Chapter 3! I think I'm on a role, you guys. 3 chapters in three days? For me and my procrastinating self, that's pretty impressive. NEW TVD TONIGHT! Hiatuses are the worst. And soon there's gonna be another one. Ugh. Anyways, I don't own TVD or its characters or blah blah blah. Okay! Story time :)

Confession is always weakness. The grave soul keeps its own secrets, and takes its own punishment in silence.
- Dorothy Dix

Now

March 2012

There were not many things that surprised someone like Elijah. He had been around for almost a thousand years; he's seen every war and the worst sort of bloodshed. He had witnessed countless deaths of innocent people. He himself had killed, too many times to count.

But somehow, this had been the absolute worst thing Elijah believed he had ever been a part of.

"What do you mean you think he killed her?" Rebekah was in a rage. Of course, she had seen her brother kill many, many people. But all of those people were strangers, food. They were needed for survival. This was Em. Emily, who had been Rebekah's very first friend. From birth, even. Emily, who Nik had grown up to know as a sister, but had ended up knowing as a lover. A best friend. A confidante. He would never hurt her willingly. Elijah was wrong.

Now Elijah was looking at his little sister intensely. Whatever he had seen upstairs, Rebekah thought, now has him as paranoid as all of us.

"I mean," Elijah started, "that while I don't know for sure, Niklaus was presumably the only person with Emily when she died and he's not acting normal." Whatever normal was for Klaus, anyway.

"Of course he's acting odd," Rebekah said through clenched teeth. "His girlfriend was just staked to death!" Obviously, Rebekah had skipped denial and sadness in the grief process and had just gone right to anger and lividness.

Elijah sighed. He turned to Kol; maybe he would have better luck with his brother. "What do you think?" he asked, cautiously.

Kol looked around, worried and anxious. Whatever he said now would make somebody mad.

"I think," he began, "that we shouldn't rule out any possibilities." Seeing his sister's face, he added, "I'm not saying that he actually did it. I just know that what Elijah said is true, about them being alone and stuff, and I just don't want to rule out anything because of bias." He let out a breath.

There were tears forming in Rebekah's eyes now. She shook her head. "I don't understand either of you," she whispered. Breaking into sobs, she scurried up the stairs to her mother.

Esther had listened to what had happened earlier when she arrived home. She had said nothing, just like Finn, but the look on her face told everything. Emily was like a daughter. Even when they were all still human. She was now upstairs examining Emily's body, looking for anything suspicious.

Klaus had refused to take part in the examination. Esther had told him that she needed to know everything that they did, but he had said that he didn't want to talk about it. He was now upstairs in Elijah's room. Emily was in his.

Kol sat down on the couch, grabbing a pillow. "She'll come around," he reasoned. "Just wait a few hours…. Or days." Kol bunched his eyebrows together. "Well, you did just accuse her brother of murdering her best friend, and, well, I'd be pretty upse-"

"I did not accuse him!" Elijah belted. Damn everyone for thinking that. He was stating possibilities. That was it. He turned away from his brother; he couldn't look at him.

Elijah had loved Emily, couldn't anybody remember that. Maybe not in the same way as Klaus, but he did. She made him laugh. She told him secrets. She trusted him. Not many people had ever done that. She had a special relationship with everyone in this family. Elijah was a brother to her. Someone to tease her and protect her. Someone that loved her and hated her in a span of a day. But in the end, would always choose her. Emily was a special kind of girl. She was one of a kind. And now she was dead.

Elijah would never hear her laugh. The way her blue eyes would light up and twinkle when she smiled. How her long, slender fingers moved over a piano with such ease, creating a peaceful melody. The way she would paint a simple picture, and yet it looked like a masterpiece. Emily's rosy checks were now ruined with gray and veins. There were now no secrets; no special glances or smiles. Now, there was no more Emily.

That seemed like the worst part.

Rebekah stood in the doorway of Elijah's bedroom, one hand resting on the door knob in case he totally freaked and became some head case. Just a way to get out fast. She loved her brother, really. But for three days all he had been doing was sitting on that bed staring at nothing, sulking. She didn't want to visit him. She reasoned that he'd be coming back to normal in a couple of days. Maybe Tuesday, she thought hopefully. Klaus didn't want any family members up here anyways. He just wanted Emily. Just like everybody else.

It scared her to know that right now, any doctor would classify him as being ready to be transmitted to a rubber room somewhere. She looked different, with dark circles under his eyes and this hunted look, like everybody was out to get him. Certainly not like someone who would throw a party because his father was dead. Or killed randoms because he was bored. Rebekah felt a pang in her chest, and silently swore to let him have the bathroom every morning. Most of the time they were hostile to each other: fighting over entering a room without knocking first, over the bathroom, and teasing him over finding him with his hands under Emily's sweatshirt, like two horny teenagers. All those times she had told him to "Drop dead," and look how close he may have come to it now.

