Disclaimer: I own nothing except my Original Character, Alix. Anything from TVD and Supernatural belongs to their creators/owners. If you enjoy this, leave a review and if you don't, leave a review but please be courteous.

"All I want is to feel my heart beating

I'm beating it to death

I remember when running forever

Was the only escape I could get

If only I knew what that meant

During the highest tide, while the water is rising

Will you keep me in your sight?"

The Wealthy West "The Highest Tide"

If anyone has stopped and asked for an explanation as to why she was here, Alix didn't think she could honestly scrape together a good enough reason to explain it; she didn't even understand why she was here. This place only served to remind her of something she was desperate to forget and never think upon again. Despite numerous attempts to expel this place from her memory, she eventually surrendered to the pull and found herself here; standing outside the weather worn structure she'd been 'rescued' from just hours prior.

In the hour since her arrival, all she had managed to do was idly stand a few feet away from the house, probably looking more than a little suspicious to anyone who happened to drive by. She couldn't bring herself to trudge any further than where she was; so she just stood there, listlessly staring at the door the same door that currently held Elijah's lifeless body. The longer she continued to stare at the door, the more frequently the events from earlier came to her, the images flashing before her eyes.

She watched from the spot where Damon had deposited her as Stefan charged full speed at Elijah, the force knocking them both down the grand staircase before crashing onto the floor. Elijah, being older, required less time to recover as he stood up, prepared to unleash his counter attack on the younger vampire still recuperating. The next moment, it was as if time slowed to a snail's pace in order to forever embed that precise moment into her subconscious.

She watched in anguish, unable to stop her best friend from taking away the one shot she had at finally linking the missing pieces of her life. Damon blurred in front of his brother, using a makeshift stake, he thrust it deep into Elijah's stomach, twisting and turning the large piece of wood until it punctured his heart. Using all the strength he could summon, Damon pushed the Original backwards until he was literally pinned to the door.

Even now, hours later, Alix could still feel the icy chill of the numbness that washed over her as Elijah's body turned an ashy grey, the veins beneath his skin darkening as they painted across his features.

Excluding the obvious fact that Elijah was a direct link to Alix's past, she didn't know him well enough to understand why she felt this deep, gut-wrenching sadness that seemed to viciously tear at her heart. It was the type of sadness that slowly and subtly melted into a blinding fury that boiled beneath the surface of her skin anytime she looked at Damon or Stefan.

Deep in the back of her mind, she knew they weren't aware of her 'supposed' relationship to the Original, that she needed him alive. They did what came naturally to them, eliminating what appeared to be a threat against one of their own. It was because of that fact, her rational side wouldn't allow her to fault them entirely for their actions.

However, Alix wasn't particularly known for always being rational, a trait her brothers would gladly vouch towards. There was a peculiar rage that dwelled deep within her, threatening to consume her whenever she found herself in the same room as the trio. It reached a startling point where Alix would often entertain the idea of torturing them, a sense of elation filling her at the idea of causing them pain. That being something that was completely out of her character, she decided it was not only in her best interest but the interest of those around her if she no longer resided in the boarding house until she got a handle on her wayward emotions. After changing into her own clothes, Alix left a short note for Damon, informing him that she'd be staying at the rental she'd gotten until further notice.

Shaking her head, Alix scoffed at how ridiculous she was acting, telling herself to just get the hell in there. Approaching the door, she tentatively pushed against it, using just enough force to create a small opening big enough for her to slip in without disturbing Elijah's body too much.

Once inside, Alix squinted, trying to see in the now darkened house. Realizing that she'd need a light source, she reached into her coat pocket, pulling out a flashlight. Turning it on, she continued on her journey to find out why she was called here until the heel of her boot caught on something, causing Alix to trip.

After recovering from her near death experience, Alix cast the light down towards her feet to see what had nearly done her in. The color drained from her face to see it was the stake Damon had used to kill Elijah. Whipping the light around to the door, her eyes bulged to discover that his body was no longer where she'd last seen it; in fact, it wasn't anywhere...because it was gone.

