A/N: Had a terrible day at work. Time to make some fictional characters suffer for it!

"Kol, you need to leave," Sophie said. "Now."

I sank down in my chair, fists clenching so tightly that my nails dug into the palms of my hands. He still had his back to me and I was hoping he wouldn't notice me. It was strange to think how much had changed. A few days ago I would have jumped at the chance to see Kol again. And then, a few months ago the sight of him would have filled me with dread. Much like now, albeit for different reasons.

"Fuck you!" Kol shrugged Sophie off and got to his feet. "I'm leaving!"

He turned, swaying slightly. I wondered how much he'd drunk. Could I convince him I was a figment of his imagination?

No, probably not. He'd never met Katherine so maybe I could pretend to be her? Or would he be able to smell the human in me? I wasn't sure. Had to be a better way. Maybe I could hide in the bathroom till he was gone?

But… why should I? They'd left me. They had abandoned me, not the other way around. I was strong now, I didn't need to be afraid of them. I refused to.

Kol's eyes roamed the bar drunkenly, trying to locate the door. They paused on me before continuing. Maybe he hadn't recognized me?

"Elena." Suddenly he was at my side. I guess he had recognized me after all. I hadn't wanted to do this now (or indeed at all) but in a way, I supposed that it was better to get it out in the open and air my grievances over what they had done to me. I only wished that I'd had the chance to say it to all of them instead of just Kol who was probably too drunk to remember it the next morning.

I sighed and lifted my head to meet his gaze, fixing an expression of boredom onto my face.

"Do I know you?" I asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Elena. Come on. It's me. Stop being stupid."

Stupid? So it was stupid for me to have feelings? For me not to welcome him back with open arms after they'd abandoned me in a forest? Oh I was going to enjoy this.

"Oh right, now I remember. You're one of the assholes who kidnapped me, brainwashed me, and made me care about you before abandoning me in the middle of nowhere after I saved your ass. Am I remember that correctly?" He stared at me, seemingly in shock. Sophie came over and hovered nearby.

"Elena… what are you talking about?"

"I'm talking about you and your cowardly brothers tricking me into caring about you, making a game out of torturing me and trying to sleep with me, only so that you could discard me!" My voice rose and I noticed a few of the bar's patrons glance over in our direction. Sophie stepped forward, clearly hoping to avoid a scene.

"Is this man bothering you…?" I looked at her and then back at Kol. He was staring at me in a state of drunken shock as if he couldn't really comprehend what was happening. I got to my feet.

"No, Sophie he's fine. He's just some pathetic drunk that I thought I knew. And I'm leaving anyway." I pushed past him and exited the bar, heading onto the street. I could hear Kol calling after me but I ignored him, keeping my head down and my eyes fixed on the path ahead.

"Elena, stop!" He grabbed my arm. I turned sharply.

"Get your hands off me!" He flinched like I'd slapped him.

"Elena… please."

I pulled my arm free and felt another one of those strange painful twinges in my stomach, far worse than it had been any of the times before, and I doubled over, wincing. Kol reached for me and I pulled away, forcing myself to ignore the pain. My movement was so sharp I nearly fell to the floor as I stumbled away from him.

"Don't touch me!"

"Why are you being like this?"

"I gave up my life for your family. I left everything I knew because you were running and scared. I fell for every lie you told me and I… I trusted you all. And… you abandoned me Kol. All of you. I died trying to save you and you didn't even care." I took a few steps back. "Don't follow me, don't talk to me. I never want to see any of you again. You're dead to me."

I turned away and walked off, never once looking back. I waited until I was a few streets away before stopping. There was no sign of Kol so I presumed he'd not followed me. I leant against the wall, wrapping my arms around my stomach, willing the pain to go away.

"What is wrong with you?" I whispered. This couldn't be normal… I concentrated on my breathing, keeping it slow and regular. Eventually the pain subsided. I waited to make sure it was gone before continuing on my way. I headed back to Marcel's compound and let myself in. I could hear loud music so it seemed they'd not reached the murder part of their murder party.

I had planned to go straight upstairs and take a bath but I felt drawn to the pulsating music. I slipped into the party room and mixed in with the crowd. The music was so loud, the lights bright. I felt that I was no longer a person, I was just part of this great entity of people. And it was amazing. I closed my eyes, moving to the music. I tried not to think about the last time I'd been at one of these… with Kol and Rebekah. Their betrayals hurt the worst. I'd grown so close to them and it had been so good to see another side to them that wasn't the one they showed to the world. I'd got to know them as people… or I thought I had. Everything I'd shared with them. Every bit of myself I'd given to them, that had all been a lie.

I pushed all thoughts of the Mikaelsons from my head. They weren't worth my time and they certainly weren't worth my tears. My only disappointment was that I hadn't had a chance to talk to Sophie about the child and the… side effects, I was experiencing.