"Hey," she said and was embarrassed to find that her voice trembled. "How are you feeling?"

Klaus shrugged. "Like shit."

Rebekah bit her lip, trying to remember what her mother had told her. Cheep him up. Make small talk. Don't mention Emily. "Uh, well, I may have a date to the decade dance."

Klaus lifted his dull, flat eyes to her. He didn't say anything, but he didn't have to. Em's dead, Rebekah, he was sneering. You think I care about your fucking school dance?

Maybe if she didn't look at him…..She turned toward the window. It overlooked absolutely nothing. Except the bleak, rainy day that came over today. God," she breathed. "I wouldn't give this view to someone who's probably suicidal."

Klaus made a sound; Rebekah whirled around and clamped her mouth shut. "Oh, I wasn't supposed to say that…" she muttered, and then she realized Klaus was smiling. She had made him smile.

"What they'd tell you to talk to me about?" Klaus asked.

Rebekah came over and sat down on the edge of the bed. "Anything to make you happy," she admitted.

"What would make me happy,' he said, "is knowing when the funeral's going to be."

"Monday," Rebekah said, leaning back on her elbows, relaxing in this new, tentative trust. "But I'm absolutely, positively not supposed to tell you that."

Klaus let a slow smile painfully creep across his face. "Don't worry," he said. "I won't hold it against you."

When Monday arrived, Esther and Kol came up to Elijah's room looking for Klaus. He was dressed in a black tux. Like the one you'd wear for a wedding, Kol thought. Klaus had gotten up early, taken a shower, and dressed, eaten. Probably not because of a change of heart. This was for Emily. His hair was damp, neatly combed. "Good," he said, coming to his feet. "Let's go."

Esther stopped him. "Are you sure you want to do this?" After all, the last time he had been alone with Emily, it was carrying her dead body back to the house.

"I have to." Klaus said. "I just need to see her before I never can again."

His mother cleared her throat. 'Well then. Let's go."

Fifteen minutes later, they were right smack in the heart of the woods. It was only them, Esther, Finn, Kol, Elijah, and Rebekah, and Klaus. Every other close person in Emily's life had died a long time ago. This was her only family.

Her casket was supposed to be closed, but Klaus insisted that it be opened. So that he could just see her, he had said. They all said their condolences, Rebekah and Esther tearing up. When everyone was done, they all came around to the front of the coffin and each dropped one iris, Em's favorite flower, in. Klaus was the last. Instead of just dropping it in, he gently placed his flower right on Emily's chest, where her hands were folded.

Her clothes had been changed from the jeans and t-shirt she had worn on Friday night, the ones caked with blood, into a short, yellow summer dress and tan sandals. Her hair was flowing wild and loose around her shoulders. She rarely wore makeup (she didn't need it) so she had no makeup on now.

Slowly, Klaus touched Emily's cold face. He stroked her cheek gingerly, as if he didn't want to wake her. Maybe he was just pretending she was sleeping.

Finally, Klaus walked away from Em, his face unreadable. There were no tears, but he definitely didn't look altogether, either. Rebekah walked up to him and put her chin on Klaus's shoulder. Together, they watched Finn and Elijah close the lid and settle Emily's coffin into the ground.

Suddenly, and without warning, Klaus thought, We shouldn't have buried her in a dress in March. She'll freeze to death.

And then finally the tears that wouldn't come during the funeral came rushing to the surface now. Rebekah was sure that this wouldn't be the last time that she would have to comfort her big brother. Now, she just wondered what exactly she was really comforting him for.

Then

Spring 1061 A.D.

Emily and Klaus sat under a tent of blankets on her bed, a candle secured between Em's hands. Klaus's parents had let him come over for the night. It was better to stay over at her house because Klaus shared a room with Kol and he's be pestering them to be quiet while he tried to sleep. Klaus and Em planned to stay up past midnight. Alex had told them that they could stay up till ten, but then it was light out.

Usually Emily had to go to bed at nine, since she was only nine. Esther and Mikael, however, let Klaus stay up till 10:30 because he's thirteen. Going to bed at ten tonight was compromise. But if they stayed quiet, no one else would be the wiser.

"So?" Klaus pressed. "Truth or dare?" This was their absolute favorite game.

"Truth," Emily said. "The worst thing I've ever done… was broke your mom's vase and blame it on Henrick."

Klaus smiled. "That was awful. You're a pretty bad person for that."

