𝐞𝐩𝐢𝐩𝐡𝐚𝐧𝐲 | 𝐭𝐯𝐝

-10-

We met the Original in the Mystic Falls Hospital parking lot. The click of his car door shutting sent shivers down my spine and I nearly shut my eyes before exiting the car myself. I face the hybrid, suddenly bubbling with anger. I didn't let it show, however. I was good at those things.

He looked the same, if it weren't for the hair, I'd say identical, to his previous years. Still charming and wearing a smug grin on his speckled face. He had blonde facial hair, which nearly rounded his face perfectly. He had a short set of blonde curls on the top of his head, which nearly seemed to have red highlights in the warm-toned evening.

"Well well..." He stopped in front of me. Damon glanced between us. "I would say it's a pleasure to see you again, but seeing as I'm not even supposed to remember you the first time, I figured it would have been a waste of breath." I crossed my arms and met my eyes to his dark blue ones. They were cold and empty. "Nice to see you again, River. Always a joy. Shall we get on with it?"

-

We were now hiding in a storage room, waiting for Meredith to lure Connor in. Damon was in one section while I was stuck with Klaus in another. "Wish I could see you under better circumstances, darling, but unfortunately I had forgotten your existence until about half an hour ago." He commented. I scoffed. "Always the charmer, hm, Niklaus?" I mumbled, glancing at the door. "As I remember, you were a devil in disguise as well. You were beautiful. I see not much has changed." He flirted. He was trying to make me show emotion. I wasn't going to give in that quickly. "Obviously."

"Why don't you both shut up so we can kill the son of a bitch and leave?" Damon's voice strained from the opposite side of the room. Almost as if set in stone, the door opened. We pulled Meredith to the side before Connor walked in. "Is a hospital really the best place for a couple of germaphobes?" The hunter turned to face the two racks, which were on both sides of the room. Damon and I stepped out. "Did I say that we were germaphobes? Pft, sorry, I meant vampires." Damon smirked.

Connor pulled out a gun to shoot Damon but was struck by an arrow. He dropped his gun and bent down to pick it up. When he did so, he was shot by another arrow. They were attached to the bombs from his trailer. Connor attempted to grab his gun again, but Klaus kicked it out of the way. "Hello, mate."

Connor ignored it and tried taking the arrow out of his side. "If you could stop, that'd be great. I'm not exactly in the mood to scrape your insides off the ceiling." I hummed. "You'd make us do that anyway," Klaus remarked. "You're right." I shrugged. I'd rather just burn the whole place down. "You're gonna kill me. It doesn't matter what I do." Connor groaned. "Well, let's not be too hasty. I feel like we're just getting to know each other!" Klaus gasped.

"Let's start with the basics. Where are you from? What do you know? Maybe you can cue me in on this "greater evil," because I've fought this guy--" Damon pointed at the hybrid. "--and there's nothing eviler than that."

"Yeah, truth be told, I'm as evil as it gets." Klaus chuckled. "He's also an egotistical maniac," I spoke. "I'm not telling you anything. And-- if you think if you kill me, it's gonna be over-- there's another waiting to take my place." He threatened. "See, this is what I like to hear; vague threats, ominous prophecies, disappearing tattoos," Damon said.

"Tattoos?" Klaus and I gapped in unison. "Well fuck me with a chainsaw. There's more to you than meets the eye, isn't there?" I bent down next to him and looked over his features and arms. There was no use because the tattoos couldn't be met by the eye. The man reached for a stake, but I grabbed his arm quickly and twisted it. I looked down at the stake and took it with my free hand. It was engraved.

"You're one of the Five." I handed the wood to Klaus. I looked back at Connor. I was too late. He pulled the string to the bomb and Damon was already rushing out of the room, leaving Connor, Klaus, and I behind. I grabbed Klaus and sped out of the room. The bomb then exploded.

-

Apparently, something happened to Elena, leaving Klaus running towards the house while Damon cleared things. I ended up in the speeding car with the hybrid himself.

"You were quick in there, almost like a bunny." He chuckled. "Consider me Peter Cottontail then." I rolled my eyes and he let out a laugh. I smiled. "Mind catching me up on everything, Niklaus?" I asked. "Ah, so your pair of- whats the term? Besties, couldn't have caught you up themselves after you return so many years later? Ouch. Well, you haven't missed much except...well... I mean, I killed Elena's aunt in a ritual, possessed their buddy, Alaric, bit a few people, staked Elijah a few times--Let me tell you how fun that was. Oh, and you're gonna hate this one! I took Stefan werewolf hunting to make new hybrids! Quite a joy. We even went to Chicago." He rambled. "Nice to know. Anything else?" I regretted those words. "That's for another time, rabbit. We're here. We're lucky if she isn't dead already."

We sped upstairs. "You came. Together." Stefan shifted his eyes at me. "I did. And for future reference, one voicemail is just as effective as nine." Klaus walked over to the bed that a pale Elena laid in. She was sweaty and her eyes were now ghost-like. "What's wrong, love?" Klaus tsked. "She has werewolf venom in her system. You know you're the only one that can heal her, Klaus. Please." Stefan begged. His eyes were wide and he seemed defenseless. It never did suit him.

"And what would you have done if I were no longer here? Hm? If you and your friends had succeeded in ridding the world of me? Let's play that game for a moment, shall we?"

"Whatever you want from me..."

That put a smile on Klaus's face. "I don't want anything from you. Her, on the other hand...If you had told me a few hours ago, I wouldn't have cared a lick about her dying. But, as it turns out..." He bit into his wrist. "You may be of use to me after all." He placed his wrist in her mouth and she began drinking. Stefan let out a sigh of relief.

-

I walked Klaus to the door. I don't know why, but his company was always alluring. "I'll see you again, rabbit. Promise." He smiled a bit. "Hopefully under better conditions. Goodbye, for now, Niklaus." I shut the door and let out a deep breath.

My bones were all of a sudden heavy when I crawled into my cotton sheets for the night. Maybe it was because of my shirt, which was nearly soaked in water because of my wet hair. Or maybe, it was the fact I faced someone I spent years hiding from. I pulled the comforter over my head and laid on my side, replaying today's events in my head.

For some reason, I had a dream of a certain bunny named Peter Cottontail.