I felt hands on my waist as some drunk partier moved into my space. I didn't push him off, instead I moved with him, letting us sway together to the music. After a few minutes, he took my hand and made to leave the dance floor, pausing to see if I would follow. I hesitated for a moment before letting him lead me to a darkened corner of the room. His mouth went to my throat, kissing softly, his hands sliding up my sides. I wasn't sure why I was doing this. It was almost like I needed to prove something, to myself and to the siblings. Being with them for so long, it was as though they'd begun to define me as a person and I wasn't allowed to feel certain emotions without them. I felt like I needed to purge my body of them. I didn't need them. I was a person in my own right.

The man's hand slid lower and I looked up. For a second I saw Kol's face. I flinched and pulled back. He frowned, confused. I shook my head and quickly disappeared into the crowd, before letting myself out of the room.

I went upstairs to my bedroom and headed out onto the balcony. I sat down, slotting my legs through the metal fence that surrounded it. Was I ever going to really be free of them? Would they continue to haunt my thoughts even as months passed? I supposed that eventually the memories would fade and with them the emotions. Everything faded. All I could do was look to the future.

I felt something digging into my leg through my jeans and I rooted around in my pocket. I found the small envelope that the doctor had given me the day before.

I hesitated, unsure if I was ready, but after a moment's thought I opened the envelope and slid out the small picture. I smiled to myself and gently ran my finger over it. I could do this. I was strong enough. For the first time, I had the feeling that everything might be okay after all.

I looked down at the street below, at life going on all around me. I felt content. Maybe this was where I belonged. New Orleans was a city like no other and I was a person who didn't fit in. Maybe here, in a town of magic and… just… endless, pure, life going on… maybe this was my true home.

My eyes landed on a figure standing across the street from Marcel's compound. They seemed to have their head angled up to look at my balcony. I couldn't tell in the dim light but it looked like Kol. I looked down at him and oddly, I felt nothing. No anger, no sadness. Just… empty.

I got to my feet and left the balcony, closing the door firmly behind me. I double checked the lock and tucked my photograph into the back page of my journal. I undressed and got into bed, wrapping the covers around myself.

It didn't take me long to get to sleep but I didn't stay that way for long. I wasn't sure what woke me and at first I didn't even realize anything had but gradually I became aware that I was staring at the ceiling. I got out of bed. The floor was cold on my bare feet but I barely felt it. My head was filled with a disorientating buzzing that reverberated around my skull and my limbs felt heavy. My mind seemed to be a separate thing from my body, unable to control what I was doing while still retaining full awareness.

I silently left the room and down the stairs, moving silently as a ghost. I passed the party room which had been tidied up already, leaving no trace of what had happened there, and went into the kitchen. I stood in front of the fridge, motionless for a moment, before reaching forward and opening the door. The light filled the room with an eerie blueish glow. My skin looked deathly pale, my veins dark against the skin. I reached in and pulled out a blood bag. I stared at it for a long time, turning it over in my hand. I brought it to my mouth and tore through the plastic with my teeth. The blood bubbled up and filled my mouth. Some of it spilled, splashing on the floor and running down my chin. I clutched the bag tighter, desperate not to waste a single drop of it. It slipped down my throat, deliciously thick and intoxicating.

"Oooh…."

I squeezed the bag, spraying myself with its contents. My body felt alive. My skin was on fire and there was electricity in my veins, filling me with energy that surpassed anything I'd ever felt before. I was like an animal, senseless to what was going on as I sucked the bag dry and discarded it. I licked my lips, relishing in the taste of it.

Not enough…

I reached in and grabbed another, dropping to my knees to see into the fridge more clearly. I drained the second bag, holding it high and letting it drip onto my eager tongue. God it felt so good…

Small noises were coming from my lips, moans and hungry grunts. I finished the second bag and ripped open another, feasting. My breathing was coming in frantic heavy pants as I slurped the liquid down. My movements were getting clumsier as the blood lust took over me. I was more violent with each bag I ripped, spilling more on the floor than went in my mouth but I didn't care. I just knew I needed more.

I gulped down a bag without pausing for breath before tossing the useless plastic aside and letting out a starved gasp as oxygen returned to me. It felt stale compared to the delicious beauty of the blood.

Eventually I reached into the fridge and came back empty. I'd finished all the bags but I still wasn't sated. I whimpered, searching for something else that might quench my thirst. My hands were bloody from my careless ripping and I licked them eagerly, trying to get one more drop of that precious life giving fluid. Not enough, still not enough.

A deep pain had started in my stomach, a twisting hunger that threatened to rise up and consume me. I rocked back and forth, raking my fingers across my scalp, eyes rolling back in my head and teeth snapping at the air. The noises coming from my mouth no longer resembled anything human. Had anyone come near the kitchen they would have thought that an animal was in there, suffering slowly.

I let out a strangled snarl. I needed more!

I lowered my mouth to the tiled floor and licked, desperately trying to suck up anything that might still linger there. When I found nothing more, all I could do was curl up on the tiles. My hands were trembling and every slight movement I made sent the room spinning around me. I suddenly felt trapped in my own body and I clawed at my skin, desperate for something that would alleviate my torment.

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A/N: I was originally going to have Klaus as the one in the bar but i felt that Kol worked better with my overall plot. He was my favourite to write about in the last story so it's nice to have him back!