"I only said that because you told me to,' Emily whispered fiercely. "You said that he wouldn't know any better." Then she frowned. "If you already knew how bad that was, why did you even ask the question?"

"Okay. I'll ask another one." Klaus said. "Read me what you wrote in you diary when I was in the kitchen."

Emily gasped. "Dare."

Klaus's teeth gleamed white in the glow of the candle. "Sneak into your parent's bedroom,; he said. "And bring back a book or something, so I'll know you did it.'

"Fine," Emily huffed, throwing the covers back. Her parents had gone to sleep half an hour age. Surely they still wouldn't be awake.

The minute she was gone, Klaus started for the tiny, peach-colored book into which Emily poured out her heart every night. He touched his hand to the back of the diary, and then snatched it back, his palm burning. Was he chicken because he knew Em wouldn't want him to see it? Or was he afraid of what he might read?

She shook the book and eased it open. His name was all over the place. His eyes widened, then he slapped the diary back down and went back to bed, certain that guilt was sprawled across his forehead.

"Here," Em said, breathless, crawling back into bed. She held out another candle. Klaus recognized the red one that was always on her mother's night stand. "Your turn," She tucked her feet underneath her. "Who's the prettiest girl in the village?"

"Well, that was a no-brainer. Emily would expect him to say Tatia Petrova. At least she was actually Klaus's age. But if he said Tatia, he knew Em would get mad, because he was supposed to be her best friend.

"Dare," he muttered.

"Okay." And before Emily could edit her thoughts, she told Klaus he had to kiss her.

He threw the blanket off their heads. "I what?"

"You heard me," Em said, frowning. "It's not as bad as sneaking into my parents' bedroom."

His hands were sweaty all of a sudden, so he wiped them on his knees. "Okay," he said. He leaned forward and put his mouth onto hers. Then he drew back, just as flushed as Emily. "Well," he announced, wiping his mouth with the back of his hand. "That was pretty gross."

Em gently touched her fingers to her lips. "Definitely," she whispered.

As thanks for keeping Klaus over last night, Esther agreed to take him and Emily out for a picnic. It was supposed to be a nice outing, but all Klaus and Em could see was the Creep. He lived at the very edge of town, secluded form everyone. His hair was black and greasy and he had a walleye. He couldn't have been more than 35. And right now, he was staring at them. Esther didn't seem to notice.

Emily turned around at the table, just to see where he was, and found the Creep staring directly at her with one straight eye.

Klaus sat beside her. "I think," he whispered, "he's you secret admirer."

"Stop it," Em shuddered. "You're freaking me out."

"Maybe he'll ask you parents for their blessing so he can marry you," Klaus continued. "Maybe he'll-"

"Klaus," Emily warned, punching him on the arm.

"What's going on," Esther asked.

"Nothing," they answered in unison.

Emily watched to the Creep just sit in front of house. He looked up at her, as if he could feel her eyes on him, and she immediately stared down at her sandwich.

Suddenly, Klaus leaned over to whisper again. His breath was hot in her ear. "Ultimate dare."

An ultimate dare was one that raised you in the other person's estimation by leaps and bound, if completed. Not that they were keeping count, but if they were, it would definitely put Em in the lead. She wondered if this was his way of getting back at her for the kiss last night.

The last ultimate dare had been issued by Emily. Klaus had mooned an entire group of girls, one of whom was Tatia Petrova.

She nodded.

"Go pee," he whispered. "Behind the Creep's house."

Emily smiled. All in all, it was a pretty good dare. And it nearly wasn't as bad as pulling your pants down at some teenage girls. If anyone saw, she'd just say it was an emergency, and nobody would even care. She glanced around for the Creep, because she didn't want him to know how close she actually was to him. He wasn't there; probably already gone back inside. "I have to go to the bathroom," she said to Esther and got up.

Esther wiped her mouth with her napkin. "I'll take you," she said.

"No!" Em cried. "I mean, I can go by myself."

"Alex let's you go alone?" Esther asked, raising an eyebrow.

She didn't, but Emily nodded.

Esther hesitated, obviously torn. "Alright,' she sighed.

Esther watched Em leave the table and go for the house. Then she turned her attention to Henrick, who know had just spilled apple juice on himself.

Emily made sure Klaus was watching and finally she turned to the right, right behind the Creep's house.

In less than five minutes, she slid back to the seat beside Klaus. "Nice job," he said, and touched her arm.

"It was no big deal," Emily murmured.

"Oh yeah?" he whispered. "Then why are you shaking?"

"It's nothing," she said, shrugging, but she would not look at him. She methodically ate the rest of a sandwich she could no longer taste and slowly convinced herself that she had told him the truth.

Bit longer than the others. But this is probably my favorite so far. Remember to review, you guys! :)