Crazy

Chapter 16: You Need To Think About What Other People Want As Well

Lizbeth's POV
It's not like anything you can prepare for. You can't persuade yourself that they're coming, that you'll be fine. You can't think that you'll ever get out of the place that you're trapped.

I suppose it's lucky that I have some training sitting in cold, dark cells- left with nothing to eat or drink for days on end. If nothing else, I suppose I could thank my shit piece of a father for that. Though I'd wager that Nikoli would argue otherwise.

Niklaus didn't come back for a long time, and I assumed that I'd hurt his feelings in some way. If he was capable of feeling. I couldn't afford to get close to him, to feel for him, to let myself realise the similarities between us. I couldn't let us befriend each other, because he was a monster and it would make it that much harder to kill him when the time came. And I needed to be able to do that. I needed to protect lives.

And so when the door opened the next time, I steeped myself for the possibility that it was Niklaus. That I would have to give away more information in exchange for blood. Who I wasn't expecting at the door, however, was a nerve stricken and cautious Derek. "Derek?" I asked, disbelief ringing in my tone. And for a second, for a split second, I allowed myself to hope, to desperately hope that Nikoli was just behind him and I would have nothing to worry about. That he would take me in his arms and he'd know that it was fine.

And when no one came in after him, disappointment crashed through me, the fragile hope I had allowed breaking. It was no more. "Lizbeth." He replied, move over to me as he shut the door, turning on the lightbulb above the chair I was restrained on. "What are you doing here?"

"Getting you out. Come on." He tugged at the ropes binding my hands, and I hissed as they tugged against my skin. Vervain. "Those aren't normal ropes," I told him through clenched teeth. "You're not going to get through them with your hands."

"Well, what will get me through them?" I shrugged as best I could before murmuring back, "Do you happen to have a witch handy?"

"A witch?"

"I'll take that as a no." I sighed. "Can you see a lock of any kind? A keyhole? Anything?" A beat of silence as he replied, "Maybe. Let me look." He tugged the rope again, making me hiss louder. "Sorry." He said. I didn't reply. I knew if I did it would be dangerous. I was hungry, and in pain. Even if he did get me out of these ropes, I wood be a liability and we'd never get out of wherever Klaus was holding me. Or, at least not alive. "Go and look for a key." I ordered him. "These aren't going to do us any good without one. Or three." He paused the tugging for a moment, before asking, "Lizbeth, are you sure?"

"Yes." I replied. "Find a key. Gain Klaus' trust. Break me out."

"In that order?" He asked, standing. "Ideally. One and two could be swapped." He stood in front of me, looking at my expression for a moment. "Okay." He relented. "Are you... hungry?" He asked. I nodded. "Would my blood help?"

"I don't know. Probably." He offered me his wrist, murmuring, "Only one way to find out." He nodded to his wrist. "Go ahead."

"Stop me if you feel like I'm taking to much. This can be dangerous." I warn him, and he rolls his eyes and nods. "Just do it." I sank my teeth into his artery, and the only sign of pain from him was a sharp teeth. His blood didn't taste bad, I suppose, just... strange? I'm not sure what the word for it is. It didn't taste like human blood, but that was to be expected. I pulled away after a few good mouthfuls. "You good?" I asked, licking my lips. "Fine." He said through clenched teeth. "Better?"

"Much. Thank you." He nodded, took one last look at me with something unrecognisable shining in his  eyes, and then walked out.

And so the waiting game began.