A/N: Thanks to all the reviewers, followers and favorites! You're all awesome and deserve your own personal Klaus (or Elijah, whichever you prefer)!

I felt like updating again, so here's this chapter... I don't think many of you will be happy, but the person dug their own grave on this one. Enjoy!

Poison & Wine - Chapter XLIX

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I wrapped my jacket around myself even tighter as I climbed out of my car. It was cold and the air caused my nose to redden.

Two weeks had come and gone by quickly. It was already hitting Christmas Eve, which was only two days away, and I was excited as I stared up at the decorated mansion to say the least. I decorated Klaus' mansion on the inside and the out. It was just too tempting not to do so.

In the time that I wasn't in school, work, or at a therapy session - which was actually proving pretty useful nowadays - I divided my time between my family and Klaus. When I wasn't spending time with Jeremy, I was with Klaus and had succeeded in convincing him to let me get him a gift. I had gotten what I thought was the perfect gift for him - a brown leather necklace that had a wooden wolf at the end. He said he didn't need anything huge, so I had gotten him this and some art things, but I had another thing in mind, but I wasn't sure whether or not I was going to do that.

When he asked what I wanted, I said I didn't want anything that he could give me. He insisted that he most certainly could and I revealed that all I wanted for Christmas was for all the people I love - including the ones I have lost - to be in one room and be able to get along. That shut him up pretty fast.

In the past few days, Klaus had become slightly more distant with me, but I blamed that on because he hadn't had someone to celebrate Christmas with in so long and I would be lying if I said that I didn't want Elijah here for him, though a part of me did want Elijah here for me.

Currently I had just gotten off of work and was heading inside the mansion. I had gotten off of work early because I was sick with a cold. As I approached the mansion, a hybrid - Adrian was his name, I believe - passed me with a grimace plastered on his face and Klaus' snowflake painting. "What's going on?" I questioned, stopping in front of him but he didn't even answer before he disappeared. "Okay, then..." I muttered as headed into the house. I went straight to where I knew Klaus would be, but I expect to see another person in there with him.

"I'm not here to bond, Klaus," I walked in the room just as Stefan spoke and placed the sword back on the table.

"Oh, on the contrary, I think right now I'm the best friend you've got," Klaus said before he looked over at me with a smile. "Hello, love. I thought you were working?"

I exhaled as I took off my gloves before I sneezed into my elbow. "Well, Jack Frost decided to be an SOB today and I've got a cold."

"Would you like me to fix you some soup?"

"No, thank you," I shook my head and rubbed my raw nose. "I have a cold and the strongest headache. Why was Adrian carrying your painting? I thought that you were going to bring it to the fundraiser."

Klaus' smile slightly faltered. "Change of plans,"

I rolled my eyes and looked at Stefan. "Why are you here?"

"Good to see you, too, Andy,"

"Well, I figured you'd be avoiding my family like the plague with everything that's going on with Damon and Elena," I said, sniffing and rubbing my temples.

"Why would I? I'm trying to help find the cure,"

"...Oh," I mouthed before turning to face Klaus. "I'm going to go see my brother, okay? Just for a few minutes because I don't want him to get sick."

"Okay," Klaus said as he crossed the room to me. "But be careful. I don't trust that he won't hurt you."

I rolled my eyes as I pulled him into my arms. "If anyone, it's you that needs to be careful. I don't trust that someone won't try and hurt you again," I gave Stefan a harsh glance.

"I'm the Original hybrid, love. They've tried twice, and failed both times. I do not think they'll be successful a third time," He said as he pulled back to look at me. "But be careful for me."

"Of course," I nodded with a smile before I left.

When I got to the lake house where Jeremy was currently staying with Bonnie, Damon's car was parked outside of the house and Elena stood with Damon at the door of the house. Switching off my car, I quickly jumped out and headed towards them, pointedly ignoring the exact place in which I had daggered Elijah all that time ago.