Alix tried to feign off the wave of uneasiness that swept over her, trying to figure out what kind of weird shit was going on. Not wanting to be caught with her pants down, Alix reached into the back of her jeans, grabbing the silver angelic blade she'd stashed there. Gripping it tightly, she cautiously moved further into the foyer.

As she neared the sitting room, her senses picked up on the presence of something or someone rushing up behind her. Whatever it was, it was moving at a rapid pace. Without a second thought, Alix whipped around, ready to attack, but instead yelled in utter disbelief to see Elijah, alive, looking more than a little perplexed to find himself eye level with the tip of her blade.

"Elijah?!"

"Alixiah." Elijah nodded, his demeanor and tone remaining eerily calm.

"What the hell?!" She exclaimed, narrowing her eyes at him. "Aren't you supposed to be dead? I saw Damon kill you."

Alix slowly lowered the blade only a little. She kept it within striking distance in the event that the person standing in front of her wasn't Elijah. It was a painful lesson she learned the hard way, one she wasn't likely to ever forget.

Elijah smirked. "It takes more than some flimsy piece of wood to kill an Original."

Alix stood there, looking at Elijah like he'd just grown a third head. Granted, she remembered Rose telling her that an Original was much more resilient than the average vampire; it unnerved her how blase he was about it. The damn thing was a coat rack, not some flimsy stick someone picked up off the ground.

"Of course, it does." Alix muttered, lowering the blade to her side. She felt relieved that he wasn't dead though it did make her feel a little guilty for her less than friendly behavior towards the Salvatores.

"What are you doing here, Alixiah?" Elijah inquired, watching her curiously.

That was the one question she couldn't answer.

"You know, I honestly couldn't tell you, " She replied with a lackluster laugh. "After I was dragged back to Mystic Falls, I left the boarding house to stay at my rental, hoping to drown myself in some research for a friend to take my mind off what happened. The more I tried to avoid thinking about this place, the stronger it pushed back. Then, next thing I know, I'm standing outside looking like a damn creeper."

Alix didn't know why she was so open with him; it was like she just vomited the information without any kind of warning, which in her case could be dangerous. God help her if he asked any kind of personal question.

Elijah stared blankly at Alix, unsure of how to respond. His eyes soon drifted to the blade in her hand. "What is that?"

"Oh, this is uh...it's a special weapon call an angelic blade." She stated blandly, wishing she could've slapped her hand over her mouth. Why couldn't she have just said something like 'it's a weapon forged in the fires of Mount Doom?' She was thankful she didn't go into greater detail about the weapon, he probably wouldn't take too kindly to almost being skewered by a blade with a high potential to actually inflict some damage to him.

"Look, I don't really know anything about you aside from the fact that you've been stalking me in my dreams and that you're my supposed 'husband'. I'm also pretty sure that you're in the dark about me as well, so maybe we should exchange some information to help fill in the blanks." Alix rambled, biting her lip nervously.

Elijah couldn't help but smile at how out of her element she acted, reminding him of the first time he'd met her. At first, she was timid, very soft-spoken and somewhat reserved. But as he grew to know her, he realized it was the mask she hid behind; she possessed a sharp wit and tongue, he found that her love was as fierce and constant as her loyalty.

"I would like that, but before we can do that, I have a rather pressing appointment with an acquaintance of mine that would require your presence if you don't have any prior commitments."

Alix blushed in spite of herself; if it didn't make her look like a fool in front of Elijah, she was quite sure she would've openly swooned.

"Well, I suppose I could spare some time out of my ridiculously busy schedule just for you." Alix huffed with a smile. She moved to link their arms together when a pungent odor swept heavily into the room. It was a rancid smell that slapped you in the face with its presence to the point where you could literally taste it in your mouth. Judging from Elijah's exaggerated grimace, she wasn't the only one to notice it.

Elijah brought his hand up to his nose to mask some of the smell. "What is that atrocious stench?"

