HOLY CRAP! I am so lucky to have all of you guys. I was completely overwhelmed by the reception I got for the last chapter. It was compeltely unexpected and made me so happy. So thank you so much guys.

Hayley went in and out of consciousness. Her body was so weak and in pain, it was impossible to keep up with anything going on around her. All she could figure out was that she was no longer lying on the shore of the lake. She was moving, in some way. The voices around her were echoing in a way that she was able to identify she was in a hospital. Was it even possible for her to be saved?

There was a female's voice running along side her stretcher. She seemed to be announcing all of her injuries. Hayley wouldn't focus on them. But the list seemed disturbingly extensive and the longer the doctor talked, the less hope was found in her voice.

The only thing Hayley registered was someone's hand suddenly holding onto hers. It was clearly a man's, too strong and rough to be anything else. But Hayley was too frail to try and guess whom it was that stayed at her side.

There was a consistent beeping of the machinery. And then there was a single tone that rang. Voices rushed around her body as they started CPR and frantically tried to resuscitate her. But the only sound left in the room was not her beating heart or a gasp of breath. Instead the ringing of that single note filled the entire room. Half a dozen people were in the room, yet no one said a single word. Not until Meredith Fell stated the time of death. She looked at the vampire standing in the room, but couldn't find what words to say to them.

"I'm sorry." That was all she was able to think of.

"Nope. No hero here." Damon stated. He didn't get up from kneeling at her side and leaving like Hayley had expected him too. Instead, he bit into his wrist and then offered his dripping blood to her.

"What are you doing?" Hayley whispered. It was the first time she sounded nervous during their conversation.

Damon didn't look at her for a moment. Then, slowly, his eyes rose to meet hers. "I'm only capable of doing good when others expect the opposite from me."

Hayley laughed darkly at that. Then she glanced down at the blood sitting on the top of his wrist, begging to be drunk. The last time she had vampire blood was the night Elijah saved her. That was before she really remembered him. It seemed like such a long time ago.

"I can't." She finally said quietly.

"If you don't drink, you won't even last a day." Then Damon tilted his head. It wasn't until then that he realized that she wanted to die. There was almost no hope left in her eyes. As he kneeled, he shifted uncomfortably on his toes. "Just a drip." He offered. "It will only keep you alive…it's probably not even enough to cure all of your injuries." He explained casually.

Hayley raised a finger and just barely even touched the blood. She looked Damon in the eye just before she licked it off of her skin. She leaned her head back against the wall and closed her eyes.

Damon took her short blindness to observe her in a way he couldn't when she was watching him. Even in her condition, he could tell that she was exquisitely beautiful. He wondered if she was Klaus' lover. But she didn't seem to even know about him, so the idea seemed off. Then he couldn't help but notice the way she handled the situation she had been thrown into. It was like she had been preparing for this world her whole life.

Damon slowly got up from kneeling and now looked down at her. Hayley slowly opened her eyes to observe him. "Leaving so soon?" She asked softly with a smirk. He couldn't help but admire her lack of concern for her own life. He started walking away. "Damon?" Hayley said. He quickly turned to face her and found that she was looking out the window. "I hope you have someone that sees the good in you even when you don't see it yourself."

Damon looked at the ground, letting the words sink in. He didn't have to hide his reaction because she wasn't even looking at him. Without even realizing it, Hayley had described the biggest reason why Damon was so in love with Elena. And just for a moment, he thought about letting Hayley go free… because the thought of her dying suddenly bothered him. She didn't belong in all of this just like Elena never had.

Hayley's eyes snapped open. She waited to hear the repetitive beeping of machines, smell the overly clean scent of a hospital, or see so much white that is was blinding. But, instead, she was in a bedroom. It was fancy, but something about it made her believe it wasn't a home. Then she looked around more and comprehended she was in a hotel room. Hayley quickly sat up and then remembered all the injuries she had and waited for a wave of pain to hit. But there was none. She removed the covers to looked down at her body to find that all the bruises and burns were gone. Then she twisted her wrist to feel that it no longer was broken or hurt in the slightest bit.

