Chapter Thirty One

Klaus' P.O.V.

I could feel the pain of her neck snapping as soon as it happened, a gasp escaping me from the surprise of it; Bekah and myself were in the woods disposing of the elder's bodies with fire at the time so my surprise was certainly audible.

'What's wrong with you?' Bekah asked.

'Something's happened,' I told her, throwing the lighter onto the three bodies that were already doused with lighter fluid before I flashed away, heading back to the church. I caught her scent immediately and it told me that she had been standing outside; I could sense her unease as if she was standing right in front of me. I followed her scent to the edge of the street where it suddenly cut off; she must have been loaded into a vehicle. I growled under my breath, frustrated and annoyed; I could tell from the scent that it was vampires who had taken her and when I got my hands on them they were going to suffer a pain greater than they could possibly fathom.

'Nik, what's going on?' Bekah said, reaching out to touch my arm but I shrugged her off, not wanting to accidentally lash out to her with how pissed off I was in that moment.

'Vampires have taken her.' I muttered, running my hands down my face as I tried to pin point the scent; it was familiar but the identities were just out of grasp, I knew for sure that there were two of them.

'Marcel wouldn't be that stupid,' Bekah stated, sounding furious herself.

'It's not Marcel's scent, none of his men either, but I do know it I just don't know how.' I sighed; my anger was getting the best of me, disabling be from being able to think clearly and rationally, and I knew the longer that I was away from her the worse it was going to get.

'Okay, Nik calm down,' Bekah said, softening her voice, placing her hands on my shoulders to force me to look her in the eyes, 'you need to focus. Kim is counting on you right now.'

'I know that, Bekah,' I huffed, annoyed, 'when I get my hands on whoever did this I-.'

'That's just it, you're thinking about what you're going to do to them when you find them and it's fuelling your anger and clouding your judgement.' She said, cutting off my angry ramblings, 'you need to think about her, how she makes you feel, the calm that only her presence brings you. Close your eyes,' She gave me a stern look until I complied, 'and now imagine that you're with her somewhere where it's just the two of you.'

My mind unconsciously went to the memories from the road trip we had taken over the summer. Technically she had been forced to come but it had been… truly wonderful, though I would never admit it at the time; I had said I wanted her on the trip for her interesting abilities that no one understood at the time, but in truth she had captured my interest in a way that no woman ever had before, and I found myself craving to be around her. So when I saw the opportunity I took it; I got to be around her all day everyday for months, and she had wanted to be around me as well, something I definitely hadn't been prepared for. She hadn't judged me, she didn't treat me any differently when I ordered Stefan to kill people once we had burned out our leads with them, she may have disapproved but she just got on with it and just accepted me for who I was; until that point no one had ever done that, at least not completely. Adding her presence to the trip in exchange for the cure had been the best decision I had ever made, who knows where we would be now if Damon hadn't gotten bitten-. My eyes snapped open in realisation.

'Damon and Stefan Salvatore,' I whispered, realising that I was suddenly completely calm.

'The Salvatore brothers?' Rebekah scoffed before she continued, 'It's sad that they have nothing better to do than come to New Orleans to carry out their revenge fantasies.'

'They're going to regret this.' I muttered, promise in my voice as I walked towards the church going straight to the attic door and knocking three times. It took a few minutes; I assume she had been asleep, but she finally answered.

'Klaus,' she muttered, not sounding at all pleased to see me, but I honestly didn't care.

'Kim's been taken,' I told her bluntly, knowing that her and Kim had some kind of friendship, which was confirmed when her face immediately creased with concern.

'You can both come in,' she said, holding the door open and stepping aside.

'Can you do a locator spell? I've tried following her scent but it cuts off at the end of the street so I'm assuming they put her into a car.' I informed her, following her over to a large wooden table that she lit with candles just by waving her hand before she opened up a map.

'I'll need something close to her,' Davina stated, looking between me and Bekah as if we knew what that meant, 'someone who shares the same blood, someone who has a strong physical connection to her-.'

'Use Nik,' Bekah cut her off, 'they're mates they have a strong physical and supernatural connection, but we'd appreciate it if you kept that titbit of information to yourself sweetheart.'

'I don't even know what that means, but sure,' Davina said, shaking her head with an incredulous look on her face before she held out her hand towards me, 'give me your hand and we can begin.'