It was the kind of smell that once you encountered it, you never forgot it, kind of like burnt flesh. Alix recognized the aroma, something she'd encountered more times than she personally ever wanted to. The smell of pure acidic sulfur was something a hunter only ever encountered if there was demonic activity afoot.

"That would be the delightful scent of Eau de Sulfur." Alix replied sarcastically, her eyes beginning to water as the smell intensified.

Her eyes scanned across the foyer, frantically searching for the origin of the stench. As her notorious luck would have it, she didn't have to look long for the source to physically manifest itself...in quite possibly the worst way. A deep feral growl reverberated loudly from the sitting room behind them. Alix's body tensed up instantly as recognition sent an icy chill down the column of her spine.

She now understood what pulled her here.

The hairs on the back of Alix's neck prickled, the atmosphere becoming thick, an electrified energy filling the room. She heard the heavy, deliberate steps the creature made, its predatory stride asserting itself as the dominant species. Alix looked to Elijah, his brow furrowed in confusion. He could clearly hear the sounds but lacked the sight to see the hideous thing creating the disturbance.

A switch flipped inside Alix's head, changing her whole demeanor in a matter of seconds. Gone was the girl who was shy and clumsy, and in its place was the hunter, the fighter.

"How fast can an Original run?" Alix whispered, trying not to draw any more unwanted attention their way as she began to formulate a plan. Elijah quirked an eyebrow at her as if he assumed she was setting him up for a joke. She shot him back a 'just answer the fucking question' look.

"I'd say I can move rather quickly," He replied tersely. "Why on earth would you ask?"

"Because there's a hellhound in the room behind us, and I need you to quickly get the hell out of here." She explained, her serious tone leaving no doubt that this wasn't a joke.

"Are you actually suggesting that I run with my tail tucked between my legs like a coward, leaving you behind with that thing...alone?" Elijah glared, clenching his jaw tightly.

"I'm sorry, what part of that sounded anything remotely like a suggestion?" Alix shot back. "I need you to stow that chivalrous pride of yours for the time being because that thing will not hesitate to rip you into itty bitty bloody pieces to get what it came for...which would be me. Despite the fact that you're a powerful, all-knowing Original, you clearly can't see it, which you should be thankful fo such small mercies."

Alix let out a heavy sigh, touching the side of his face as she continued. "Elijah, I've dealt with this kind of thing before, so that technically makes me the only qualified candidate in the vicinity to take care of it."

"But-" Elijah started to protest but pressed his lips thinly as Alix shot him a glare.

"I swear to you that I will explain things, but right now I need you to trust what I'm saying. I can't concentrate with you here." She pleaded, holding her breath.

Elijah stayed silent for a long moment as if he was battling against his own nature. Finally, he agreed with a curt nod, his eyes blazing with utter contempt towards what he was about to do. It went against his very nature, everything he stood for; both as a human and a vampire.

As he turned to prepare himself, an idea suddenly sprung into Alix's head.

"Hey, give me your phone." She said abruptly. Elijah looked bewildered as he reached into his breast pocket, pulling out his phone as Alix reached for her, hastily exchanging their phones.

"I'm switching phones with you so I can call you once everything's done," She explained. A ghost of a smile flashed across Elijah's face before it quickly faded. "Now, when I count to three, you haul that delectable ass of yours out the door like a bat out of hell."

There was still an air of confliction and reservation surrounding Elijah, anyone could clearly see he was uncomfortable with Alix's request, but he knew she was right; he couldn't very well fight something he couldn't see. Alix shot him a reassuring smile as she held up her hands for his count.

'1...2...3'

Giving Alix one last concerned look, Elijah flew out the door in a blur, leaving her completely alone with the savage hell beast. Focusing her attention, she inhaled deeply as she tightened her grip on the blade. She quickly turned around, expecting to make the first strike, only to find herself thrown to the ground as the beast wasted no time advancing.