Hayley ran her hands through her hair from her confusion on what was going on. How long had she been unconscious? And who had saved her from Stefan? Then her eyes were drawn by the slit of light coming from in between the closed drapes. The curiosity got the best of her. She slowly got out of the king sized bed. As she walked toward the windows, she looked down to find that she was wearing a grey t-shirt and flannel shorts.

Hayley was stood at the windows now. She slowly reached to push back the drapes, hoping she'd be able to figure out more where she was from looking outside. But as soon as her finger touched the velvet fabric of the drapes, the door flew open. Hayley jumped and whipped around to face them. Her breath caught and her stomach dropped when her blue-green eyes locked with Elijah's.

He stared at her for a few seconds, not believing that she could actually be standing there. As soon as Hayley saw his eyes fill with a layer of tears, she rushed over to him. Elijah did the same and Hayley threw her arms around him. His hands held onto her tightly and grasped her back, needing more proof that she was in his arms.

Then Hayley pulled away and her lips crashed onto his. As soon as the contact was made, the mysterious feeling laved over both of them. They kissed as anyone would after they believed one another to be dead. All the uncertainty and confusion of their relationship from before was completely gone. They knew they loved each other now. And neither of them had to say it to understand.

Elijah finally drew back. He wanted to stare into her eyes, the ones filled with a color that was unmatchable. His eyes flickered up to her blonde-red hair as his finger pulled a strand of it away from her face.

"I thought you were dead." Hayley whispered. Her bottom lip started to tremble at just the memory of the past feeling alone. Elijah didn't respond. He only hugged her to reassure that he would never leave her side again.

"What happened?" Hayley said quickly. Then her eyes darted around the room. "How did I get here?"

And Elijah's happiness finally faltered as he glanced down. He didn't want to tell her, mostly because he didn't want to believe it. Then he softly grabbed both of Hayley's hands and met her waiting gaze.

"I found you at the lake. You weren't conscious enough to even accept my blood. The hospital was the only other choice obtainable. But…" Elijah stopped himself, worried at what her reaction would be. "You didn't make it. There was nothing they could do. I thought you were gone, Hayley."

Slowly, she was starting to piece together what Elijah was scared to tell her. The vampire blood, "Damon." Hayley whispered as her eyes zoned out.

Elijah watched her closely, just waiting for her to fall in a haze of panic. "When word made it to him that you were dead, he went to the hospital to tell Doctor Fell immediately and explained what he had done." He could already tell that she understood why she was still living.

"Elijah…" She started. "I'm a vampire." She murmured. But she was waiting for him to give her some sort of confirmation or correction. But he only spoke to her with his eyes. And as soon as she caught it, Hayley knew that she was right.

"You are in transition." Elijah specified. "You must drink human blood in order to truly become a vampire."

Hayley slowly backed up and then sat on the edge of the bed. Her hands hid her face from him. Elijah had his hands in his pockets and watched her carefully. He wasn't sure if she wanted comfort or space. Then Hayley started breathing heavily as if she was having an anxiety attack.

"What's happening?" She asked him.

In a second he was at her side, holding her body against him. It instantly calmed her. "It's part of the transition. Your emotions are utterly amplified. There is no way for you to control it at a time like this." He reassured her. But he also knew that her inability to cry or express her emotion was the cause for such anxiety.

Hayley sat up straighter and shook her head. Then she stood up from the bed and faced Elijah. Her arms were crossed as she looked at him. "Do you want me to become a vampire?" She asked slowly.

"That's not the question you should-"

"Answer me." She cut him off.

Elijah swallowed and looked at his hands that were properly folded on his lap. He took in a deep breath. "I would rather have you as a vampire than not have you at all." His eyes gazed into hers as he spoke so clearly. Elijah would never allow her to deny the blood. He refused to watch her slowly die in front of him. But he wanted her to believe she had a choice so he could see what she would decide on her own.