I gave it to her, not flinching in the slightest when I felt her drag the blade across my palm. Once she had made the incision I moved my fist, holding it above the map and allowing a few drops to spill out. I couldn't feel Kimberly's pain from the wound so I assumed that she was still unconscious. Davina started chanting and the blood started moving, and it didn't stop.

'They're still on the move. I won't be able to give you an exact location until they stop,' Davina said, sounding concerned.

'Don't worry about it. I know exactly where they are going,' I muttered, throwing a good night over my shoulder as I made my way to the door.

'Let me know when she's safe. Please,' Davina shouted after me, and I paused with my hand on the door handle and turned to face her.

'I will. Thank you for the locator spell,' I told her before I swung the door open without another word, flashing back to the plantation ignoring the surprise on Bekah and Davina's expressions because I had actually used manners.

'Wake up! Everyone wake up!' I shouted walking down the hallways and throwing open everyone's bedroom doors.

'Niklaus, what is the meaning of this?' Elijah asked, already dressed in a suit, though he still looked a little asleep. I waited until everyone had joined Bekah and me in the hallway before I answered.

'The Salvatore's have taken Kimberly and they're heading to Mystic Falls right now.' I muttered, anger slowly returning to my voice.

No one responded for a second, the sleep fog in their brains slowing down their thinking processes, but they all seemed to catch up at the same time, simultaneously releasing sounds of rage.

'Those bastards are going to die a slow and painful death,' Kol muttered, his voice laced with venom.

'Oh, brother, I guarantee it,' I smiled; sure that the anger and maliciousness I was feeling was showing on my face in that moment, 'Well, lets not waste anymore time then,' I said, gesturing for everyone to make their way to the door.

'Perhaps it would be better for Elena and Kol to remain behind?' Finn suggested, noting that Elena still looked a little weak.

'Absolutely not, this is Kim we're taking about!' Kol protested, his arm around Elena's waist.

'He's right, we're going,' Elena insisted, her tone leaving no room for argument.

'Then we won't waste anymore time. Lets go get our girl back,' I smirked, the murderous rage growing within me to a point of no return.

Without another word we all packed up, and loaded into two cars; Bekah, Elijah, Hayley and Finn were in the one I was driving, with Elena and Kol following in the one behind us. I was driving as fast as I possibly could, not caring about the speed limits, all I knew was that I needed to get to her. I felt her regain consciousness for a moment and I felt her brief flash of fear and anger towards her kidnappers; they must have weakened her with vervain and wolfsbane because not long after that they snapped her neck again, which made me growl in anger. We were about an hour outside of the limits of Mystic falls when my phone rang over the sound system.

'Yes?' I answered, my tone clipped; I could feel her regaining consciousness again, she was hungry, weak and pissed off.

'They've stopped moving, they're in a town called Mystic Falls.' Davina said, seeming to be controlling her frustration at my tone.

'We figured as much, thank you though,' Bekah answered from the passenger seat when I didn't; I was too focused on Kimberly and when I felt my concern disappear to be replaced with calm, I knew that she was focused on me as well, which made me chuckle; only she would be worried about me when she was the one that had been kidnapped.

'Is someone bleeding?' Hayley asked from the back seat suddenly, breaking me out of my thoughts; when I focused I realised that I could smell blood as well.

'It's you, Nik,' Bekah said, her eyes on my arms and my chest, I followed her gaze and saw that blood was seeping through my white long sleeved shirt.

'They're bleeding her out,' I growled, the heel of my hand hitting the steering wheel in anger.

'They're making her weak,' Finn commented, his voice concerned before he continued, 'for what purpose? I don't understand why they have done this.'

'Me neither. She has the powers of an Original, which they would have discovered by now if they're having to resort to bleeding her out to keep her weak as well as dosing her with vervain and wolfsbane.' Elijah muttered, his hand entwined with Hayley's.

'What if this is something to do with Elena?' Bekah asked, looking to all of our disbelieving expressions before she continued, 'think about it, before Kol was in the picture she was in a love triangle with the Salvatore's and then one day she's suddenly with Kol; they could have taken Kim as some kind of revenge.'

'If that's the case then they know we're coming and they're waiting until we get there to kill her,' Finn said, his expression transforming into one of realisation.

'Then they don't know about her gaining the power of an Original when I turned her,' I nodded in agreement; it made sense, they wouldn't have taken her if they knew that they wouldn't be able to kill her.

I felt the wounds on my chest and arms heal before they immediately opened up again, but exactly like before, I didn't feel any pain.

