ACT TWO; TARGET IN SIGHT
SCENE SIXTEEN; EVERYBODY LEAVES
─────⋅☾ ☽⋅─────

"WHAT ARE YOU DOING? WHY AREN'T YOU PACKING?"

Klaus's voice falls flat when he stops in the doorway of their closet, watching her grab the garment bag that had been hanging amongst her formal dresses for two weeks. Salem frowns, looking at him obliviously.

"I'm getting my dress for the decade dance, I have to chaperone."

Klaus's eyes flood with frustration, and a groan dies weakly in his throat. "None of the women in my life listen to me."

"That's because you've spent the last thousand years convincing yourself that you're always right," She simpers, giving him a look over her shoulder as she lays her dress out on the island in the middle of the closet. She unzips the bag, taking the sparkling dress out carefully as she mentally dreads fixing her hair to match the era.

Unknowingly, Klaus's eyes light with a desire to see her dressed in such a thing. The twenties were some of his favorite years, for obvious reasons, and he thinks he might not have survived encountering a woman like Salem if they met all those years ago. He can barely survive her now, as is.

His curiosity gets the best of him, and momentarily he forgets his original agenda when addressing her. "That looks authentic, darling, it's a shame to see it go to waste."

"Ha ha, very funny," She pointed a finger at him, grinning sharply. "I am going to do my job because I have only recently left my deathbed and I really don't think the school is going to give me another week off."

"You and Rebekah are delusional if you think we're staying in this town for another second. We burned the last white oak stake, and once we gather Elena, we're leaving."

Salem furrows her brows, all of Klaus's words hitting her at once. "I haven't even seen Rebekah since last night, for one, and since when are we leaving Mystic Falls? That was never brought up in conversation, Klaus, and even if it were, I certainly wouldn't agree to it!"

Klaus opens his mouth to retort, but Salem cuts him off before he can say anything. "I have a job, and a life here, Klaus– we have a life here. I can't just leave it all behind because you've decided you've had your fill. Despite what you may think, not everyone is as capable of abandoning things as you are."

The hybrid scoffs at her words. "Are we really going to have this conversation now, Salem? There's far more pressing matters at hand, one would think."

She twists her lips into a smile that holds more hostility than he thought was possible for a smile, and he resists making a comment about it. "You're right, Klaus. I have to get ready for the dance, and you– well, you'll just do whatever you want like always."

"Salem–"

"I couldn't care less if you come to the dance or not, but I'm going," She gives him a look that holds an alarming amount of defeat, an honest amount of defeat that sits heavily and uncomfortably on his shoulders.

For the first time since she'd gotten home from the hospital, he feels like he's actually seeing her as she is. She's not hiding behind some facade, or distracting him with anything she thinks will get his attention off of her.

Whatever is on her mind causing her to feel so many things is out of his control, but it is entirely his fault that she feels the need to hide it from him.

"Leave, if that's what you want," Her tone betrays her words, and they both know that she doesn't want him to leave. He doesn't want to leave, not without her. "As long as you can make your hybrids, you'll be fine."

She turns, closing herself in the en suite bathroom before he can say the words that die in his throat at her departure.

─────⋅☾ ☽⋅─────

Salem shuts the car door with a sigh, watching Klaus stalk towards the high school with a determined gait to his step, though she knows part of it is to get away from her and the tension she's letting sit between them.

Frustratedly, she clenches her fists and her side and takes the brief moment of silence to herself and leans against the car, dropping her head into her hands. Her vision blacks as she rests her palms over her face, but her ears prick when she hears rocks skid across the paved parking lot.

"Klaus?" Her voice falls flat in the darkness, and she looks up at the parking lot with a frown and a trace of wariness stiffening her shoulders. "Klaus, is that you?"

Her wrist twitches as a yellow hue takes to her hands and she looks around, panicked and desperate for Klaus's presence for the first time in weeks. "Who's there?"

"Salem."

Her spine straightens, and she faces the strikingly familiar voice with apprehension radiating off of her. Unable to stop the physical reaction, Salem's face scrunches up in disbelief. "Esther? How are you–"

"Now, now, darling," Esther lifts her hand, and Salem mirrors the action even as spots fade her vision. "There will be time for questions later."

All at once, Salem's vision goes black and she sees Esther's dark smile at the forefront of her mind as she falls unconscious.

─────⋅☾ ☽⋅─────

She wakes with a choked gasp, her hands immediately falling to her stomach as she chokes on nothing. Her eyes open and her blurry vision quickly clears, shining through to the dirt-covered floor beneath her.