Hayley nodded slowly. "There never really was any other ending, was there? Even if things had happened differently, I would have still became a vampire eventually." She didn't wait for Elijah to agree. But he looked at her and knew that she was right. He would never have found the strength to let her have a mundane death. This, their relationship, wasn't something temporary. He wanted to keep her, not just for a while, but forever.

Hayley uncrossed her arms and sighed. "Do I have to drink right from a human?" She asked quietly.

Elijah got up from the bed and stood close to her now. "It is usually easier to keep down. But it is not necessary." He grabbed her hand. "I wish for you to meet them." He changed the subject.

Hayley's eyes narrowed. Who did he want her to meet? Then she remembered the other two she had un-daggered with Elijah. They were his family. Suddenly, she became nervous for meeting a family of original vampires. How would they react to her being with Elijah?

He led her to the door and opened it to show her a family room of the hotel suite. It seemed as if they were in the penthouse, for there were countless doors leading to other rooms.

Then Hayley saw a man standing and looking out the window. His hair was still long, but he had on a new change of clothes that fit modern times. But just his demeanor and the way he stood made it obvious he didn't belong in this era. As they entered, he slowly turned around to face them.

"This is my brother, Finn." Elijah introduced softly. But his brother didn't move away from his spot at the window. He only nodded politely at Hayley, not saying a word. Elijah didn't seem surprised by his reaction though.

Hayley just gave him a small smile, recognizing that he was a quiet and subdued man. She was always good at reading people. Now that she was almost a vampire, it was heightened even more. She was held on tighter to Elijah's hand, who hadn't let go since they walked into the room.

Suddenly, there was a flash of movement and then someone stood directly in front of Hayley. She couldn't help but jump slightly at the quick entrance. But when she looked up, Hayley immediately recognized the other brother. He was the one she had noted as looking rather similar to Elijah. He was grinning mischievously at her now.

"So you're the girl that's stolen my brother's heart." He winked at her. Hayley smiled at his confidence, finding it rather entertaining. Then he slowly grabbed her free hand and raised it to his lips. He didn't break eye contact as his lips gently kissed it.

"Kol." He introduced himself. "Pleasure to meet you." But as soon as he let go of her hand, he made a strange face. Hayley tightened her eyes, wondering if he had felt it too. It was just like when she touched Elijah but the feeling was slightly different. Then she remembered the only other time she'd sensed it was when she first met Nick. Elijah instantly read his little brother's expression, confused on what had happened.

Then Kol shook his head slightly and his grin was back on his lips. "I believe it's you I must thank for freeing us from those dreadful coffins."

Hayley tried to push the strange feeling from making contact with Kol. "How…how did you know it was me?" Now, even Finn's attention was on Hayley too.

Elijah then finally intervened the conversation. "It was the only assumption we found realistic." Then images of Hayley's condition when he found her started finding their way back to his consciousness. He tried to control his rage, remembering how broken she had looked.

"Where are the daggers?" Finn asked her. It was strange hearing his voice for the first time. The sound caused Hayley to quickly look at him.

"I threw them into the lake." She stated. "I didn't want anyone to find them and use them on any of you again."

Kol smirked down at her. "Well, what do we have here? Not only a beauty, but clever too." He said charmingly.

Hayley glared at his observation. She glanced up at Elijah to see that he only appeared slightly annoying with Kol's obvious flirting. Over the years, he'd become almost immune to Kol's infuriating personality.

"You must ignore my younger brother. He's been unexposed to the opposite gender for quite some time. He doesn't know what to make of your presence." Elijah stated to her. Kol then glared at him for his mocking. Even Finn smirked at the obvious insult.

"So are we going on her first hunt or not?" Kol changed the subject as his stare tore into Hayley, even though he was technically talking to Elijah. "I promise it will be much more fun than whatever he had in mind." He added gesturing toward his older brother.

