Bittersweet Memories

My alarm went off 20 minutes ago, which means I have another ten left before Caroline starts blowing up my phone, asking where the hell I am.

"You all packed, lovely?" Klaus asked.

"I am." I smiled. "I promised Caroline I'd help her clean up from last nights dance, I think I'm gonna break the news to her there."

"Que the waterworks." He laughed. "She can come visit, once every 10 years."

"Nik!" I smacked his bare chest. "She can stay with us whenever she wants to."

"Great." He was not amused.

"Where are we going anyway? You never told me."

"A place I used to call my home. New Orleans."

"Mardi Gras." I grinned. "I've never been there before."

"The French Quarter was my home for the better part of my life. Elijah and myself actually helped build that city."

"I can't wait to see it. Are you excited to go back?"

"It's long overdue, love." Klaus said as my phone started to go off, Caroline's first call of the morning. "Must she call so early?"

"According to her watch, I'm probably late." I laughed before answering the phone. "Hey, Care."

"For once in your life, can you just be on time?" Caroline asked. "Just once!"

"Good morning to you, too." I laughed. "Give me 15 minutes, did you bring my coffee?"

"Of course I did. You know why? Because I'm always on time and reliable."

"See you in 15, Care. Bye!"

I quickly hung up the phone before she kept me on it any longer, scolding me for being late. Then she would of yelled some more when 15 minutes have passed and I wasn't there yet. I threw my phone on the nightstand and got out of bed. I didn't pack all my clothes because I knew I would need something to wear today.

"You get all your affairs in order and I'll see you later, love." Klaus said before giving me a kiss on my forehead.

I put my sunglasses on when I got into my car and headed towards the store. Caroline's car was of course, the only car in the parking lot. No shocker there. I headed into the school to look for her and I found her in the gym.

"Sorry I'm late, Care." I said as I accepted the coffee from her.

"Don't apologize, you're always late!" She laughed.

"Or you're just always extremely early." I told her. "Ten missed calls. All from Damon."

"10? Why the sudden interest in you? After that argument you guys had yesterday, I didn't think he'd be up for round two so soon."

"Yeah, about that." I started. "I went back to the cemetery to see him."

"WHAT!" She yelled. "Why on earth did you do that?"

"I could tell he was really hurt by Ric's death. I just wanted to make sure he was okay, then I told him he should stay with Alaric until he goes, so he isn't alone."

"Wow, that was unexpected." Caroline said. "But why would he call you ten times?"

"I'm guessing because he wanted me to know something. I'm guessing that he's sorry or that he loves me, I don't know. But I told him whatever he wanted to say, it didn't matter. I refused to listen."

"That explains all the missed calls from Damon." She said. "I'm kind of curious of what he has to say, mind if I ask?"

"Yes!" I laughed. "I do mind if you ask. But..we have to talk."

"About what?" She asked. "Oh god, are you considering getting back together with him? I was literally just starting to get used to the fact that you're with Klaus! Or whatever you you guys are calling it."

"No, I'm not getting back together with Damon." I told her. "But...I'm moving."

"YOU'RE MOVING?! MOVING WHERE?!" Caroline yelled, hitting me in the head with a table topper before trashing it.

"New Orleans."

"What? Why are you moving there? When? With who?!" Boy, she sure was taking this better than I expected. Not.

"Basically, Klaus is leaving Mystic Falls and I'm going with him."

"Do you want to go with him?" Caroline asked, as if it was the most bizarre thing in the world.

"Of course I want to go with him, Care." I laughed. "I wouldn't be going if I didn't want to."

"But you guys were fighting just yesterday. Now everything's all sunshine and daisies?"

"We talked about this the other night. Only before he wanted to leave Mystic Falls with me, his doppelganger and hybrid." I explained. "I told him no. Then I made him choose between me and his stupid hybrids, his deadline was last night. He came to the dance, swept me off my feet, and chose me."

"Wow." Caroline said. "I just...I don't know what to say. You're coming back, right?"

"Of course I'm coming back." I laughed. "To visit, I will come back to visit. You can even visit me if you want. Just don't invite Tyler, I doubt he'll wanna come along."

Caroline smiled and gave me a big hug. "I'm gonna miss you, Savannah. Again. When are you leaving?"

"Tonight." I braced myself for the worst. "I just needed to tell everyone I care about before I go."

"SAVANNAH!" She yelled again. "Tonight? Seriously?"

"Don't worry, I'll be back." I said. "I promise."

"Savannah, you shouldn't make promises you can't keep." We heard a voice behind us. We turned around and it was Ric, but he's supposed to be dead. That means he must of turned. But this wasn't Alaric, this was his immortal vampire hunting alter ego.

"Shit." I mumbled.

"Alaric?" Caroline questioned.

"That's Mr. Saltzman to you, vampire." He scoffed. "Now, who wants to die first?"

Caroline and I looked at each other, both silently searching for a sign of what to do. I was bold and threw a table at him to distract him. "RUN, CAROLINE!"