'She's taking your pain isn't she?' Bekah asked when she noticed that I wasn't flinching or showing any signs of discomfort.

I nodded in answer and Bekah shook her head in astonishment and honestly I was feeling the same way; the fact that she put not just my well being, but everyone's above her own was incredible, but that was her, it was how she had always been and probably how she would always be.

'She's amazing,' Hayley murmured, so low that if the occupants of the car didn't have supernatural hearing, none of us would have heard her clearly.

'She is. And they are going to suffer greatly for this.' I said, my voice full of promise, though the anger was noticeably absent, as I was completely calm.

'So be it.' Finn agreed.

'No one hurts our family and lives, especially not Kimberly,' Elijah said, his voice murderous.

Elijah was right; hurting one of us was just plain stupid, but hurting the member of the family who was the kindest person any of us had ever met was just borderline psychotic. Kimberly had never once done anything other than look out for our family, even members who weren't in it; take Hayley for example, if she hadn't helped her then Elijah never would have met her. In other words, Kimberly was so selfless, kind and absolutely incredible, even now, when she had been kidnapped she was focused on making sure that I wasn't feeling the pain from the wounds they were inflicting on her, as well as making sure that I was nothing but calm. I wouldn't have been surprised if she was monitoring everyone else's feelings as well; she had mentioned to me before that she could sense the feelings of anyone that she knew well from any distance; it was how she had kept an eye on Elena and Jeremy when she had been with me and Stefan over the summer.

'Have you tried reaching out to her, Niklaus?' Elijah asked, leaning slightly forward in his seat so that he could meet my eyes in the rear view mirror.

'No, I don't know if distance will hinder me,' I admitted.

'Well try, if she can tell us where they are keeping her it will save us some time. That is presuming they aren't stupid enough to keep her at the boarding house.' Bekah muttered, tilting her head as if she was considering if they were that foolish or not.

I contemplated it for a moment, deciding that they had a point; the worst that could happen would be that it didn't work. I gestured for Bekah to take the wheel, seeing as I would need to concentrate. I closed my eyes, leaning back against the headrest as I reached out to her through my thoughts, hoping that she would respond.

Love? I asked hesitantly, waiting patiently; just as I was about to give up, I heard her soft reply.

Nik, it's so good to hear from you.

You too, love. How are you?

Fine. I feel weak; they've been bleeding me out and pumping me with wolfsbane and vervain, the bastards.

I figured as much, with the fact that they were able to keep you prisoner and the fact that my t-shirt is stained with blood.

Hmm blood, I could really go for some of that right now.

I'm not surprised, love. Elena packed some blood bags for you I think, you can have as many as you want soon.

I can't believe you're all coming. She said, and I could hear her surprise even through her thoughts; she couldn't understand or believe that we all cared about her.

Of course we're all coming. I'm sure you've sensed how worried and angry everyone has been over this, love. The Salvatore's are dead.

I don't even know why they've done this, they won't tell me but I can sense their anger and heartache. My money is on them being bitter over Elena ditching them.

That's what Bekah suggested, either way they aren't going to live to see tomorrow.

I feel kind of bad for them. If they could just move on and get on with their lives then none of this would be happening.

Don't try and talk me out of this, love. They took you and they're going to pay for it.

But they already have; I can feel how much pain they're both in over losing the girl they love.

Where are you, love? I asked, deciding to change the subject before we got into an argument; there were more important things for us to discuss right now.

I'm pretty sure I'm in the old Lockwood cellar. Both of them are standing outside stressing over the fact that you're going to come for me, I'm guessing they didn't think that far ahead.

Such pathetic excuses for vampires, honestly. We're almost there, love. We'll be home before you know it.

That sounds wonderful. I'm tired, dirty, hungry and worst of all… I miss you.

I… I miss you too, love. I admitted, and it was true; even though she was working to control my emotions she couldn't take away the pull in my heart that was demanding that I go to her and she couldn't quell the werewolf inside of me that was flaring up with protective instincts.

I'm going to have to go now, Nik. I need to save my strength; I'm starting to feel stronger but I don't want to jinx it.

Alright, love. We're about fifteen minutes away, it shouldn't take me long to find you.

I love you, Nik. I'll see you soon.

I love you too.