"What's going on?" I demanded as I reached them. "Where's Jeremy?"

Elena glanced at me before looking back in the house while Damon ignored me. She spoke to someone inside the house, "This is your house now, Jer." I saw Jeremy step into my view and he glanced at me before looking back at Elena as she continued to speak. "You have to invite me in."

Jeremy simply stared at her but didn't invite her in. A new familiar voice came from behind him. "Go ahead, Jeremy. Invite her in," Professor Shane? Why was he here?

Jeremy continued to stare at Elena and hesitated for a moment longer before finally giving in. "You can come in,"

Elena enters the house with Damon following. I walked into the house to see what was going to happen next. Elena stopped in front of Jeremy and looked up at him. She gently touched his arm and walked past him, setting her bags on a counter. I watched as Jeremy looked down at his arm where she touched him and suddenly grabbed the small wooden stake from his waistband and attempted to stake Elena. Thankfully she reacted quickly and grabbed him by the wrist.

"Jeremy!" Bonnie and I both chastised.

Elena twisted Jeremy's arm around and placed it behind his back. I walked over and managed to take the stake from him while Elena put him in a chokehold. Jeremy struggled to release himself from her grip. Bonnie, Damon, and Shane all looked on in surprise, although Elena clearly had him under control.

"Jesus, Jer!" I breathed, sliding the stake into my jacket pocket. "You could've killed her..." He glared at me but remained silent. Angry, I turned to face Bonnie. "What the hell are they doing here?"

After explaining what they were going to do I decided that I was going to help so I texted Klaus and told him I wasn't going to the Winter Wonderland fundraiser and that I'd see him later at home. Now, Shane - which was what he insisted I call him instead of Professor Shane - had started up the pendulum of a metronome which ticked slowly back and forth. There were also candles lit around the room. Shane tightened some thick leather straps around Jeremy's wrist which tied Jeremy down into a chair. Jeremy had his eyes shut and was in a trance. Bonnie, Elena, and I all sat next to each other and across from Jeremy.

Shane began to speak to us. "All Jeremy feels when he sees a vampire is a burning desire to kill them, even if consciously he doesn't want to. As in your case-" he looked at Elena, "-it's his subconscious that's calling the shots."

"Persuasion helps reverse your subconscious thoughts," Bonnie explained.

"Think of it as kind of a conditioned response, right? See vampire, kill vampire. What I'm doing is creating kind of a middle step. It's like a detour, where his subconscious learns to recognize you as someone he loves, someone he wants to protect. And that gives him a choice. He can choose to take the detour instead of the conditioned response," Shane said as he sat on the table next to Jeremy and spoke to Elena. "Okay. Talk to him. He'll listen."

"I'm not sure what to say," She admitted.

"You chose to do this here at your family's vacation house, right? So, maybe just start by telling him why," Shane suggested.

Elena nodded, looking over at our brother with a hopeful expression. "Every holiday, we came here. This place was family. And when mom and dad died, Jenna made us come here and we thought it was an awful idea, but it was like they were here with us," Jeremy opened his eyes and looked at Elena. From the corner of my eye I saw Bonnie smile and look from Jeremy to Elena. Elena continued speaking, "They would have wanted us to stick together, Jer. To fight for each other, no matter what." Elena became silent and Jeremy continued to look at her. I grabbed her hand tightly and squeezed.

"Jeremy, how do you feel about Elena right now?" Shane asked as Elena and I both looked at him, eagerly.

Jeremy began speaking. "She ruined my and Andy's lives. She's not even my real sister. She's just the reason that everyone I've ever loved has died. She means nothing to me. I will kill her even if that means I die myself,"

Elena started to get upset and I looked away from Jeremy with a frown. Shane rapped his knuckles against the wooden table which brings Jeremy out of his trance. He looked from Shane to Elena and I before asking, "Did it work?"