"That will not be necessary, Kol. I already sifted blood bags from the hospital." Elijah stated calmly, but the annoyance was still visible in his voice.

"Well, you'll have to show her how to hunt eventually. I don't understand how you could depend on such a processed form of sustenance." Kol said with disgust. The last time he was alive, that wasn't even an option.

"Maybe he's right." Hayley surprised everyone by saying. "I'd rather have you teach me to control it than have to avoid humans for the rest of my life."

Kol smiled at her giving her opinion so boldly. "Then it's settled. Let's go kill something." He praised.

"She won't be killing anything." Elijah immediately interrupted. Then his expression softened when he looked down at Hayley. "If that's what you want, so be it. But I think it's best if you drink now." Then he glared at Kol. "And if you want to learn self control, it won't be from this one." Elijah added darkly. Then he quickly left the room and went to what seemed to be a kitchen. In a second, he was back with a blood bag.

Hayley slowly took it from his hands. She glanced up to see that all three of them were watching her closely. If they weren't originals and younger vampires, the very sight and smell of it would set them off. But they waited patiently for her to drink it. She brought it to her lips and hesitated just a second before drinking the bags contents. As soon as the first mouthful was swallowed, her eyes turned dark red and the veins underneath swarmed against her skin. She opened her mouth slightly to expose her new bloodstained fangs.

Kol smirked with his signature mischief, satisfied with the sight playing out in front of him. He already knew he would like her. And he would never lower himself to a human. Her turning into a vampire was for the best.

However, Finn looked rather offended. He always hated what he'd become. Unlike his siblings, he didn't relish in his vampirism. But he understood that Elijah had no other choice but to save her this way. Finn hadn't forgotten about the one person he had changed.

Hayley finished the whole bag in seconds. Then she looked around in embarrassment since everyone had been watching her. A thought suddenly occurred to her. "Where's your sister…Rebekah?" She'd remembered every detail of the stories Elijah had told her. He had one sister and her coffin hadn't been in the basement of that house. Unless it was the one she couldn't open.

"Niklaus still has her coffin in his possession." Elijah informed her.

Hayley held her breath. "How do you know?"

"Damon Salvatore informed me at the hospital." He saw the confusion on Hayley's face. "At the time, he was rather confused when he found me at your side." Elijah clarified.

"What else did Damon tell you?" She asked him without looking him in the eye. She wondered if he knew that everything that happened to her was under Stefan's hand. For some reason, she didn't want anything to happen to him. She couldn't get the Stefan she first met out of her head. And somehow she knew that was his true self, not the Stefan that captured and practically tortured her.

Elijah didn't show his suspicion at her question. "That was all." He confirmed.

"All this talk is starting to bore me. Are we going out to eat or what?" Kol interrupted.

Hayley then glanced down at her clothes. She couldn't go out hunting in her pajamas. Elijah seemed to read her mind. "There are clothes for you back in the bedroom." He stated. She smiled a little at how prepared he was.

A few minutes later, Hayley returned the room. Instead of wearing her converse, that miraculously weren't stained with blood, a denim shirt, and black skinny jeans. Elijah was whispering intensely to Finn and Kol. As soon as they heard her enter, he stopped and looked at her. She didn't look suspicious of their conversation, but Elijah was able to see that she caught on quickly.

Kol smiled at her entrance. "Marvelous! Where should we eat first?" He asked as he started walking her.

Hayley knew what he was trying to do. He wanted to see some reaction from her, fear or nervousness, anything that showed he was getting to her. Instead of giving him what he wanted, Hayley narrowed her eyes and remained unfazed.

"You're the one that's been asleep for years. You tell me." Hayley raised an eyebrow at him. Elijah smirked at her response, enjoying how taken aback Kol was with her playing his game just as well as him.

