Poison & Wine - Chapter XIV

"Nik!" I squeaked as arms snatched me up from behind in the forest. I heard a low chuckle and I turned around to see those blue eyes. I studied the man's face carefully. He was at least 5'11 and had these delicate yet masculine face. He had a curled light-brown hair that went to his shoulders now and those light blue eyes that contrasted with his pearl-white skin. I could tell his anatomy is well built.

"You cheated, but I still love you, Nik," I murmured into his ear and pulled back to look at him with a smile. I slowly backed out of his arms. "But that is not very fair, is it? Looks like you miss receiving your prize." I darted off with a smirk and immediately heard him move after me.

But the forest disappeared was replaced with the lake house my family owned. I stood in the doorway with a knife and blood running down my arm. I looked to see Elijah lifeless on the gravel and the dagger poking out of his chest.

"No, no, no!" I cried, running to him. I tried to yank the dagger out, but Damon appeared in front of me, fangs drawn.

"Can't have that, can we?" He said and then looked down at the blood on my arm. He glanced back up at me before lunging at me—

I woke up to Stefan shaking me. "Andy! Andy! Wake up!" He shook me. "Are you okay?!

I blinked a couple of times and saw Elena and Bonnie in the doorway. Damon stood beside the bed. "What happened?" I asked in a small voice.

"You were screaming for Elijah—" Stefan said in a low voice. "—And for Nik to save you. From Damon."

I looked up to meet Damon's gaze but I quickly turned to the side, pulling the covers over my head. The sun hit my face, preventing me from falling back asleep.

"We're heading to school now, Andy, do you want to come?" Elena asked, and I felt a hand on my arm.

"I don't think I'm going to go today." I whispered, curling into a ball.

"Okay... Just call us if you need any of us, okay?" I nodded, squeezing my eyes closed. I heard footsteps leave the room and I sighed.

Damon and Stefan were making me stay here along with Elena. They had Elena sign the lease so she would be safe and be the only person to invite a vampire in this house. And I knew very well that after my relationship with Elijah, they no longer trusted my choice of friends. I didn't care, especially because I had once chosen them as my friends, too, if they recalled correctly.

I had something pressing down on me right now. I could see both Elijah and a man I had never seen before. Something in me said that he was someone important. I should tell then, shouldn't I?

I jumped out of bed and ran downstairs. "Stefan? Elena?"

They weren't there in the library where they normally were. Instead, Damon was reading a book. He didn't look up from it at me, just continued on reading. "May I help you?"

I shook my head, losing my nerve to say what I needed to. "So, I guess they already left?"

"Obviously," He said, slightly bitterly.

"What did I do?" I demanded, folding my arms.

"Well, that wouldn't be exactly fair, would it? To reveal everything that I know?" He looked over at me.

"Well, I can't respond when I don't know what we're speaking of," I said, walking out of the room and heading back upstairs. I went back into my room, which just happened to be right across from Damon's, and slammed the door. I sat on my bed and pulled out my phone. I called Jenna, remembering that Elena had mentioned she was upset about Isobel.

"Hi, this is Jenna. Sorry I can't answer right now. Leave a message after the beep."

"Hi, Jenna, it's Andy. I-I just wanted to say I had no clue about Isobel. Elena hadn't told me anything and I'm sorry you found out that way. We all are. Just… Just call me soon, okay? I need someone to talk to and you're the only person I feel comfortable talking to right now. I gotta go. Bye." I pressed end and exhaled. Even though she was human and had no clue about this other works, she was the only one I wanted to speak to about Elijah. I felt like she would understand in some way. Of course, I wouldn't tell her about vampires or anything else, but I could talk about Elijah.

I decided to go take a shower. After I brushed and dried my hair out, I put on a red tanktop and a pair of jeans. I headed downstairs and I heard voices.

"Okay, so we find him and then what, hmm?" I heard Elena question. "What's our plan of attack?"

"Me. I'm the plan," Bonnie responded. "He has no clue how much power I can channel. If you can find him, I can kill him."

I bit my bottom lip. Who were they speaking about?

"That's not going to be that easy. I mean, he is the biggest, baddest vampire around," I heard Alaric point out.

Damon spoke next. "Alaric has a point, I mean what if he—" I heard a commotion and turned the corner to walk into the room. Damon laid on the ground.

"Well, I was impressed."

