The Promised One (Klaus Mikaelson/The Vampire Diaries)

Chapter Sixty Eight

Madeline's eyes shot open as she took in a gasping breath of air. She held a hand to her chest as she sucked in greedy gulps of oxygen, and her sudden movements caused Klaus to jump. She was still in his arms, cradled against his chest.

"Madeline?" She felt him brushing her hair out of her face.

She winced at the blinding sunlight, and weakly held up a hand to block her sensitive eyes. Everything looked so much...brighter and clearer, but it gave her the worst headache imaginable.

"Have I been drinking? My head hurts like a bitch." She sat up, and Klaus supported her. Everyone was standing there in silence, and she glared at them all, "What?" She asked, "Why are you all looking at me like that? Am I dead, or something?"

"Err, well..." Damon began awkwardly, "In a sense, I guess."

She pushed herself onto her feet, and touched her neck when it felt sticky. "What the hell is this? Oh, it's my blood. I guess the Gilbert ring did count the whole 'suicide because of being compelled-thing' as a supernatural death, huh? What a relief!" She turned to Klaus with a smile and threw her arms around him. "Can we go and see Henry, now? And we might need to get lunch, I'm starving!" She picked up her bracelet from the ground, and slipped it back on her wrist.

"Sorry about this, Ric." Damon stated, vamping over to the history teacher and biting down on his neck.

Alaric screamed in agony, and reacted by thrusting a stake into Damon's shoulder.

"What the fuck are you doing, you absolute prick!" She yelled at her bestie, she averted her gaze from Alaric's neck and yelled at someone to go and heal him. "God, that's disgusting!"

"Well, on the positive side, we know you're not craving blood." Damon said, "Which means you're not in transition."

"Why would I be in transition?"

"Because you died with my blood in your system." Elijah supplied, "And technically, you did not die a supernatural death."

"But I was compelled." Madeline said with a frown, "Does that not count? Oh my god, am I...am I a ghost?"

"Did you see anything when you were dead?" Alaric asked, "Did you see the Other Side?"

"No." Madeline stated, "No, I was...I was all alone."

"Then it was the Gilbert ring that bought you back." Alaric said with a sigh, after being healed by Damon once the older Salvatore ripped the stake out of his shoulder.

"You've got a mean swing, man."

"You've got a mean bite, man."

"Can we just go? I want to see my son! I don't care that I died!" Madeline exclaimed, "Oh god, he is with Lee and Jem, isn't he?"

"He's safe, my love." Klaus stated, and his voice sent the usual flutters of warmth through her heart. "But I want to make sure you're not in transition. Just because you turned away from Alaric blood, doesn't mean that you won't crave it once it's in front of you."

"I don't want it." She said, "When I said I was hungry, I did mean that I wanted a sandwich."

"That's what Vicki Donovan thought." Stefan reminded her.

Damon grabbed Rick's hand and bit into it, "What the hell, Damon!" Alaric exclaimed, yelping in pain once more. "I'm happy to be of service here, but at least warn me when you're going to do that!"

"Sorry, not sorry." The older Salvatore smirked as he shrugged his now-healed shoulder.

Madeline wrinkled her nose at the blood, but she did not want it, "It doesn't smell like it's very appetising, no offence, Ric."

"None taken."

"Maybe I'm not in transition, maybe whatever has happened has to do with this bond-thing?"

"Or it was Elijah." Stefan popped his two cents in. "He could've killed you in time."

"You killed me?" Madeline asked, turning to look at the grey-tinged face of the Original. Klaus must have killed him, and he had recently awoken from his nap.

"I did snap your neck, but we don't know whether your heart stopped beating just before or after I did it." The older Original brother said, "But I can hear it beating again now."

"Is there any way to tell?" Madeline asked, looking around at the group of vampires and he history teacher with wide eyes. "I mean, I don't want any blood - I just want to see my son, and eat a sandwich."

"Are your eyes still sensitive to the light?" The younger Salvatore asked.

"No."

"Then perhaps we have our answer." Alaric said, "Let's just get to the Boarding House."

Klaus and Madeline were the first to enter the house, Damon and Alaric behind them with Elijah and Stefan bringing up the rear. The older Gilbert sister ran towards Jeremy, who was cradling the young infant in his arms.

"Oh, my sweet, sweet boy!" She sobbed as she took the baby carefully into her own arms and breathed in deeply; the familiar newborn scent instantly making her relax. Madeline pressed a kiss to the top of his head as she rocked him in her arms. Tears poured down her face, and she smiled at her brother and her human-again, sister, "Thank you." She whispered to the room full of people, "I don't know what I'd do without any of you."

Klaus sat beside her on the sofa, and put his arm around her protectively as she held their son in her arms. She pressed kisses to the top of his tiny head and repeated over and over again that he would not ever, under any circumstances, leave her sight again.

The group left the first-time parents alone with Henry, and Madeline looked up at the Hybrid with tearful eyes, "I'm so sorry, that I let this happen." She sobbed, "I'm never going to forgive myself, for this!"

Klaus wiped away her tears with his thumb, "We have him back, sweetheart, that's all that matters now."

"Here's your sandwich." Damon stated, coming out of the kitchen with Alaric on his heels, holding a glass of orange juice.

They placed the food on the table in front of her, and Madeline took several large gulps of the juice before almost hacking up one of her lungs. She passed the infant over to Klaus before she crushed him, "What the hell did you put in that? Cow shit?"

"Thanks." Alaric said, "Nice to know that my blood tastes of 'cow shit'."

Klaus grinned, "So, I take that that you're not in transition, and Elijah killed you in time." He looked over towards the doorway where the Original was standing, "Good work, brother."

So, just to let you all know, I've written the final chapter for this story. I'll let you know which it is, once we get to the penultimate chapter.