My eyes snapped open as I felt the connection snap; I sat up abruptly, my foot jolting on the acceleration but luckily there wasn't any other cars on the road, aside from Kol and Elena who were following behind us. I grabbed the wheel, sending a nod to Bekah in thanks as I forced my gaze to concentrate on where I was going; we were so close I could feel it as if every fibre of my being was aligned with hers and I just knew that I would be with her soon.

'Well? Did you reach her?' Bekah asked, sounding annoyed that I had come out of my trance and just remained silent.

'I did, they're keeping her in the Lockwood cellar. She said they're floundering over us coming for her; apparently their evil plans aren't very well thought out.' I muttered, my hand clenching on the steering wheel as I considered what they were doing to her and what I was going to do to them as a result. They were in for greater pain than they could possibly imagine.

'Idiots, the both of them,' Bekah shook her head, looking dumfounded over how they could both be so stupid.

'She tried to talk me out of killing them,' I said, my tone casual.

I didn't need Kimberly here to know that everyone in the car in that moment was riddled with disbelief.

'I'm not that surprised, you know. Whenever it's her on the receiving end of the pain and suffering she's much more forgiving.' Elijah commented.

'But if it was one of us that had been taken instead…' Bekah trailed off.

'She would be more ruthless than all of us put together,' I finished, chuckling because I knew we were right; Kimberly was completely merciless and unforgiving when it came to forgiving someone who caused anyone she cared for any form of pain, but she was a lot less strict with her own well being which was more than moderately frustrating.

'We'll see how it plays out. For now we just need to focus on getting to her.' Finn said, his tone laced with impatience and concern.

Kim's P.O.V

The Salvatore brothers, again, had kidnapped me except this time I wasn't being held as a bargaining chip for Klaus to get his hybrids out of town. No, this time I had absolutely no idea what the hell they were up to, or what they wanted. I could feel how angry they were, how heartbroken they were, and I even felt a little bit of guilt coming from whoever had to cut me open to keep bleeding me out. But had I received an actual explanation for all of this? Nope. Very inconsiderate if you asked me, it was the least they could do seeing as they had literally freaking kidnapped me. The only thing that was getting me through this without completely freaking out was focusing on Klaus and the rest of my family, making sure their concern didn't reach detrimental levels. Though I was more concerned about the anger that I had to keep taking from everyone except for Hayley and Elena; they were both angry to an extent, but they were mainly worried for my safety. It warmed my heart when I realised that they were all coming for me; Klaus confirmed it, but I could sense that they were near before that, it didn't minimise my surprise though. I cared for others easily, but I never expected anyone to care for me, I didn't know why and I didn't know if that would ever change.

'Hello? Listen if you two are keeping me hostage the least you can do is supply some form of entertainment!' I shouted, though they would have been able to hear me if I spoke at normal volume.

I had heard them muttering about how Klaus was surely coming for me and how they had basically no defence against an Original hybrid, which had made me snort; they had absolutely no chance against Klaus on his own, but I withheld the fact that all of the Original's and more were coming. They would probably shit their pants, but then again maybe not; I had a feeling they were doing this to hurt Elena, so when they saw her I was sure that would jumpstart any courage they had lurking inside of them despite the presence of all six Original's. At this point, I didn't know if they were going to die; I was trying to conserve my strength so I hadn't put any energy into focusing on their fates, because my family and making sure that Nik wasn't feeling the pain of them cutting me open was my main priority.

'Hush up, princess,' Damon muttered as he entered the cellar, sarcasm forever present in his tone. He was holding the knife that they had both been bleeding me out with and I felt myself tense at the sight of it.

'Come to slice me open again?' I asked, my own tone sarcastic as well.

'Actually, seeing as you don't seem to be getting any weaker we're going to have to resort to other methods.' Damon said, his tone evasive as he tossed the blade carelessly behind him. I took a step back as he took a step forward, my wrists fighting against the chains that were wrapped around me, I was pretty sure I could break them if I tried, but I didn't want to risk making myself too weak.

'What does that mean?' I asked, keeping the unease from my voice.

'It means…' he pulled out some kind of torture device that he had been concealing behind his back, 'we're gonna have to use this.' In all fairness, I could see as well as feel his regret and I knew that he didn't want to do this, but I knew it wasn't going to stop him, 'some werewolves used this on me once when they were trying to get the location of the moonstone out of me. Fair warning it hurts like a bitch.'