Salem groans, the dryness of her throat like sandpaper and she instinctively holds her stomach as phantom pains ebb through her muscles. Hands wrap around her arms and she panics, yanking herself out of the grip with a yelp of surprise.

"Woah– no!" A familiar, alarmed voice rings out in the tomb when Salem raises her hands, her eyes a defensive yellow. "It's me, Salem, it's me. It's Alaric."

Her terror-stricken gaze lands on him and she lets out a sigh of relief before quickly remembering the state her best friend had been left in the last time she'd seen him. "Is it you you, or... the you who wants to kill me?"

Alaric sighs, guilt shining in his warm eyes. "It's me, I swear,"

Salem nods, her shoulders sagging as she props herself up against the wall of the tomb. "How did you get here? How did I get here?"

"Esther," Alaric supplies, earning an eye roll from Salem. "Your in-laws are terrible, you know that?"

Salem snorts an exhausted laugh, the action making her somehow more exhausted. "Where is she?"

"I, uh, stabbed her," He coughs, looking uncomfortable at the imploring look Salem fixes on him. "Klaus took her body. Damon is outside with Elena and Jeremy– Matt is here, I think."

"Wow, it's just like old times. Feels a little weird to be the damsel in distress, though, I have to admit."

Alaric smiles, exhaustion shining bright even in the dim light of the tomb. Salem sighs, knowing all too well how he was feeling.

Silence falls between them, and Alaric heaves a sigh that draws a worried look from Salem. Meeting her gaze, he gives her a smile reserved for only her, even if it's forced. "Listen, Salem, there's something I need to tell you."

Her brows furrow and she tucks her once-pinned hair behind her ear, sparing a brief glance down at her attire. Though she doesn't quite know what would be considered appropriate for tomb-loitering, she's sure a dress from the twenties isn't it.

"Esther, she, uh," Alaric coughs, wiping his mouth with the back of his hand as he shifts uneasily across from her. "I'm not– I'm not completing the transition. Esther tried to turn me, and I staked her, but I can't be a vampire, Salem. I'm already dangerous as a human, I won't put any of you in jeopardy just so I can be a vampire."

Salem's heart plummets to her stomach and she lets out a short, uneasy laugh that chills the stale air in the tomb. "What? What– Ric, what are you saying?"

"Salem,"

She flinches at the apology laced in her name, and she swallows harshly around the sudden lump in her throat. "You're just done, then? You're giving up? After everything we've been through, you're just going to leave me, too?"

"I'm not leaving you, Salem. At least not by choice,"

She scoffs, pushing herself to her feet so quickly she momentarily gets dizzy before it's washed away with her sudden downpour of sadness and anger. "Then what do you call this?!" She waves her arm out, gesturing around them.

"I'm keeping you safe!" His voice fills the air in a yell as he pushes himself to his feet before her, unable to stop the thickness in his voice from showing. "Why do you think she brought you here? Esther wants me to hurt you, and if this is my last moment of consciousness, I'm making the decision not to! Just let me do this, Salem. Let me protect you."

Salem deflates when his words sink in, and she cranes her neck back to look up at him hopelessly. Tears prickle in her eyes and she inhales shakily, watching the guilt flood Alaric's eyes. "I can keep us both safe, Ric," She reaches for his hand, clasping it in between hers vainly.

"You're always worried about other people, Salem," Alaric tucks some of her hair behind her ears, his fingers padding across her cheek as he shakily smiles. "Someone's got to take care of you."

She blinks, feeling the tears spill over her cheeks as she stifles the sob crawling its way out of her chest. "You can't take care of me if you're dead, Ric." Her voice is pathetically weak, but she can't bring herself to care as she shuffles towards him, dropping her head against his chest.

"It'll be alright, Salem," He wraps his arms around her, resting his chin atop her head in an effort to keep her from seeing his own tears. "I promise."

Salem takes in a shallow breath, her fingers twitching at her side when she hears Damon's voice near the entrance of the tomb. "Damon's coming,"

Alaric stiffens, but he nods, pulling away from her. His hands come to her shoulders, holding her in front of him for a moment. "Promise me something, Salem."

She furrows her brows at him. "What?"

Foggy images of Salem standing before him with black veins beneath her eyes shove to the forefront of his mind and he just barely manages to stop himself from flinching. The blood on her face, dripping from the corners of her mouth as it poured from her hand that held the heart of some unidentifiable person. When he'd woken up from whatever half-dead limbo she'd put him in that night in the Salvatore basement, he'd sworn what he saw was just a nightmare. But the longer he thought about it, the more real it seemed. With every day that passed, he could see a future where that version of Salem existed. 