We did not respond and had the disappointment in the results of this hypnosis on our faces. "I think I need some air," Elena stood and quickly disappeared.

"What happened?" Jeremy asked with worry. I shook my head before going onto the balcony. Elena was on the port with Damon. Watching them for a moment I realized who I needed to be here with me on Christmas, but I was unsure if he'd be willing or not.

I sighed as I pulled out my phone and dialed the number. Any time was as good as now. There were a few rings before the person I was looking for picked up. "Hello?"

"Emmeline, hey... I hope I'm not out of line when asking this... But do you think you could do me a favor?"

After our conversation, Emmeline ended up delivering by text, even if she was a little reluctant to. Before two o'clock I was pacing around outside the lake house in the cold, debating on what I should do. It didn't help that I was waiting to hear what they had decided to do on the Jeremy wanting to kill every vampire in the world matter. Just as I was about to hit dial, Shane's voice stopped me.

"You're Klaus' girlfriend, right?" He asked as he approached me from behind. I spun around to face him.

"What? No, Klaus and I aren't together," I shook my head, my brow furrowed.

"Well, that's not they make it seem like," He gestured over his shoulder back at the lake house.

I scowled briefly at the house before turning away and looking out at the lake. "Well, they all gossip like old women,"

He chuckled and walked to my side. "They also say you're not in favor of finding this cure,"

"I'm not," I snapped, then sighed. "I didn't mean to snap, it's just... Jeremy's sanity is at stake here all so Elena can be human again, but she'll still be with a vampire. If she is going to risk our brother's life, I think that she should at least give up the Salvatores so she doesn't get turned back into a vampire."

"I can see the angle you're looking at this from,"

I looked over at him. "I don't trust you to save my brother either, Shane, and I don't trust your motives,"

He exhaled. "This Silas guy has been a myth―"

"Silas? Who the hell is Silas?"

"Wait, they didn't tell you?"

I looked back at the house. "No, no they did not."

After Shane had told me all about Silas and the cure, I marched back into the house and ended up on the balcony which Elena and Damon were standing on. "Andy, what's wrong?" Elena asked as I bursted through the doors.

I walked dangerously close to her, a scowl on my face. "Silas," I spat out.

"Andy―"

"No, don't even argue with me on this, Elena! Silas is over two-thousand years old and you're letting a professor lead you to him?!" I shouted, my hands moving around as I did so.

"You should be happy, Andy. He's your kind of guy," Damon said and I glared over at him.

"Jeremy wants to do this, Andy, I can't stop him," Elena sighed. "Plus, it's the cure. Stefan, Caroline, me, and even Damon, could take it. We could all be human again."

I growled, shaking my head. "If that means disturbing a potentially dangerous two-thousand year old vampire and loosing my brother in the process, count me out. I don't want to watch as you destroy everything." I snapped before going back into the house. As I walked back through, I saw Jeremy was back in that hypnosis state with Shane near him. Bonnie was on the phone.

"Yeah, it should take him down even though the daggers don't work on him," Bonnie said into the phone.

My heart nearly stopped. They were going after Klaus. Again.

I was in that temporary moment of feeling the despair I did when I thought he was dead. I knew I couldn't let that happen again so I quickly snuck by without being detected by Bonnie and hurried to my car, pressing my phone up to my ear. It rung a few times before going to voicemail.

"Klaus, call me back now! They're planning something, and they're going to hurt you. Klaus, please, please call me back and let me know you're okay," I ended the call as I climbed into my car. When I went tried start up my car, it sputtered. Looking up at the house I saw Bonnie watching me through a window before she disappeared. Rushing out of the car I went into the house with my anger boiling. "Bonnie Bennett!" I shrieked as I searched for her. Elena ended up coming downstairs with Damon instead. "Where is she?!" I demanded.

"I'm so sorry, Andy," was the last thing I heard before everything went black.