He walked forward and placed the device around my head, screwing in the wooden screws so they entered my skull. When they broke the skin I knew that they had been seeped with vervain and wolfsbane; I closed my eyes and focused on taking Klaus' pain as well as my own but I was unable to hold back a scream of pain that escaped me at the half way point. Once he had finished he gave me an apologetic expression before he went outside again to stand with Stefan. My hands went to the wall as I tried to remain standing, once I had regained my balance I focused on Klaus again and I could feel that he was angry, but also that he was so close. I took his anger, which wasn't the smartest idea, because it was enough to make me lose the battle of standing up straight and I fell to my knees, moving to rest my forehead against the wall only to wince when it pushed the wood further into my skull. I felt myself falling backwards and I prepared myself for the pain but I never hit the ground, which was when I realised I was being held in someone's arms; I knew who it was before my eyes even opened.

'Nik' I whispered, my tone completely relieved.

'I got you love, I got you,' he murmured, stroking my hair gently as he avoided the spikes imbedded within my head.

'It's okay,' I gave him a soft smile to let him know that it was fine, I knew he needed to pull the spikes out.

'You're going to have to send the pain to me, love.' He told me, his voice soft as his hand caressed the side of my face, causing me to open my eyes.

'What? No!' I protested, my hand settling over the hand he had to my face as my thumb moved back and forth comfortingly, 'It's fine, Nik. Just pull it off, please.'

I saw the struggle in his eyes; he knew he needed to take it off but he didn't want to be the one causing me pain. A few moments later that felt like a lifetime, he started to pull out the screws; there were eight in total and I noticed the holes around his head started to heal as he removed them. I closed my eyes during the process, both not wanting him to see the pain in my eyes as well as me focusing on taking his pain as well. He just had two more screws left when Bekah and Finn came in.

'What the bloody hell did they do to you?' Bekah said, her voice furious.

'Apparently bleeding me out wasn't making me weak enough,' I said, my tone sarcastic.

'Absolute adolescent idiots,' Finn muttered, shaking his head in disgust.

'I'm fine,' I insisted, taking the hand that Nik offered me once he had removed the last screw, tossing the device to the wall hard enough to make it shatter. I sighed in relief; the pulling in my heart had at least stopped and I was completely content, my head resting in the crook of Nik's neck as he wound his arms around my waist and we inhaled each other's scent.

'As adorable as this is, we should probably get going.' Bekah muttered, gesturing for us to get moving.

'Hmm,' I answered, now that I was comfortable, my fatigue was catching up with me.

'Elena!' Kol shouted, his voice sounding panicked, making my blood run cold and my head snap up.

'I need to-' I didn't finish because Klaus had already lifted me in his arms and flashed me outside to everyone else, knowing what I wanted without me having to tell him.

I looked over to where Damon was holding Elena's heart in his hand; I could feel how murderous he was in that moment and I knew he wouldn't hesitate to kill her.

'Damon, I swear to god if you don't let her go-' Stefan cut himself off when he saw that Nik and I were now stood almost right behind Damon; I could feel that Stefan was now regretful, apparently seeing his former love seconds away from death was enough to make him have second thoughts.

'Any of you move then I rip her heart right out.' Damon said, his voice seething.

'No you won't, ' I muttered, stumbling towards him and out of Nik's arms, 'you won't because the only reason you're doing any of this is because you're still in love with her.'

'Really?' Damon scoffed, but if I could read the insincerity on his face then I knew everyone else could as well.

'Yes, now let her go, Damon,' I said, placing my hand on his shoulder; I had taken Elena's pain the minute I saw her pinned against the tree and I knew that though his hand was in her chest, he wasn't grasping her heart, 'too long,' I muttered, using the hand on his shoulder to throw him backwards, into a tree, a loose branch plunging into his stomach.

'Are you alright?' I asked Elena, hugging her to my chest; we were both bloody and I was sure we made quite the pair.

'I'm fine. What about you? What did they do to you?' Elena asked, pulling back and noting all of the dried blood over various parts of my body and my pale complexion, I opened my mouth to answer and that was when I noticed that everyone was staring at me waiting for my response.

'I'm fine,' I insisted, trying to hide how weak I was actually feeling as I sent them all a reassuring wave.

I felt Nik come up behind me, placing his hands on my hips as he discretely supported my weight.

'She's not fine, she needs to feed so let's make this quick,' Nik said, his tone casual in a way that would make his enemies terrified. He gently handed me over to Finn who picked me up and held me bridal style when he realised how much trouble I was actually having standing up.

