I will freaking go down with my own ship. *nervous laughter*

You never forget the first. It becomes burned in your memory in such a way that every sense is set into overdrive. The sight. The sound. The smell. Every feeling in every pore of your body. That first taste leaves you shaken and broken in a way that makes it seem impossible to ever go back.

And it is.

Few things are impossible in this world. But going back to being the person you were before is. You will never be the same. And every time it happens after that becomes easier. They blur together. There is nothing left that exists except you and the steady heartbeat within yourself.

Hayley is disorientated terribly when the alpha and I finish with her captors. My sword remains in my slightly loosened grip as I remain alert for more threats. Her attention remains fixated on the glowing eyes of the creature, completely ignoring the fact that a dark hooded figure cut down the men around her as well.

She manages to stand and stagger away in the direction of help. I text Klaus. She's alive. A little shaken. Out in the bayou. I'm sure you can take it from here.

I wasn't surprised when the intel came in saying that Hayley was attacked at the remote doctors office after hours. I was somewhat surprised at how well she held her own, but I suppose I shouldn't have been. Lone wolves tend to become formidable in their own right. They become used to watching their own backs.

I can't deny that I understand to some degree what attracted Klaus to her. I am still uncertain where they stand, but I get the sense that they have some kind of understanding, and so I resolve myself to remain indifferent. There's too much else to focus on anyway.

I look back to the carnage around me. Fallen witches with their throats slit and bodies still and lifeless.

I pull a cloth from my pocket and slowly run it across my blade to wipe it clean of this latest encounter with blood. But...you never forget the first.

"Mphhhhh," Marcel's muffled cry pulls me from my room, and I am careful to remain as silent as possible as I peer into the hall.

A group of rogue vampires, taking advantage of Klaus's absence, drag Marcellus from his room, barefoot and struggling against vervain ropes and a vervain soaked rag stuffed into his mouth.

I turn away and rush to my closet, listening intently as I grab a sword and a stake that I keep on hand. "Quiet," I hear one of them hiss. I hear the distinct sound of one of them hitting him, hard.

"We need to move quickly."

"Are you sure this is going to work?" the first asks.

"It has to. He's been here a long time. He's got to know something."

Their backs are turned from me and they don't expect an attack. It seems to happen in slow motion. My sword is sharp and my strength is augmented by the fear and anger I feel toward them for hurting my son. I swing the sword out and across the back on the neck of the one closest to me. The cut is deep and nearly clean through and much too fatal for even a vampire's healing abilities to repair. His body stiffens slightly. Blood spurts out in several directions and then he falls to the floor completely limp as I turn with my momentum thrusting my elbow into the surprised face of the other vampire who has turned to react against me.

He staggers back disorientated. But only for a moment. He rushes me and I find myself raising the stake on instinct, him running himself through without me having to put forth much more effort.

His eyes widen in surprise as he looks down at the piece of wood gripped in my hand as it protrudes from his heart. His eyes raise back to mine and a small stream of blood exits the corner of his mouth as his skin turns ashen.

My hands shake slightly as he falls at my feet. Dead.

"Mphhhhh." Marcel grunts loudly.

"Marcellus!" I rush toward him and yank the rag from his mouth and use my rapier to cut through the ties that bind him. They release him with a steaming his and I am quick to offer my wrist for my blood to help him rejuvenate faster from the pain the vervain caused.

"Mother...are you alright?"

I hold him and look uncertainty at the two bodies next to us. "Yes," I decide. "As long as you're alright?"

He nods. "I think they thought I could tell them how to kill an Original. I don't know."

"Well...it's over now. We need to get them out of the hall before they stain my carpet."

He nods. "I'll fetch someone to take care of it."

He disappears down the stairs and I continue to sit and stare blankly at the man with a stake in his chest. It's odd, this feeling. Hallow. Numb. Yet relieved. They were the enemy. Anything beyond that is irrelevant.

The next morning, as I sit with a cup of tea in deep contemplation, my phone buzzes alerting me to a text from a new number. I believe I have been able to come to an understanding with Davina.

I smile. It could only be Elijah. Welcome back.

Who do we need to kill?

It doesn't take long for him to respond. Potentially everyone. But for now I think providing her with magical knowledge that she desperately needs in order to gain control will be enough. I plan to have her unlink Hayley from Sophie.

Excellent. Keep me posted.

I set my phone to the side and lift my cup to my lips again. Nothing like tea and quiet to get the day started.

A couple of hours later, the phone rings with a number I have come to recognize flashing across it. I furrow my brow. He doesn't tend to call much. We've used texting as our main source of communication, but I answer it anyway. "It must be important."

"I need to find the witch elder. You have resources."