I woke up in a bedroom in the lake house. Looking outside the window, I saw it was now dark. Instantly, I started sobbing. I hadn't felt anything on this level before. I felt so sad and lonely. I instantly knew these were not my own feelings, but Klaus', which was bad.

I stood and ran downstairs to see Bonnie and Jeremy looking at Christmas decorations. I instantly lunged at her but was held back by Jeremy. "What did you do to him?! What did you do?!" I screamed with agony and tear filled eyes.

"Andy, I―" Bonnie tried to explain but I didn't let her.

"You can rot in hell with Esther and Mikael!" I shrieked as I struggled against Jeremy's grasp.

Damon and Elena appeared, looking sad. "Andy―" Elena tried as well.

"I hate all of you! I never want to see you again!" I cried as I stopped fighting against Jeremy and slid to the ground. I started sobbing uncontrollably, and Jeremy got onto the ground and pulled me into his grasp. "It's not fair―" I choked out between my sobs.

"I know, I'm sorry, Andy, I'm so sorry," He whispered.

"I want Elijah," I cried out finally. "I need my Elijah."

"We should get her back," I heard Damon say from somewhere.

I heard someone agree and then I was lifted off the ground, my once loud sobs now soft as I was wondering when I would feel Klaus' physical pain, but that never came. Once we got outside, I got Jeremy to sit me down so I could walk by myself. While I slowly moved at my own pace, Jeremy moved and opened the driver door to Bonnie's car for her.

"Andy,"

I jumped at hearing the voice. Turning, I saw Klaus standing there and I slung myself into his arms without even thinking.

"You have no idea how happy I am to see you," I breathed out, squeezing him tightly but I was confused when he didn't hug me back and when I felt something wet on his clothes. Pulling back I saw it was blood and it was now on me. "Oh, my God, Klaus! What happened?"

"Tyler Lockwood and my hybrids-" He stared at me with a detached expression"-but I took care of my hybrids. I just hate the accident Mayor experienced."

I stared silently at him for a long moment. "Wait, what?"

"Yes, it seems Carol had drunk a little too much at the fundraiser and drowned the fountain," He said it smugly, indicating it was not an accident.

A cry escaped my lips. "Y-you killed Carol," I realized, backing away from him in horror. "You killed her... " I felt the tears soak my cheeks. "How could you do it?"

"Quite simple, actually, she was begging for Tyler's life to be spared-" Klaus started advancing on me like I was his next victim. "-and I decided it would be best to make him suffer before I rip his heart from his chest."

I stopped, allowing Klaus to get close to me again. This wasn't the Klaus that I had grown fond of and would mourn for ages, this is the Klaus who killed my aunt. "You're a monster," I choked out as I stared up at him with horror and fright, managing to catch a glimpse of my Klaus in him. It was obvious for that spilt second that he saw that I truly believed he was a monster, but it was broken by our audience.

"Leave her alone," Elena said and started to take a step towards me, but Klaus growled at her, his fangs flashing.

Klaus looked over at her. "I will tear your heart out and your sire's if you say another word or take another step," He growled, looking back at me. "You should've seen as the life left Carol's body, Andy. It was poetic as she struggled against my grasp for her life... But what I'm concerned with now is who do you suppose is next to make Tyler suffer?" He leaned down so we were eye level and staring straight into each other's eyes. "Caroline, that little wolf of his... or you?" He touched my throat with his lips, and my heart nearly stopped when I felt his fangs against my skin.

"Please don't hurt me, Nik," I whimpered and he tensed up instantly, pulling back to look me in eyes.

"Go," He ordered after a few moments of staring at me. I didn't see any of my Klaus in his eyes as he looked at me, and my heart was beating quickly with fear. Before he could change his mind I hurried into the lake house, a place he had yet to be invited in.

As soon as I passed the threshold, sobs erupted from my lips and I collapsed on the ground.

Carol was dead, and Klaus had killed her. Yeah, I definitely needed Elijah now.

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The End of Chapter XLIX