better?" Al questioned in his deep voice.

"Y-yeah," I gasped out. "How the Hell did you do that?"

"Do what?"

Oh, so he was playing the innocent card, was he? "This," I said, and waved a tired arm over the length of my body. "Like, drain my magic? And why did you do it?" Now that I really thought about it, I was actually damn vulnerable without my magic.

And before you freak out and yell at me for having my magic drained, this is only temporary.

Or at least I hoped so.

"It's a secret that has been passed down in my family for centuries," Al said vaguely. "The reason why I drained you is because your magic is making you the victim of spiritual attacks. If this went on for another week, I'm afraid that you would have fallen into a coma caused by your magic trying to protect you. It is unlikely that you would've woken up."

My mouth gaped open at this news. "Oh my goodness, I could've died!"

Al rolled his eyes and offered me a hand to help me up. "Don't be so dramatic, La. If that had happened – if you'd fallen into the coma - Klaus would still have come to me and asked me to drain you."

I nodded as if I completely understood what he'd just said. Then something clicked in my mind. "Wait, did you just call me La?" I asked incredulously.

The African American offered me a sheepish smile. "I've grown rather fond of you in the last five hours. You should feel extremely honoured; very few people are important enough to me to receive a nickname. So, be proud of your name, my little La," he said in an overly affectionate tone of voice (which I knew was just to irritate me).

I grumbled. "Yeah, whatever. You don't even know me," I groused, waving my finger at him.

"Actually, I do." This surprised me. "While I was cleansing your soul, it meant that I had to sort through your every memory. Therefore, I know you."

My face flushed. "Every memory? As in, everything?!" I squeaked. Every moment I've ever had? First kiss? First date? Fights? Heartbreaks?

He smirked. "Yes. Everything."

Oh, Goodness. Life just hated me.

I cleared my throat awkwardly. "Um, so how does not having magic keep me from having the dreams?" I asked for the umpteenth time. I still couldn't really understand, not completely. Hey, blame it on me being blonde.

Al sighed long-sufferingly. "Magic is what connects you to your mother. Your mother is what connects you to the Spirits and Jessie. Therefore, if you don't have magic, then you don't have a crazy mother on your case that threatens you with the Spirits." He talked slowly, as if I was an idiot, which made me huff.

I nodded to show that I understood. I then asked the most important question of all, "When will I get it back?"

"When Klaus deems it necessary," was his vague response. Before I had the chance to demand an answer, he carried on talking. "It is now time to start your training."

"Um, Al, I don't have any magic."

I could practically hear the "No Shit, Sherlock" that he no doubt thought. "Doesn't matter. This doesn't require magic, as you'll only be learning techniques and new spells in theory," he replied. A glint entered his eyes. "Are you ready for a sleepless night?"

Great. Another night with absolutely no sleep!

The universe must hate me.

xxxx

"What day is it?" I asked tiredly as I climbed into Klaus's car. It felt as though I'd been training with Al for years, which was impossible. I think. I relaxed against the smooth leather and sighed. I was so tired.

"Friday," came the casual reply.

I sat up immediately. "FRIDAY? OHMYGOSH KLAUS IT'S FRIDAY!" I cried, horrified.

The Original seemed terribly amused as he said, "Yes, I know that."

I frowned at him unhappily. "You don't get it, do you? It's Friday," I accused. "I've been gone for-for-for, like, forever!" for some reason, my mind didn't want to add up the days.

"Your point is?"

"My point?! The last anyone saw me, I was riding off into the sunset with you!" I said, clenching my fists. They probably think that I'm – I'm – DEAD! OR WORSE!

"Good. Maybe they will realize that you belong to me."

"I belong to no-one, Klaus, but myself."

"For all intense and purposes, you do belong to me. I'm not saying this to sound like a piece of dirt claiming ownership over a woman, but you are under my protection. To me, that means that you're mine. Mine to protect."

I swallowed at the intensity with which he said that. Did he really care that much about me?

The answer came immediately.

Yes. Yes, he did.

I stayed silent for the rest of the drive to Mystic Falls. I had a lot to think about. What was I going to do now that everybody knew that I was (for lack of a better word) involved with Klaus? Would they still talk to me, or would they write me off? I came to care a lot about the residents of Mystic Falls – and if they were to write me off completely, I wasn't sure how I would be able to make it through even a minute.

What was I going to do about Jeremy? I really liked him, and thanks to my little stunt on Tuesday, all of my chances of ever being with him, has been ruined. Add that to the fact that Klaus had claimed ownership over me…well, my situation was extremely bad. What did he think about all of this, anyway? Was he betrayed, angry…sad?

Then there was Elena, Damon, Caroline, and Bonnie (the important ones). What course of action were they going to take, now that they knew I was the enemy? Will Elena be able to forgive me? I really hope so.

If Damon decided to try and take a chomp out of my neck, I wouldn't be able to defend myself. Since I no longer had even an ounce of magic in my system, I was vulnerable to attacks. I was a mere human, an insignificant one at that.

And most importantly, how was I going to convince Klaus to allow me to remain in Mystic Falls?

This is hopeless. I sighed.

"Everything alright, love?"

No. "Yeah, I'm just tired. It feels as if I haven't eaten in days, which I haven't."

Klaus gazed at me thoughtfully. "I can give you a sip of my blood?" he suggested, completely serious. "You will feel brand new again, I assure you."

I blanched at the idea of drinking blood. Ugh, disgusting. "No thanks, I'm alright," I said, my disgust plain in my voice.

Klaus chuckled and asked, "How about going to a restaurant, then? My treat."

"A restaurant, Klaus? We're in the middle of nowhere!"

He smiled and nodded in front of him. Curious, I followed his gaze and gasped. "How the Hell are we already in Mystic Falls?" I exclaimed. "We've been driving for, like, five minutes!"

"It's been an hour, love. You were off in your own little world most of the time."

I was immediately embarrassed that the Original had noticed. "Sorry," I mumbled.

Klaus hummed and parked his car in a shaded area. "I don't want it to get damaged if a storm were to break out," he explained when he saw my look.

We entered the mall and walked to one of the cute little restaurants that I'd noticed on Saturday, but didn't have the time to explore. "You have good taste," I remarked as we were led to a small private table in the back.

"Of course I do," he replied with a smirk. "What do you want to eat, love?"

I eyed the menu. "Um… I'll take that lasagne thingy," I said, and pointed at said lasagne. I wasn't sure what it was, exactly, but it looked yummy.

Klaus gave the order to the waiter, who nodded and left soon after. "I ordered you a cappuccino, is that alright?"

"Thanks, I appreciate it," I said tiredly. "Um…when do I have to go back to South Africa?" I tried my best to keep my voice steady.

Klaus frowned as he thought for a few minutes. "I'll allow you to remain here for the remainder of the month, as I want to see if your nightmares have gone like Al had promised. That means you still have 27 days left here."

I opened my mouth to thank him, but words were lost on me. Instead, I allowed him a small grateful smile. I stilled when I felt a soft finger caressing my cheek. He wiped underneath my eyes and said softly, "Don't cry, Larissa. Please?"

This only caused the tears to spill more rapidly down my cheeks. I didn't exactly know why I was crying. Was it because I was sad to be leaving, or was it because I was grateful for the extra month I had here?

No. It was because Klaus cared so much about me, that he chose to give me a last month. A month to fix everything and make peace with my friends. Klaus could have sent me back to South Africa and sent someone with me to check up on my health. Instead, he decided to do it himself.

Who would have thought that Klaus had some humanity in him?