Even if he was going to die, he didn't want to do it with the idea of his best friend losing more of herself. 

"Promise you'll get away before it's too late," He shakes his head, looking down at her with hopeless pleas floating around his mind. "If anyone can make it out of this alive, it'll be you. Just– put yourself first, please."

"Ric, what are you talking–"

"Just promise me, please," He smiles wryly. "It's the least you could give a dead man."

Her face falls flat at his attempt at humor and he winces, shrugging a shoulder.

"I promise," Her words are spoken lowly, and she doesn't break her stare on him, and he lets himself, for once, relish in the way it makes his heart race. "I'll try, for you."

He nods, dropping his hands from her and taking a cautionary step away from her. "Goodbye, Salem."

Her eyes burn with unshed tears, and she takes a deep breath before fixing him with a smile that's barely there. "See you later, Ric."

He watches her go, seeing her push past Damon, uncaring to stick around and hear his sarcastic taunts. His eyes close for a moment, and he silently prays that when he goes, she is the last thing on his mind.

─────⋅☾ ☽⋅─────

Salem steps into the house, shutting the door silently behind her. Her feet carry her upstairs as exhaustion seeps into her bones, settling like a fifty-pound weight that feels as if it's pressed along her entire body.

Her eyes roam the hallway as she opens her bedroom door, searching for one particular person.

Her heart flutters with barely there hope when she sees Klaus sitting on the ottoman at the end of the bed. His head snaps upward, eyes widening when he registers her presence.

"Salem," He breathes out, relief lacing his voice as he grabs her wrists gently in his hands. "Where were you?"

"I, um," She breathes out, eyes fluttering as he invades her overwhelmed senses. "I was saying goodbye to Ric."

Understanding floods his oceanic irises and she drops her high heels to the floor with a clatter, grateful she had taken them off her sore feet before entering the house.

Klaus swallows roughly, searching her for some sort of direction, some sort of guiding path to helping her. "I'm sorry, darling. I know what it's like," He swallows again, hesitant to finish his sentence. "To lose the people you love."

Salem nods silently, tear-clumped eyelashes staining her cheeks with ruined mascara. "Do me a favor?"

"Anything,"

"Take my mind off of it," She speaks, voice more sure than it had been all night. "Off of everything."

He hesitates, looking at her warily. "Salem, are you sure? You've had a long night,"

"I know, Nik," She smiles weakly up at him, and his heart thuds in his chest at the first genuine smile he seems to have gotten from her in weeks. "I trust you."

He surges forward, smashing their lips together in a kiss that's more pain than pleasure at first. Teeth clack together, and they sigh against each other, so much quicker to accept the pain from each other than any soft touch. He runs his tongue across her bottom lip, silently seeking permission that she grants without question.

His hands fall down from their grip on her arms and he spans them across the backs of her thighs, rucking her dress up and squeezing in a silent but rushed demand for her to jump. She follows his silent command easily, jumping from the floor into his hold. Her arms drape around his shoulders and she sighs into the heated kiss that has her pulse racing.

He walks them over to the bed, and pulls away from her reluctantly to look at her over the bridge of his nose. "Are you sure?"

She nods, leaning forward to nip at his scruffy jawline, an action that has his eyes flashing yellow momentarily. "You'll give me what I want, right?" She mutters the question in between brief pecks pressed down his jawline into the curve of his neck. "You always give me what I want. You always will."

He nods, lowering her to the mattress. Her hair splays out beneath her head, framing her head like a halo. Her eyes flash bright yellow, and he thinks she looks utterly angelic. No, he knows she is utterly angelic, and she is all his.

She's destroyed him. 

You don't know what you've done to me.

Her chest heaves with a breath and her fingers skim his cheek, tracing unknown designs on his pale skin. "Always."

He nods, ghosting his cherry lips across hers. "Forever, Salem. Always and forever."

Their lips connect once more and for a moment, if only brief, it feels as if they will be alright. Unfortunately, even amongst their momentary bliss, they know better.

─────⋅☾ ☽⋅─────

"Alaric Saltzman just tried to kill me."

The vase in Salem's hand shatters and she flinches as the porcelain drops to her feet in tiny shards.

Klaus's heaving sigh echoes behind her, and she doesn't know if it's because of the vase, or Rebekah's bombshell statement.

"Alaric Saltzman is supposed to be dead."

"Well, he's not," Rebekah huffs, looking from her brother to Salem frustratedly. "And he's a vampire, thanks to Mother's spell, with a white oak stake that can't kill him. He's stronger, Nik. Too strong."

