Chapter Three.

I woke up to a rather urgent knock on my door.
"Mmm... Come in." I groaned, rubbing the sleep out of my eyes.
It was Stefan.
"I need your help." He said.
"I'll be down in a minute." I replied.
"There's some more clothes for you there. Damon says he'll take you shopping once this is over."
"Thank you." I smiled.
He gave me a small smile in return and left the room.
I got dressed into the dark blue skater dress Stefan had supplied me with and paired it with the leather jacket he'd leant me the previous day and my military style boots.
Going downstairs, I saw Damon pacing one end of the room, whilst Stefan took to the other side, doing just the same.
"What's going on?" I asked.
"Klaus is back in town. We don't know why, but it hasn't exactly turned out good in the past." Damon said.
"But I thought you guys were on neutral ground now?" I pondered aloud.
"We are... But that still doesn't change all the other times he's been here. We need to find out what he wants this time." Stefan huffed.
I chuckled. "You realise you could be getting flustered over nothing but a casual visit, right?"
"It's never like that with Klaus. There's always been some sort of ulterior motive." Damon said.
"I'll go talk to him. Where is he?" I asked.
"At the Mystic Grill, last we heard. Bonnie and Caroline are there now." Stefan said.

The drive into town was short and I got to the Grill in no time. Sure enough, Niklaus was sat at the bar with a glass of Bourbon in hand.
"So what brings you back this way, Niklaus?" I asked, smirk ripe on my face.
His head whipped around and he almost dropped his glass at the sight of me.
"Alexandra?" He gasped, wide-eyed. "What are you doing here?"
I sat down, waving at the bar tender to get us more Bourbon.
"I was just passing through, thought I'd make a few friends. It's a nice town." I shrugged, picking up my drink and taking a sip.
"You don't just 'pass through' places, Alexandra. I know you, Love. Don't forget that." He said, tipping his drink to me before taking a gulp.
"I thought I'd see where our bloodline went. The Salvatore brothers are rather delicious, don't you think?" I winked, taking another drink.
"Quite." Niklaus raised an eyebrow.
"So... I'll ask again. What brings you back to Mystic Falls?" I repeated.
"New Orleans was getting boring. I thought I'd come see how my Doppelganger was doing."
"Yes, I was told about that..." I sighed, disapprovingly. "You said she was dead."
"In my defence, I thought she was until recently." He pointed at me.
"Sort of..." I replied.
"Well there we go, Love." He paused. "It's good to see you again."
"You too, Niklaus. How are your siblings?"
"Finn is dead, Kol is dead, Rebekah is back in New Orleans and Elijah is... God only knows where." Niklaus sighed, taking a drink.
"Finn and Kol are dead? But how?" I gasped.
"Oh they didn't tell you that bit then, eh?" The Original chuckled in slight disbelief, shaking his head.
"Your new pets killed them. With an indestructible White Oak stake."
"No... They didn't mention that. But anyway, even you have to admit that they were just annoying." I shrugged.
"Oh, I don't deny that. And I'm almost thankful that they got rid of them for me, almost." He chuckled. "Anyway, the past is the past and we have eternity. No point spending it dwelling."
Niklaus rose from his seat and offered me his hand, which I took.
"Where are we going?" I asked.
"For a walk." He replied, simply.
"Na uh. You guys are coming back to the Boarding House with us." A girl stood her ground with Bonnie next to her.
"You must be Caroline." I smiled. "I'm Alex. Stefan's told me quite a bit about you."
"Yeah, he said. Enjoying my clothes?" She asked.
I looked down at the jacket and dress.
"Yes, thank you. It's so kind of you to do me this favour."
"No problem. Klaus, you've seen the Salvatore wine cellar. Come and indulge yourself." Caroline snapped at him, sharply before whipping herself – and her hair – around to vacate the Grill.
"Do I sense a history there, Niklaus?" I smirked.
"Don't even go there, love." He chuckled, making his way out of the building.

"So apparently, he just wanted to check up on Elena." I called through the house as we walked through the door.
"I'm calling bullsh-"
"Damon. So nice to see you again." Niklaus smirked, coming into view.
"Klaus. What a pleasant surprise." Damon smiled through gritted teeth.
The tension in the air grew suddenly thick before Caroline and Bonnie walked through the door.
"I think he was being honest. I mean, it's not like he knew any of us realised he was here." Caroline shrugged.
"She has a point there, mate." Klaus wagged a finger in Damon's direction.
"So that may be, but why come all this way just to check on someone who's of no use to him anymore?" Damon said.
Actually... He's got a point." I realised. "Don't forget, I know you, Niklaus. And from what I've heard of the situation between you and the town of Mystic Falls, you've only ever come here for personal gain." I raised an eyebrow.
"Years ago, yes. But maybe I just wanted to see everyone. Ever think of that?" Niklaus huffed. "I've helped you lot out a good few times, remember."
No one really said anything to that.
"But it's nice to know that I can't just be here without being the object of suspicion." Niklaus sighed, falling onto the couch.
"Fine. We'll take your word on this. But know that you're balancing on a fine line, Klaus." Stefan said, making everyone in the room jump, besides Damon and Niklaus.
"Duly noted, mate."

All of us sat and talked for a while, catching up, mainly.
Then there was a knock on the door.
"I've got it." Bonnie said, getting up from her spot on the couch.
We waited to listen to find out who it was, but all that came was a scream.
We ran to the hall to find a terrified Bonnie, hand over her mouth, eyes fixated on the other side of the threshold.
A body.
"What the Hell?" I exclaimed, jogging over to Bonnie. "Are you alright?"
She nodded as I pulled her into a hug.
"It just shocked me. Who is it?" She asked Stefan, who was just about to turn the body over.
"Elena..." He breathed.

He picked her up and vamp sped her inside, laying her gently on the couch.
"Someone snapped her neck."
"Who would do this?" I asked.
Stefan checked her pockets to try and find any sort of clue.
Nothing.
Just then, Bonnie got a text. She reached into her pocket to find out who it was from.
"It's from Elena?" She said in a questioning tone.
"I didn't find her phone in her pockets. Whoever did this has it." Stefan stated.
"What does the text say?" Damon asked.
"Next time it'll be a stake in her heart. K." Bonnie read aloud.
"Who's K?" I pressed.
"Kai..." Damon growled.