"It doesn't matter if he's an Original. I can take down anyone who comes at me. I can kill him, Elena, I know I can." Bonnie said.

"The problem is, once again, we don't know what he looks like." Elena pointed out.

"I may have an idea," I said without thinking. All pairs of eyes looked to me. I looked at each of them, lingering on Alaric the longest because the way he was staring at me. I looked back to Elena.

"How?" She asked.

"Elijah had mentioned some things about him once. Showed me some paintings and whatnot," I lied. "If I saw him in a room full of strangers, I'd be able to point him out." I had suspicions that the man in my dream was Klaus. I'd called him Klaus before.

"What 'few things' did Elijah tell you?" Damon asked, walking up to me.

I looked up at him and folded my arms. "Nothing I'm going to have time to repeat nor am going to betray the confidence of. I mean, haven't I done enough to him already?"

"Of course," Damon folded his arms. "Do we need to have an intervention?"

I rolled my eyes. "Save yourself the trouble. Won't change how you feel and won't change how I do."

We stared at each other a second before I looked to Elena. "Don't worry, 'Lena, Elijah told me what to watch out for. If it makes you feel any better, I'm sure he's not as big and bad as everyone makes him out to be."

"Maybe you're underestimating him," Alaric said, in an almost defensive tone.

I scoffed. "I'm sure he murders carelessly and whatnot, but that doesn't make me afraid of him."

"And that's why you're my favorite human," Damon said, smirking at me.

I looked over at him with pursed lips before looking back to Alaric. "Plus, I'm not the one he's interested in," I looked over at Elena.

Elena crossed the room to me, grabbing my hand and squeezing it. "No, but you are the doppelganger of that girl, and we don't know if you're a part of the sacrifice or not."

I shook my head. "Elijah would've told me if I was meant for that."

"Ugh, we're back on that subject?" Damon groaned as he poured himself a drink.

"We know why it's not one of your favorite subjects considering what happened," I sneered, gesturing to the alcohol bottles before turning toward Elena. "So why do you guys suspect he will make a move tonight?"

"He sent a message he would be," Bonnie explained as she gathered her things.

"What, was it on a scroll, written with a quill?" I laughed slightly at that. I saw a small smile from Alaric and I smiled over at him.

"I gotta go get ready for tonight," Bonnie said as she headed out. Stefan and Damon begun talking. Elena, Alaric and I broke away from them and started our own discussion.

"What's tonight?" I asked, confused as I ran my hands through my hair, getting out some small knots.

"Sixties decade dance," Elena said.

"Ooh, I'm totally going to wear something for the eighties." I said, grinning over at her.

"You can't do that, Caroline would kill you," Elena said.

"Plus, the eighties?" Alaric shook his head. "Not a good decade."

"Uh, the best," I argued. "That was the decade I should've been in." He stared strangely at me a moment. I shrugged at him. "Well, that or the 1800s."

"Anyways, I know there's an extra costume around here you can use. I'll get it for you," She said. "We'll get ready together."

"Actually," I stopped her before she could walk off. "I was wanting to ask you about the whole thing with Jonas."

"Andy, now's really not the right time," She said, glancing away nervously. "I'll be right back, okay?"

I frowned and nodded. "Fine. Okay." She walked off and I looked over at Alaric. I ran a hand through my curls. "I'll see you later, Ric."

"Right," He said just as Damon walked up.

"So, Miss Andy, would you do me the honor of escorting me to escort you tonight?" He asked.

"Frankly, my dear, I'd rather dance with the devil." I said before leaving to go find Elena. I heard Alaric chuckle.

~ * • ° • ° • * ~

Elena and I got ready together and we rode with Damon and Stefan to the school. I was dressed as a twiggy hippy while Elena was a sexy hippy. I didn't have the need to flaunt my body, so I let her have that costume.

The car ride was awkward, especially since I was sitting very close to Damon. Our arms touched and I remembered there was a time when my heart would almost stop at his touch. Now, it was nothing but sheer annoyance.

We got to the school and Damon walked ahead while I hung behind Stefan and Elena, who were all giggly and smiling at one another. My heart ached. Could I have had that with Elijah? Maybe I was reading into our relationship too much. We got to Bonnie and Jeremy. I hugged my little brother while the rest greeted one another.

"How are you?" He asked.

"I've been better," I shrugged. "And yourself?"

"I've been better myself." We smiled at one another before the rest of the group pulled us back into the conversation.

