Chapter 48

Stand by your family

I felt the sudden tension in the room when Damon's guest walked in.

"Nice place", the blonde woman said after taking quick look around. Then she noticed me. "Hi, I'm Lexi."

I greeted her with a smile and a nod.

"She can't talk", Damon said.

Lexi turned to look at him.

"And who is she?"

Damon seemed tense. "I call her River. She's my…guest."

"Right, I see. Could you excuse us, River?"

I nodded and went to the bedroom. I didn't mean to eavesdrop but I couldn't help overhearing some parts of their conversation. Apparently they were talking about Damon's brother, "soulless, sadistic monster" as he had put it.

"Don't you think that I've tried!" Damon's voice shouted.

"He needs us. Now more than ever."

"No, Lexi, I'm done. You didn't see him."

"This is your brother we are talking about…"

"Yes, I know!"

"Then stop feeling sorry for yourself for a moment and listen to me!"

There was a lot of shouting. I felt sympathy towards Damon. Obviously he cared about his brother, but apparently he had given up on him. If I had understood correctly, they had been very close when they had still been humans. Then they had both fallen for this Katherine. It wasn't hard to see that Damon still loved her. Maybe this friend of his could at least help him to get his brother back. She certainly seemed like a determined woman. I waited until Damon finally opened the door and walked in. He looked tired. I looked at him expectantly.

"I'm an idiot", he murmured. "Why would I try to help someone who doesn't want to be helped?"

I took a step towards him and touched his shoulder. He gave me a sad smile.

"Because he is my brother. That has to count for something, right?"

I nodded. It wasn't always easy to stand by your family, no matter how much you love them, but I believed that Damon would regret if he wouldn't try to help his brother. He looked into my eyes and caressed my cheek.

"I really wish that I could keep you", he said quietly. "You are a very special girl, River. I hope you know that."

He smiled and touched my neck. I swallowed.

"It would be a lie to say that I'm not tempted… But even a monster like me is sometimes capable of doing a decent thing. You got me through one of the worst nights of my life so I guess that I owe you. I can only hope that your husband knows how lucky he is."

I looked at him for a moment to make sure that he meant what he said. He sighed.

"Oh hell…"

He pulled me closer and kissed me. I knew that it was a goodbye kiss so I didn't try to stop him. His eyes were closed when he finally pulled away.

"You taste as sweet as you smell. That lucky bastard…"

I prayed for his sake that Klaus would never hear about this. I had no wish to get Damon killed.

"Damon?" Lexi asked from the door. "Are you ready?"

"Almost", he replied and took a deep breath before he grabbed my chin and made an eye contact.

"You will forget me and this time you have spent here. All you remember is that you got out of the river by yourself but were hypothermic so Lexi nursed you back to health. Do you understand?"

I nodded. Damon turned away.

"Make sure that she gets home", he said quietly.

"Of course", she replied and took my hand. "Come on."

I looked at Damon before Lexi led me out. His back was still turned. I wished him all the best. Hopefully he could work things out with his brother and find someone who would love him. I didn't think that I would ever see him again. I shivered when Lexi and I got outside and I felt the wind on my face.

"Here", Lexi said and took her coat off. "I think you need this more than I do."

I smiled at her gratefully and wrapped the coat around me.

"Alright, let's get you home then. Where do you liv…oh right, you can't speak."

Lexi looked thoughtful. We walked across the street. I wasn't sure where we were but judging by the buildings this wasn't very pleasant neighborhood. We walked past a small kiosk when Lexi thought of something.

"I will buy a pen and some paper so you can write down your address. I can't believe that I didn't think of that…"

"Anna!"

I recognized that voice immediately. Vincent. He was next to me in a second looking at me from head to toes.

"Are you alright? Have you been injured?"

I wasn't sure which question should I answer so I nodded and signed to him that I was alright. As far as I knew he understood at least some of my signs. He was still examining me before he looked at Lexi. He moved me fluently behind his back.

"You know this man?" Lexi asked.

I nodded.

"Who are you?" Vincent asked quite rudely.

"I found her half dead near the riverbank so I helped her", Lexi replied with the same tone.

Vincent looked at me for a confirmation. I nodded.

"Thank you very much, ma'am", he said sounding a little more polite. "I have been looking for her everywhere."

"I'm glad that I could help. I was going to take her home…"

"Thank you, I'll take her to her husband."

Lexi looked curious.

"And you are?"

"I work for him", Vincent replied simply and took some bills from his pocket. "Here's for your trouble."

Before Lexi could say anything, Vincent was already leading me away.

"I'm so happy that I found you", he murmured. "And not a minute too soon."

I tried to ask what he meant but he didn't even slow down. I was starting to get scared. Had something happened to Klaus? I startled when Vincent suddenly lifted me into his arms.

"I'm sorry ma'am but we're in a hurry."

I tried to understand what was going on. I barely noticed Vincent inhaling my scent. Apparently all vampires liked to do that.

"Are you sure that you're not injured?"

I nodded. I just hoped that he would explain to me what was happening. Suddenly a car stopped next to us. Vincent opened the door and lifted me onto the backseat.

"Nice work, Vince", the driver said.

I didn't know his name but I had seen him couple of times before. When Vincent was sitting next to me I could finally ask him what was going on.

"Everything will be alright now when we found you", he said calmly. "Your husband had been a little…upset because of your disappearance but everything is fine now. You are here and you're not hurt, that's all that matters."

"Little upset…" the driver murmured but Vincent gave him a warning look.

I was really worried now. I knew how bad Klaus' temper could be. I needed to get home to him. Then I noticed that we weren't going home. I looked at Vincent when the car stopped in front of some old house.

"Wait here", Vincent said touching my shoulder softly. In the next second he was gone. I was confused. And the driver was staring at me through the rear-view mirror. I had seen that look before more times than I cared to remember. Apparently he was a young vampire; it was usually harder for them to control themselves around me. I really hoped that Vincent would hurry back. Before I even noticed that the door opened, someone yanked me out. It took few terrifying seconds before I recognized Klaus.

"Are you alright? Let me see."

He was touching my arms, stomach and legs like he would have tried to find a bruise or a wound or something. When he was finally satisfied with his inspection, he cupped my face and kissed me deeply. His hair was messy, he hadn't shaved, there were some bloodstains on his clothes and he looked exhausted. There was also something else in his eyes. Some kind of emptiness.

"My sweet girl", he murmured. "Tell me that you are mine."

I nodded.

"And you will always stay with me."

I nodded again. He wrapped his arms tightly around me. I could tell that something was really wrong. He didn't seem to want to let go of me but finally I managed to pull away. I asked had something happened to Elijah or Rebekah. Klaus' face went blank.

"They had both left", he said emotionlessly. "But you will never leave."

It sounded more like a statement than a question. I tried to ask more about Elijah and Rebekah but Klaus grabbed my hands.

"We won't talk about them anymore. For now on, there's just you and me, my love. Maybe it's better that way."

He kissed my forehead and held me tightly. I knew that things had changed for good. Maybe Klaus have had some kind of argument with his siblings. Either way it was clear that he needed me now more than ever. And I would stay with him. No matter what.