Alix hit the ground harshly, her bones jarring violently as the blade flew from her grasp, skidding across the floor of the foyer to the foot of the stairs. Finding herself weaponless, she did the only thing she could to protect herself; she went for the throat. Alix's hand latched tightly onto the creature's throat as it hovered above her, struggling to keep its salivating mouth from sinking into her flesh.

The beast was clearly pissed about being held back by some puny half-breed as it moved its large paw onto her shoulder. Placing its full weight behind it, the creature pushed against her shoulder until it was pinned to the ground. Taking advantage of the situation, it sunk its razor-like talons into the flesh of Alix's shoulder, intentionally flexing its digits, shredding the muscle until she cried out in pain as her grip faltered.

Seeing that Alix was momentarily paralyzed by the searing pain emanating from the wound, the hound advanced even more, bringing its glistening teeth mere centimeters from her neck. Its slimy tongue traced along the skin that covered her carotid artery as if it were marking the kill spot. Alix forced herself to push through the debilitating pain to land a harsh blow to the side of its head with her uninjured hand. With it momentarily distracted, Alix brought her legs up, nestling them against its ribcage. Using this as leverage, she kicked out, launching the creature off of her.

With the knowledge that her window to make her next move was rapidly closing, Alix rolled over and pushed herself up onto her feet, sprinting across the foyer to the stairs, picking up the blade with relative ease. No sooner did she have the blade nestled in the palm of her hand, a venomous snarl echoed from behind her. Alix looked over her shoulder, watching as it got to its feet, kicking and scraping its feet against the ground, ready to charge full speed at her.

Turning around, Alix ran full speed towards it as it lunged. About mid-way, Alix kicked her legs out from under her, sliding underneath the beast's large body as it leaped into the air. Mustering her strength, Alix thrust the blade upwards into its chest, savagely dragging the sharp blade down to its stomach. Alix shifted slightly out of the way as thick, black sulfuric smelling poured profusely onto the floor, some of it splattering back onto her.

Tossing the fresh corpse off her, Alix laid there motionless, her ragged breathing slowly returning to normal as the pain from her shoulder returned ten-fold. Bringing a hand to wipe away the tears, she willed herself to turn over, gingerly getting to her feet. Her body swayed from the combination of exertion and blood loss as she staggered towards the door.

Alix stood on the porch, allowing the silence of the evening envelop her as she waited to see if any other supernatural creatures were planning on popping out of the woodwork. While she was grateful that she survived this encounter, Alix knew she was going to have to call Bobby and the others. She could easily predict how that conversation was going to go; Bobby would call her an 'idjit' for not being more perceptible, Sam would ask if she was okay and Dean...Dean would demand that she come home immediately or he would drag her back himself.

Pushing those thoughts aside, Alix reached into her coat pocket, thankful to see Elijah's phone had also survived the scuffle. She chuckled at how ironic it was that a 1,000-year-old vampire owned a smartphone while she stuck to the more practical style of phones, it was a quirk that Sam was hell-bent on breaking. As she dialed her number, she wondered how far Elijah had managed to get, finding herself thoroughly surprised when he answered on the second ring.

"Alixiah?"

"The one and only, unless you know another Alixiah, which would really confuse this whole situation we've found ourselves in." Alix rambled.

"Are you alright?"

"I'm pretty confident we wouldn't be having this current conversation if I wasn't," She replied sarcastically, earning a low growl that nearly vibrated through the phone. "Whoa, calm down there, Dracula. I'm fine, alright; just a few minor scratches, which is par for the course."

It wasn't an outright lie; the gaping wound on her shoulder was already beginning to heal. Hopefully by the time she met up with Elijah, there would be nothing but an angry red mark that would eventually fade like all the rest...except one.

"Shall I come back and pick you up?" Elijah asked, causing Alix to bite her lip to keep from scoffing.

"Thank you, but I got that under control." She replied coolly. "What do you say to giving me the address of where you are and I'll show you a really neat magic trick?"

There was a pregnant pause that caused Alix to worry slightly. Finally, Elijah relented, conveying the address as she kept him occupied with idle chit-chat. In the blink of an eye, Alix 'zapped' herself to the location he'd given, standing in the shadows a few feet from him.