"You guys ready to do this?" Stefan asked.

"It's bound to happen sooner or later. Let's just get this over with," I said, walking away from them toward the school.

We got into the dance and walked around the group of dancing kids, and I searched for those blue eyes, but didn't see them. We stopped in front of the stage and I caught the last of what the girl was saying into the mic.

"This is for Elena and Andy. From Klaus."

I looked up to the girl and then to Elena. She seemed stunned while I wasn't capable of feeling anything other than anger at this moment. "He's just trying to bait us," I pointed out.

"Definitely a lame, cheap shot," Damon nodded in agreement.

"I know everyone here." Elena said.

"Maybe he's not. Just wants us to think he is." Stefan suggested.

"It's a party, people. Blend," Damon said, grabbing my hands. "Let him come to us. Let's go see Ric real quick."

I tried yanking away from him but his strength didn't allow me to. Even as we stopped in front of Alaric I couldn't get away. "Let go of me," I growled at him.

"I need to talk to you, hold on a moment," He turned to Alaric.

"Special dedication, huh? This guy's a little twisted," Alaric commented.

I snorted and Alaric glanced over at me, but Damon spoke before I could. "I'm not impressed."

Alaric seemed surprised. "No?"

"Seeing someone's head knocked of their shoulders is a little twisted," I said. "A special dedication? That's nothing. Like I said before, I'm not afraid."

"Let me know if you see anything out of whack," Damon said before spinning me off. I was pressed against his chest and tried to push away, but couldn't.

"So wanna explain your dream?" He asked.

"What are you talking about?"

"'I love you Nik,'" He said in a girly voice.

"It was just a dream, Damon, not that it's any of your business, anyway," I said, looking around the room as he moved me around.

"Actually, you're of my concern, so I think it is my business." I rolled my eyes. "You know more about Klaus than you're willing to tell us, aren't you?" He asked and waited a moment for my answer. He grabbed my arms and made me look at him. "What do you know?"

"I promised Elijah I wouldn't say anything," I finally answered him, bitterness lacing my tone. "And here I thought that you were just trying to be a friend. Instead, you only want useless information about Klaus."

He stared hard at me a moment before looking over at someone and gesturing them to come over. A few seconds later, Alaric came. "Watch her and do not let her out of your sight," Damon growled, handing me over to Alaric before running off.

Alaric and I stood in silence. My blood was boiling as I was finding a way to escape Alaric. I decided to run and almost did when he spoke up, distracting me.

"Should we dance while we're waiting?"

I looked at him in disbelief for a second before shrugging. A slow dance was on at the time and we began dancing. Ric was more like a father to me and, considering our relation through Isobel, he technically was.

"So you are truly not afraid of Klaus?" Alaric asked, breaking the silence.

"No, I'm not," I said. "I've known enough evil to know that there's always a cause for it. Whether it's because a parent's treatment towards the kid or death of a loved one. So, I believe if we crack him with whatever – whoever – that person is, he'll be easy to take down. Sorry, that was a long answer for a short question."

"Don't apologize," He said, though it was obvious it caught him off-guard. "So what led you to believe it's someone instead of something?"

"Ah, well, you know my whole situation with Elijah," I sighed, brushing back my hair. "He all but said it."

"How did you even manage to get close to him? A man of his age would have to be paranoid about his company."

I shook my head. "Elijah was – is – a good man. I was never a threat to him and he saw that… " I trailed off, looking away.

"Did you really care that deeply for him?" He asked. "Are you even sure he cared for you?"

"I don't know, Ric, but what I felt was real," I stepped back from him. "And with your past relationships, I'm not sure you should be questioning mine. You aren't my father." I turned around and walked away.

~ * • ° • ° • * ~

I walked into the familiar apartment.

After the dance with Alaric, I decided to ditch and go to Jonas' apartment. I looked around at all of books, mainly of history, and made my way back to what I instantly recognized as Elijah's room by the suits. I walked over to the bed and laid down.

I missed him so badly, but I knew I needed to let him go, and just deal with Klaus. But that was hard, being around the people who forced me into it. I needed to make the decision for after we dealt with Klaus; would I stay with them, or would I drop them completely, and sever all ties with them? As much as I loved my family and friends, I knew if I continued in the supernatural world I would be unsafe.

After Klaus is gone, I decided, snuggling under the covers. Then I'll decide.

~ * • ° • ° • * ~

The End of Chapter XIV