The two of us took off running down the hall, but he was gaining on us quickly. He threw a stake that pierced my stomach, slightly disabling me. Caroline stopped in her tracks to help me, but I protested as he got closer. "Savannah-"

"Run, Caroline! Just go! Get Klaus!" I told her before my neck was snapped.



Everything was blurry and I was in excruciating pain, I heard my name being called as I woke up. All I could feel was pain, I was being gagged with a towel soaked in vervain. I couldn't move, the pain was too much, I couldn't even move my hands, Alaric drove pencils into my hands, pinning me to the desk. Through my tears, I saw it was Elena who was calling my name. Why her? Why was she here? I wanted Klaus.

"Savannah! Oh my god!" She ran over to me frantically and removed the towel from around my neck, throwing it to the ground.

"Elena, turn around." I mumbled as Alaric finally reappeared. It was too late, he pushed her and she went flying into some desks. He quickly picked up the vervain soaked towel and tied it back around my mouth, temporarily hurting himself in the process. "Alaric, please!"

"Ric, leave her alone!" Elena screamed as she got up. "This isn't you, Ric! You would never wanna hurt Savannah!"

"She is a vampire, Elena!" He said with such disgust. "She is a monster who doesn't deserve to live!"

"She's not a monster!" Elena defended me.

Alaric went on to say how wrong Elena was, that I was a monster. But he said he wasn't going to kill me, she was. "Kill her, Elena! Do it NOW!"

I wasn't even afraid, I was more worried about the pain I was in from the vervain. I didn't expect her to kill me, but even if she did by chance, I just didn't care. All I wanted was the fucking pain to stop and for Klaus to get his ass here and save me.

"You literally picked the wrong vampire to capture, Alaric." I said through my agony. "We're not even friends anymore, why would she care about killing me?"

"No, I picked the right person, Savannah." Alaric said. "I want Klaus and I know the perfect way to get Klaus. His girlfriend and his doppelganger."

"Then you better let Elena go." I said, exhausted. "He's not making Hybrids anymore."

"You expect me to believe that? Don't lie to me, Savannah. You don't wanna make things worse." He laughed before forcing a stake in Elena's hand. "Now kill her, Elena!"

She wouldn't make a move. She didn't protest it, but she didn't agree to it either. I was growing impatient from the amount of pain I was in. "WILL ONE OF YOU FUCKING KILL ME!? IF NOT, GET THIS VERVAIN OFF MY MOUTH!"

That's when the door swung open forcefully. I was relieved to see Klaus and not somebody else. Alaric got pretty excited and went after him while Elena freed me. We said nothing to each other and I wondered if she was actually considering killing me. Not because she wanted to, but to save her own ass. Alaric and Klaus went back and forth with devastating blows. Klaus told me to leave numerous times but I refused to leave without him.

This Alaric 2.0 was a lot stronger than I thought he was., he almost staked Klaus twice before he got fed up and snapped his neck. Sure, that wouldn't kill him, but it would give us plenty of time to escape and think of a plan. Maybe we'll be long gone before Alaric can leave the school.

"Are you okay, love?" Klaus asked when we got home. I was exhausted, but fine.

"Yeah. I'm okay." I said. "I did not see that coming."

"Apparently my mother came to Bonnie in her sleep, taking control of her body." Klaus said. "She walked right into Alaric's tomb and he fed on her."

"What? How do you know this?" I asked

"Damon." He rolled his eyes. "I had to work with your friends today to go up against a common enemy."

That explains the ten missed calls from Damon. He wasn't calling to pour his heart out to me, he was calling to warn me that it wasn't safe. "But that common enemy is still out there."

The door bell rung and Klaus got up to get it. "I don't know what you want from me, love. But I've had my fair share of the Salvatores for the day, and your friends for that matter." He said as he answered the door. "And here's another one."

"I'm just checking on Savannah." Caroline said as she pushed past him, inviting herself in.

"I'm okay now, Care." I smiled.

"I feel bad for leaving you there."

"I told you to." I said. "It's a good thing you did, too. Somebody needed to tell Klaus where I was. Alaric was screaming at Elena to kill me and she just didn't know what to do, so I had to fucking sit there in pain with a towel full of vervain on my face!"

My little freakout caused both Caroline and Klaus to laugh. Shit, I even started to laugh at how ridiculous it was.

"But you're okay now." Caroline said. "For now, we're all okay. Until sunset, when Alaric is free to roam the town and kill us all."

"Any plans, Nik?" I asked

"There's no way my mother made him immortal, so we just need to find a way to kill him." He said.

"Oh! He's not immortal, his life is just linked to-"

Klaus and I looked at Caroline with wide eyes and she completely shut her mouth. Almost revealing something we probably weren't supposed to know. But it wasn't too hard to guess.

"Linked to who, Caroline?" Klaus pressed on.

"You know what, I have no idea what I'm talking about. I'm just acting like a dumb blond." Caroline said nervously.