'Now, gentlemen, you kidnapped and tortured a member of our family and then you tried to rip out my girlfriends heart. Do you have anything to say for yourselves?' Kol asked, sounding absolutely livid.

'I can't speak for Damon,' Stefan started, pausing to glare at his brother who was still hanging from a tree with a branch in his stomach, 'but I was just mad at Elena for just leaving town with someone else after she had been choosing between me and my brother for so long. We took it too far and I'm truly sorry,' Stefan said, looking over to me as he apologised.

'Listen, it's not Elena's fault that you handed me over to Ester on a silver platter and it's not anyone's fault that they fell for each other. Everyone just needs to calm down.' I said, feeling on the brink of delirium.

'She's right. I fell out of love with you two a long time ago, I realised that when I fell for Kol so fast. I never gave either of you an explanation and you deserved one. I'm sorry.' Elena said, walking forward and lacing her arm around Kol's waist as she spoke, with him reciprocating the gesture.

Stefan offered her a soft smile in thanks for her apology but otherwise didn't respond; the only sound in the woods at that moment was Damon groaning in pain as he managed to free himself from the branch and collapsed to the floor.

'Well, while the apologies are much appreciated you understand that you are both going to have to pay for what you have done, yes?' Nik said, speaking to them both for the first time; he had a dangerous smile on his face with his hands clasped behind his back.

I rolled my eyes at his dramatics but otherwise didn't respond, I was pretty sure he wasn't going to kill them and I got the impression that he needed to feel as though it was his decision; I knew how much he liked punishing people on his terms, so I remained quiet, my head resting on Finn's chest as I watched what was going on in front of me.

'Niklaus, perhaps we can move this along?' Elijah said from across from me, Finn and Bekah; he had Hayley standing just behind him in a protective gesture.

'My pleasure, brother.' Klaus grinned; he shared a look with Kol and they both stepped forward, taking a brother each.

Nik clasped Damon's shoulders roughly enough to break a few bones; he brought his hybrid face forward and bit into Damon's neck. I could feel Damon and Stefan's horror as they assumed that their punishment was going to be a werewolf bite each. When Nik was satisfied he pulled back, biting into his wrist and offering Damon his blood; Damon was suspicious but he took it anyway, not really in the position to argue, while he was drinking, Nik gestured for Kol to check Stefan and he did.

'Now it appears both of you have become sloppy while we've been away. You should have kept drinking your vervain,' Nik grinned, Damon's blood still dripping down his chin.

'Now do listen up, both of you. You're going to forget that you ever knew Elena and Kimberly Gilbert and you're going to forget all of the Original's that you have met. You will carry on with your immortal lives, as you would have if you had never come back to Mystic falls to get to know the latest doppelgänger. Do you understand?' Klaus compelled them both, smiling in satisfaction when they both said they understood.

Before I knew what was happening, I was back in Klaus' arms and he had flashed us to two black Range Rovers that I recognised from the plantation garage. He opened one of them and set me down on the back middle seat, returning a moment later and sliding in next to me holding two blood bags, he handed me one and closed the door behind him. Elijah got into the drivers seat; Hayley in the passenger while Bekah filled the other empty seat to my right. I was soon finished with the first blood bag and Nik handed me the second without a word. I sighed in relief once I had finished that one as well and I could feel my strength returning.

'Better?' Bekah asked, squeezing my hand in comfort, at least that's what it looked like, but I could tell she was still worried and she wanted to make sure I was really here.

'Much better,' I nodded, lacing my arm around her shoulders, giving her a side hug and amplifying the comfort I was sending towards her. I gave her a bright smile when I pulled away, happy when she reciprocated the gesture.

'So… did I miss anything?' I said, my tone casual as I rested my head on Nik's shoulder, melting into his side when his hand wound around my waist.

'Not really, we've all been focused on getting to you,' Hayley said, turning to give me a relieved smile and I found myself once again questioning what I had done to earn such a wonderful family who cared about me so much.

'Thank you for coming for me.' I said, genuinely meaning it.

'You didn't think we would come for you?' Elijah asked sounding astounded, he met my eyes in the rear view mirror, allowing me to see the sincerity present within them before he continued, 'let me assure you; you're just as much a member of the family as I am.'

I offered him a soft smile in response but otherwise remained quiet because I didn't know what to say to that; words couldn't describe how grateful and touched I was by what he had said. He seemed to understand; he returned my soft smile before his eyes moved back to the road.