When she was a child, Alix would teleport herself from one place to another, giving her foster mother and teachers a heart attack. Over the years, she learned it was something she inherited from her father though she'd never met him.

Alix quietly moved closer towards Elijah, having since already ended the phone call so as not to give away her presence. As she slowly approached him, she took a moment to fully take in the view in front of her. Elijah clearly had impeccable taste when it came to his clothing style. She wondered if he was always this put together. Alix had a thing for men in well-tailored suits; it had the same effect on her that lingerie did to men.

She mentally slapped herself, reminding herself this was not the time to frolic through the forest of Debauchery like Little Red on her way to Grandma's house; there were more important things to focus on rather than pondering what he looked like underneath that suit of his.

"You know, you're giving vampires a bad reputation. I thought you were supposed to have superb hearing and sense of smell." Alix mused with a grin.

Elijah quickly spun around, looking thoroughly surprised that she'd managed to sneak up on him. His face dropped as he took in her disheveled appearance, causing her to glance down and curse.

Elijah closed the distance between them, blurring to her as his eyes wildly scanned over every inch of her. As he saw the shredded fabric of her purple flannel button up at the shoulder, his brow creased as his lips pressed into a thin line. He reached up, gently caressing the red welt that was the only physical evidence of where the wound had been.

Alix placed her hands on either side of his face, lifting his head to look at her. "Hey, I told you I was fine. It takes more than a hellhound to kill someone like me."

Elijah's eyes softened hearing his earlier statement thrown back at him. Alix gave him a reassuring smile as she gently caressed his cheek before pulling away to get a look at where they were.

"So, what brings us to this lovely neighborhood at this time of night?" She inquired, admiring the two brick apartment buildings. They were each three stories tall, well-built with gorgeous black metal railings and stairs that added some rustic flair to the place.

"My acquaintance lives here." Elijah explained, taking her arm in his as he steered them towards one of the buildings. "He happens to be gifted in magic and has agreed to help you with your memories."

Alix was stunned to hear this. "I'm sorry; my hearing must be going because I could've sworn you just said you have someone willing to help me with my memories."

Elijah's failed attempt to hide his smug looking smirk said it all. "Holy hell, how did you manage that?"

"Let's just say that the nature of our relationship tends to mutually benefit one another from time to time." Elijah replied, waving his hand as they ascended the stairs.

Alix was unusually quiet after that, her brain trying to decide exactly what Elijah meant by his statement.

"Mutually benefits?" She murmured to herself. "Oh, holy Jesus." She exclaimed, her eyes widening as it slowly dawned on her. "You're sleeping with him, aren't you?"

She slapped a hand over her mouth, thoroughly mortified. Elijah immediately stopped shy of the top step, a horrified and disgusted look gracing his face.

"No, Alixiah, I am most certainly not sleeping with him, as you put it." Elijah scolded, making Alix feel as if she were five years old again. "I'm helping him search for his daughter, and in return, he helps me should I require magical assistance." He clarified with an irritated sigh.

"I'm married to you, remember?" Elijah pointed out.

"You'll find in this day and age, being married means jack shit." She informed him. "Besides, you and Rose are the only ones who technically remember us getting married, which would be the whole reason behind coming here." Alix reminded him, sticking her tongue out.

After a brief moment of silence between them, Elijah guided her up the rest of the stairs.

"I'm sorry if I offended you by suggesting that you occasionally indulge in carnal relations like a normal man...er...vampire." She muttered lowly so only he could hear.

They approached the door to his 'friend's' place. Elijah stepped forward, knocking sharply on the door. Alix began to fidget impatiently, causing Elijah to glance down at her in amusement. He leaned over, his hot breath dancing across the shell of her ear.

"Perhaps after you've regained your memories, you'll remember just how often and how much I enjoyed indulging in carnal relations."

Alix gasped in shock, her mouth falling open in utter surprise to hear such delicious filth come from him. He grinned salaciously at her as the door opened.