Finn sighed darkly at his younger brother and moved away from the window toward him. "Must you be so insufferable, Kol? Come. I shall watch and make sure you do not give away our concealment." He said, almost bored. Kol smirked and both of them walked out of the hotel room.

As soon as the door closed, Hayley's act vanished and she looked at Elijah who was already watching her closely. "What's going on?" She asked him with concern.

"Nothing of importance." Elijah responded suavely. He expected her suspicion and was prepared for the question.

"Elijah…" Hayley urged quietly. She grabbed his forearm and for once, her eyes were not cold. Instead, they were filled with love as she asked him the question again without say a word.

"Niklaus is still unaware of our awakening." Elijah stated the obvious. But Hayley read everything else in what he said, the words he didn't speak.

"You're going see him." She guessed. Then, out of nowhere, she was filled with rage. "So, what? You can kill him again? Because that worked out so well the first time!" Hayley snapped at him as she stepped away.

Elijah didn't bother trying to hide the hurt from her words. "No. That is no longer necessary. The only motivation to kill him was for the vengeance of my family. Now I have them back, soon Rebekah will be as well." Then he looked up at her. "And I have you." He said it as if it were the most important thing of all.

Then Hayley shook her head as her rage disappeared in a crack. "I'm sorry." She whispered. "I didn't mean to yell at you." She apologized lamely.

Elijah shook it away. "I deserved it." Then he walked closer to her. "This is how it will be at the beginning. Your experience with vampires may have made you believe we feel nothing. But it is quite the opposite. We feel even more than humans. To some, it can become so overwhelming that they choose to suppress all emotions completely."

Hayley nodded her head, understanding what he meant. But it didn't change how frustrated she was with herself. Elijah raised her chin with his thumb. "You will still be you, Hayley." He encouraged. "Just even more stubborn…if possible, more satirical. And I'm assuming that foul mouth of yours will only get worse." He said with a smirk as he wrapped his hands around her waist. Hayley finally broke, and let out a laugh. Elijah couldn't describe the feeling of hearing her laughter so close to him.

Hayley wrapped her arms around his broad shoulders "Fantastic. Something for you to look forward to." She said cynically with a grin. "Why do you put up with me?" She asked rhetorically.

"Because I love you." Elijah said simply. Hayley's smile vanished at how serious he was. It had completely caught her off guard. He watched her closely, trying to read how she was handling it.

Then, he quickly moved on. "But you forget all the other things that will be increased."

It took a moment for Hayley to register what he said. She cleared her throat. "Like what?" She asked, honestly unable to think of the good that could come from all this.

"Your hidden kindness that you refuse to acknowledge, your ability to read those around you, your cleverness, and your strength…shall I go on?" He offered.

"NO!" Hayley rushed, embarrassed at all of the things he was pointing out that no one ever had before. Then she smiled shyly. "I get it." Then her eyes stared into his. Suddenly, she gave him a quick kiss. He was caught off guard by it and didn't understand where it came from.

"Your brother is probably going on a rampage right now." Hayley changed the subject before Elijah could look into why she'd done it.

"Yes, well, Kol has probably already ate half the town and seduced any women he finds moderately attractive." Elijah sounded annoyed by it. But Hayley could tell that he was hiding how truly happy he was to have his family back.

Elijah walked toward the hotel door and gracefully held it open for her. But when he looked over at Hayley, she was staring at him carefully. He waited, unaware of what she was thinking for once.

"I love you too." She finally said before walking quickly out of the hotel room, not waiting or stopping for him to follow.

Review? :/

Tonight's episode:

1) Klaus saying "I was half way to Chicago." I'm starting to believe these similarities are more than just coincidence!

2) I got a sick, sick joy out of hearing Klaus just say the name Hayley ;)

3) ELIJAH'S BACK NEXT EPISODE! (Even if it is just a flashback :/ )

4) If Julie Plec is reading this story, feel free to hire me as an intern or something...i will get coffee for you...i will sell my soul to the devil. NOTHING IS TOO FAR.