I wasn't stupid, as soon as she said it, I figured it out. Why wouldn't his life be linked to Elena's life? Her blood is what made him immortal in the first place. The room fell silent and Klaus messed with his phone for a few moments before getting up.

"That was Rebekah, she wants me to go meet her." He said before kissing my forehead. "I'll be back."

As soon as I heard his car go down the road, I gave Caroline a smack.

"Seriously?" I asked

"I honestly don't know what came over me!" She yelled. "Do you think he knows? Wait, how do you know?"

"How do I know?" I asked. "Because you basically gave it away as soon as you opened your mouth."

"What do we do now?"

"You're gonna help me figure out a way to stop him from killing Elena before Damon and Stefan find out." I said. "If not, this is gonna end badly."

"Well, I'm open to ideas! How do we stop him?"

"Well, I don't know." I said. "I've never seen him put anybody elses life before his own. So if it comes down to him or Elena dying, you better believe he's saving himself."

"It doesn't matter, Stefan and Damon can't kill Klaus without killing the rest of us anyway."

I had no doubt about it, he went off to look for Elena. That Rebekah needing him thing was a load of shit because Caroline was sitting right here. I decided to call Bex, maybe he told her where exactly he was going.

"Hey, Sav. Heard about the attack, glad you're alright." Rebekah said when she answered the phone.

"Bex, do you know where your brother is?"

"He called and said something about Elena being linked to Alaric, once she dies we're basically home free."

"Great." I said as I hung up the phone. "Call Elena, see if she answers. But do NOT tip her off about Klaus."

Caroline did as told and I heard the phone ringing until it went to voicemail. "Maybe I'll try Jeremy."

"Try whoever you can until you get through to somebody." I said. "The sun has begun to set, which means Alaric's gonna be on the streets before we know it."

I tired calling Klaus a bunch of times while Caroline tried everyone else we knew. We both came up with nothing. We then started thinking about where Klaus would go to find Elena.

"You don't think he's dumb enough to go to her house, do you?" Caroline asked.

"Dumb enough? No. But crazy enough? Probably!" I said as I stood up and grabbed my keys. The sun had fully set by now, so we had to be extra mindful of our surroundings. Alaric has to be lurking around here somewhere, and all he has on his mind are killing vampires. So, either Klaus kills Elena and Alaric dies, or Alaric kills Klaus and we all die.

We rushed over to Elena's house and there they were. Everything was happening so fast. By the time Caroline and I got out of my car, Elena was thrown to the ground by Stefan, who then turned his attention to Klaus. He seemed to be weakened by something, then Stefan forcefully placed his hand on his heart. Something started happening to Klaus. He was growing weaker and falling to the ground.

"NO!" I screamed when I finally realized what was happening and ran to him. I was grabbed by Damon and held against my will, I was forced to watch Stefan stop Klaus' heart. "GET OFF ME, DAMON! LET ME GO!"

"I'm sorry."

"NO YOU'RE NOT!" I screamed.

"Okay, okay." Damon confessed. "I'm not sorry, I'm just sorry you're hurt."

When Damon finally let me go, it was too late. Klaus laid there, basically dead. Well, he wasn't dead, his heart was stopped but he was still alive, otherwise we would all be dying soon. I just stared at his body with my mouth hung open, I didn't know what to say or do. I just felt...empty.

"Savannah-" Caroline tried talking.

"Care." I stopped her. "Just don't."

There was silence amongst the five of us as Elena finally stood up from the ground. I didn't even look at her. I just wished it was her lying on the ground, not Klaus.

"Stefan, take Elena home." Damon said. "I'll deal with Klaus' body."

"The hell you will!" I yelled.

"Relax, princess. He's not dead."

"He's desiccated!" I yelled again. "The only thing you're doing with his body is returning it to his family, where it belongs. It's the least you can do."

"Are you kidding me right now, Savannah?" Damon laughed. "The least I can do? You're talking about the psychopathic Klaus Mikaelson. Who tried to take Elena away for her blood. Who has threatened everybody standing here and our loved ones. He's killed numerous people, he's not a good person."

"You don't even know what a loved one is!" I scoffed at him. "You have a lot of nerve saying most of that stuff about Klaus. Know why? Because aside from trying to take Elena's blood, YOU'VE done ALL of that while I was dating you! Now, you're giving his body back to his family."

"No, I'm not!" Damon yelled. "I'm taking his body far away where Alaric can't find it so we can all live. I'm doing this for you, too."

"Fuck off, you piece of shit." I said as I pulled out my phone and got into my car. I didn't wanna talk to any of them right now. If they tell me how sorry they are and how they didn't mean to hurt me, I might lose my mind. They needed magic to stop his heart, so I know Bonnie helped too. I said I wouldn't be mad at them for the sides they take, but that doesn't mean I'm not upset. I finally found the number I was looking for and hit the call button.

"Hello?"

"Elijah, how quick can you get to Mystic Falls?"