"Agnes? I'm sure I have the connections to find her. Was she behind the attack against Hayley the other night?"

"Yes. And the one today. She's trying to cause a miscarriage through Sophie," the anger in his voice is thick, even over the phone.

"The witches are even more divided on the subject than I thought. I was under the impression they were all using the child to try to have leverage over you."

"That was the case until one of the witches apparently had a vision that my child is going to bring death to all witches."

A chill runs down my spine and I stop breathing for a moment. "Who?" I ask quietly.

He pauses. "I know it's been a long time, but I like to think I recognize that you just drastically shifted tones."

"Who, Klaus?"

"Some witch named, Sabine I believe."

I can't help the smile that tugs at my lips. "She's given herself away."

"What do you…" he pauses in realization. "Celeste? You think Celeste is possessing Sabine?"

"I know it. She's given herself away." I laugh.

"The vision," I can hear the smile in his voice. "Celeste can be identified by her sight."

"Not hers. Mine. She stole it from me. Left me completely blind."

"As I recall, you never liked having those visions anyway…"

"U.S. Is Voted Dry!" the headlines read.

I toss a coin at the kid with the papers and grab one as I rush back home. I burst into Nicklaus's study and hold it up. "You were right."

He smiles and reaches for the paper. "Of course I was."

I laugh. "And here I was thinking I was the only one with premonitions." The words are out of my mouth before I can stop them. A long held secret no longer secret. A secret that I had feared Klaus knowing for years. I think perhaps becoming intimate with him was the dumbest thing I've ever done.

He raises an eyebrow at me. "You have premonitions?" A smirk starts to show.

I laugh nervously, trying to back track. "It's just a joke."

"Is that a lie?" he asks, stepping into my space and causing me to take a step back. My eyes widen at the promise I'm breaking if I lie to him. My end of the deal, broken.

"Umm," I say nervously as I find my back connecting with the wall. With nowhere else to go he is in my space and I have no escape.

"Can you see the future sweetheart?"

I swallow. "Sometimes." I look down. "I can't choose what I see. And often what I see is unclear because I'm missing pieces of the picture. Like reading the end of a book before you read the whole story. It doesn't make sense."

He lifts my chin and makes me look at him. His face contorted in what I label confusion. "You stand up against me without fear in nearly everything. The day I turned Marcellus, the day you helped him transition, you had me reeling with anger and confusion as you refused to back down. But not with this. You're afraid to stand with this. Why?"

"I…" I sputter. "I don't know. Because...because I don't want it. I don't want to be used for it. I can't help when they happen but I can ignore them if no one else knows...if no one else knows then they don't matter. And you...you can't…" I don't know what I'm trying to say.

"You don't like skipping to the end of the book."

I shake my head.

"And you're afraid I'll try to use them," he concludes.

"You'll try. But it won't work. Not having the full picture is worse than being blind to it. I can't control what I see anyway. You can't use my sight to actually see anything," I'm trying to convince him, already terrified.

His hands reach up to cup my face. "All this means is that you're even more special than I already thought you were. I…" he stops himself for a moment in concentration. "I believe you, when you say that you support me. For some reason I don't understand, I believe you. So...how about a deal?"

I smile at him hesitantly. "Didn't anyone ever tell you that you shouldn't make deals with the devil?"

He smiles more widely. "Kind of hard to make a deal with myself isn't it?"

I can't help laughing. "What do you propose?"

"If you promise to tell me of any visions that may pertain to my family or hint at the endangerment of my city, then I promise I will never ask you to try to see anything. I will never act on your visions without at least listening to what you have to say about it." He pauses and smirks. "Doesn't mean I won't still decide to act how I think is best."

I feel myself relaxing slightly against the wall as I take in his offer. If I am being honest, he has surprised me. Perhaps becoming intimate was not in fact the dumbest thing I've ever done. "Alright. Deal."

He smiles and ducks his head to kiss me as my hands reach up into his hair, causing us both to sigh in contentment.

"You're right," I tell Klaus. "I never liked having them. But it was still a part of my senses and it was still painful and strange for it to all of a sudden be gone."

"At least it makes it easy to find Celeste. But she's not my concern right now. Agnes is," he reminds me.

"Right. Of course." I pause. I could handle it myself, but I need to keep my distance from the current events. I can't have Marcel or Celeste suspecting that Klaus and I are on speaking terms. I'll have to pass this off to Klaus completely. "Go see Father Kieran. He's part of the counsel these days."

"The counsel still exists?"

"Yes it does. Strictly human participants now," I smile as I respond. "But still just as effective and resourceful as they ever were."

"Excellent. I'll pay them a visit."

The call is abruptly cut off and I huff a sigh of frustration. Phone calls have just given him another way to be rude to people.