'I'm bored,' Bekah muttered, resting her head on my right shoulder.

'You know what we should do?' I murmured, my eyes closed as my face turned into Klaus' neck where I placed a kiss before I rested my head onto his shoulder again.

'What's that love?' Nik asked, his tone amused.

'I think a game of would you rather is in order.' I said sitting up and looking over to Nik, grinning as he groaned.

'Would you what?' Bekah asked, not sitting up from my shoulder.

'Someone gives you two scenarios and you have to say which one you would prefer to do.' I explained.

'And this is a form of entertainment?' Elijah sounded unconvinced.

'It is when you're not the one being asked,' Nik said, his tone sarcastic as he rolled his eyes.

'Okay who wants to go first?' I asked, grinning over to Nik when he remained silent.

'I will,' Hayley piped up from the front seat, turning around to face me.

'Would you rather…' I trailed off as I pursed my lips in thought, Nik chuckling as he observed my calculating expression, 'would you rather be covered in head to toe with honey for a whole week and not be able to wash it off or have sex with someone who has bad breath?'

I laughed when Bekah and Elijah both looked horrified, though Hayley didn't look very fazed over the question; Nik and I shared an amused look as we waited for Hayley's answer.

'Bad breath; I couldn't handle not showering for a weak.' Hayley answered; I could feel that she wasn't daunted in the least and that made me more amused.

'Fair enough,' I laughed, composing myself before I continued; 'now you have to ask me.'

'Would you rather…' she trailed off, glancing between me and Klaus, grinning devilishly before she continued, 'give up sex but still get to be around each other all the time for a year or be able to have two hours a day where you can have as much sex as you want but for the other twenty two hours a day you have to be apart?' Hayley asked, amused when I wasn't fazed either, but we laughed when the other occupants of the car seemed to be uncomfortable.

'When you say no sex do you mean no penetrative sex or no kind of sex at all?' I asked, laughing when I noticed Elijah's cheeks redden in embarrassment.

'No penetrative sex.' Hayley responded after she pondered it for a moment.

'Okay no sex for a year.' I replied, happy with my decision.

'Oh really? You two wouldn't make it five minutes alone in a room together,' Bekah snorted.

Klaus and I shared an amused look and shrugged; she was probably right. That was how the rest of the car journey went; we continued playing the game and at one point I even called Elena, Kol and Finn in the other car and got them playing as well. Kol, Hayley and I formed a team, all of us banding together to see who could embarrass everyone else. Kol managed to make Finn splutter with a particularly excruciating question, which even made Elijah chuckle in amusement. Though I think Hayley and I won as we tag teamed Elijah; he nearly swerved us off the road at the question we asked him, which made me; Bekah and Hayley laugh so hard we had tears streaming down our cheeks. Nik was much more subdued but still quite amused, his blue eyes glittering with mirth as he observed the whole scene.

We got back to New Orleans just after midnight, and I was just about dead on my feet; we all were. None of us had slept in the past twenty-four hours and it was catching up with us all, supernatural beings or not. I was flitting in and out of consciousness in the last thirty minutes of the drive and at some point Nik shifted me so that my feet were on one side of his legs and my ass on the other. My head nuzzled into his chest, one of his arms wound around my waist while the other gently stoked my hair, and that was when I lost the battle and fell into unconsciousness.

That's chapter thirty-one for you lovely people! I hope you enjoyed it, and let me know what you think! I hope it was exciting for you and that you're satisfied with me leaving the Salvatore's alive- I just didn't have the heart to kill them and I felt like Elena being with Kol was a bit sudden and I wanted to tie up the loose endings with Damon and Stefan.

A huge thank you to LiliAnn, Mcveighreece and WhatExistsInFalling for choosing to either follow or favourite my story! It means a lot :)

BeccaSco: Yup! Loved this chap as well. Thank you- let me know what you thought of this one, lovely; I hope you enjoyed it :)

XxSunnaxX: …omg XD what?! Cliff hanger * pouting * Family wins again :) Always and forever ;) Love it! Good job, can't wait to see what happens next :) Maybe a little hint? Pls, pretty pls :) Mikael? Ester? More witches? Marcel? Werewolves? Have a nice day, Vampes! * waving * As always, thank you lovely :) I'm glad you liked it and I hope you liked this one, even though the ones who took her were none of your guesses, I hope you weren't disappointed- let me know what you thought :)