𝐞𝐩𝐢𝐩𝐡𝐚𝐧𝐲 | 𝐭𝐯𝐝

-40-

I woke up to the sound of someone walking up to my bed. "Wake up, River. We have to catch dear Kol before he kills me." Someone said. I rolled over and saw Nik. "Sounds like a problem. Let me know how it goes." I huffed and I pulled the blanket over my eyes. "Someone woke up on the wrong side of the bed. Let me fix that for you." He shoved me to the opposite side. "Niklaus, seriously?" I groaned. "Back to the full name? Fine then."

"You're the one who threatened to slaughter me." I snapped. "You should've left once you saw me. You were stupid and ignorant." He scoffed. "That's nice," I mumbled. "Get up. Now."

I was already too awake to go back to sleep. I sat up and walked to my closet. "Good. You're coming with me to break apart Rebekah and Stefan's little rendezvous. You have 15 minutes." Klaus said before walking out. "You have fifteen minutes." I mocked, closing my closet door.
-

The door opened and Stefan faced us, about to sneak off. Rebekah sped up behind Stefan and nearly slammed the door on us when I stopped the door and barged in. "This is my place, Nik, and I don't appreciate you invading my privacy like some kind of creeping Tom. Especially creeping Tom with his new best friend." Rebekah glared.

"What a shame. What's up Stef?" I threw a blood bag at him and he caught it. "Well, I apologize for breaking up this sordid little tryst, but I do have some urgent business. Or have you forgotten - our paranoid brother Kol is running around with the white oak stake and homicide on the brain?" Klaus asked his sister dearest. "He tried to kill me last night. I didn't forget." Rebekah spat. "Yes, well, unfortunately, he seems to have absconded with my set of daggers."

"Oh, poor Nik. However, will you get your way without your precious daggers? They were so handy when you wanted to end a conversation with one of us!" She shouted. "Ouch. You dealt with her all night?" I plugged my ears and looked at Stefan. He tried to hide a smile. "Kol's irrational fear of Silas has pushed him over the edge. We need to put him down before he does any more damage. Now, I know you have the last dagger, and I know you have some white ash, so hand it over." Klaus demanded. "Mhm, and leave myself unprotected? You can file that request under 'no chance in hell.' Be gone by the time I have showered. Lurkers aren't welcome here." The blonde stormed away.

"Can she scream any louder? Niklaus needs the dagger and until you get it from the blonde or get Rebekah to give it to him. You can obviously knock some sense into her: You got her to kiss you." I teased. "You didn't mind when we were sneaking away from our parents." He remarked. "Yeah well, you had a better hair cut. I'll take care of Damon." I told him. "He's on lockdown ever since Kol compelled him to kill Jeremy last night," Stefan told Klaus.

"You see? That's my point exactly. If you let Kol roam free, then Jeremy won't live to see his junior prom, and we can kiss our map to the cure goodbye. But if you help me dagger Kol, Damon will be uncompelled, Jeremy will live, and we'll all be on our merry way to a human Elena." Klaus said. Stefan and I looked at each other.

-

I walked down the cellar with a vial of blood, a water bottle, and Klaus and Stefan over my shoulder. "Damon, baby!" I squealed in an attempt to sound like Elena. "Ugh, shut up. You coming to snap my neck again? Because I woke up feeling completely un-murderous, and I'm pretty sure that it's safe to set me free." He said. I walked up to the bars. Damon was pale and sweaty. Gross.

"It's your lucky day!" I threw the vial at him and he caught it. "You're telling me you bled me dry just for a few drops? Spare me a bag." He mumbled, throwing his head back to drink it. "Still thirsty? Here, buddy." I threw the water bottle at him. Damon looked up at me and saw Klaus. "Hello, mate." Klaus greeted. "What the hell are you doing here? Especially together. What is he doing here? River? Stefan?" Damon questioned.

"We're here for babysitting duty. Klaus needs leverage and I need friends and Stefan has errands to run and someone to avoid...Connect the dots." I told him. "Silent treatment, huh? He's still pissed at me for sleeping with Elena." He scoffed. "You sure about that? 'Cause I saw him trying to sneak out of Rebekah's bed this morning, which would suggest to me that he's moved on." Klaus smiled. "Well, well. Looks like my brother ripped out a page of my revenge-sex handbook."

Stefan rolled his eyes. "Give him a vial of blood every couple of hours, so he doesn't desiccate. If he gets too much strength back, or if he just annoys you, bleed him out again. Well, why don't you two enjoy your little, uh, villain bonding time? I'll let you know when I get the dagger from Rebekah." Stefan walked away and I listened as his phone began ringing upstairs. "Damon's fine. I locked him up with all the creature comforts he deserves." He said after answering. "That's not why I called. Kol just tried to kill Bonnie."

I looked at Klaus and began walking towards the door when he grabbed my arm. "Klaus, I have to." My heart stopped, suddenly picturing the blood on his face from when he was surrounded by bodies he killed. "Be careful, rabbit."