Salem steps away from the mess on the floor, ignoring the sting of anger that bubbles up in her the longer she looks around at the half-packed room. She doesn't want to remind herself of the fact that she's practically helping Klaus leave.

"Where is he, Rebekah?" Her voice is low, and the blonde seems to startle slightly at the sound of it, as if she hadn't really expected her to participate in the conversation at all. Salem doesn't blame her– though she knew it wasn't the girl's fault, with everything going on, she hadn't been keen on seeing Rebekah after she was possessed by Esther.

The thought of their mother just put Salem on edge, especially because she still hadn't figured out why the woman seemed to have it out for her, or why she brought her to Alaric the night he died. Or– supposedly died.

"He's stuck at the school without a daylight ring, but as soon as night falls, he'll come after us. We need to leave now."

Klaus sighs again, and Salem tenses at the sound. "Fine. I'll collect Elena and we'll be on our way."

Salem's scoff goes unheard beneath Rebekah's outraged, fearful voice. "Forget Elena! You don't need any more stupid hybrids!"

"What I need is protection from Esther's continued assaults against us,"

Rebekah shakes her head, blinking through her surprise at her brother's insistence. "We'll protect each other, like we always have." Her eyes flicker to Salem. "All of us."

She steps towards her brother, pleading in her bright eyes. "Always and forever, Nik."

Klaus looks at his sister unwaveringly. "I'm not leaving without her."

Rebekah turns as he walks past her, eyes drifting to Salem who doesn't look in the slightest surprised at his decision. She looks at the boxes and crates filled with Klaus's things, and finds that nothing of Salem's is packed– at least not visibly.

"I'm leaving now," She blinks back tears, resenting the fact that she always lets him hurt her feelings like this. "You can either walk out that door with me or you are on your own."

A brief look of surprise seems to come over his face, and his eyes finally move to Salem, but he doesn't linger on her long, seeing no point in trying to meet her gaze. She's barely spoken a word since last night.

He says nothing, and Rebekah scoffs quietly. "Fine. Trust your hybrids over your family. Let your spite be the death of you. See if I care."

Rebekah storms past him, shoving Tyler out of the way carelessly. "Move it, sire boy."

Tyler turns to look at them, confusion shining in his eyes at Rebekah's hurried departure. "What's her deal?"

"I'm going to the school."

Klaus's eyes snap towards Salem, face setting back into a stern glare as the hint of hurt on his face is shoved away. "No, you aren't."

Salem rolled her eyes, ignoring Tyler's questioning gaze darting between the both of them. "Yes, I am. If Rebekah's right, there's no point in me pretending like he won't find me eventually."

Sighing heavily, she shakes her head, already stepping past him with hardly a fleeting glance in his direction. "Goodbye, Klaus."

The front door shut behind her, and she headed towards her car, ignoring the clawing ache in her stomach that made her dizzy with nausea. She jabbed her keys into the ignition harshly and leaves hastily, determinedly not looking at the house in her rearview mirror.

She didn't want to look back and see the remnants of the house that was no longer her home. There was no point in being there without Klaus, so once he was gone, she'd go back for her things and sort it all out. If he was going to leave with or without her, she wanted him to just get it done. The sooner he left, the sooner she could move on with her life.

Her mind drifted during the drive, but as soon as she pulled up to the school, she was met with the realization that Alaric was supposedly in here, most likely torturing Caroline.

She let out a deep, shaky breath at the thought of the thing wearing her best friend's face. It was still him, vampire or not, but this part of him that wanted to kill them all– it wasn't Alaric. And she didn't know if she could handle seeing him so unlike the person he was to her, the same one who said he was dying for her just last night.

The same one who begged her to let him die, just to keep her safe from himself.

Stepping out of her car, she hurried into the side doors nearest to her classroom, just down the hall from Alaric's room. She figured, if anywhere, he'd be in one of their rooms.

Salem tucked her hair behind her ear and tilted her head, catching the tail end of Elena's voice that cracked with emotion.

"Stop it, Alaric!"

Salem's eyes widened, and she kept her steps light as she walked through the halls, bypassing her still-empty classroom with a brief look inside.

"Sit down!"

Salem stifled a gasp at the sound of Alaric's gravelly voice, so familiar yet not. The emptiness in his tone was so unlike Alaric, she dreaded to see his face and look into his eyes, knowing it wasn't him. He was back, but not truly.

Salem soothes her own breathing as she approaches, and she clenches her fists at her side tight enough to hurt.

"This isn't what I want,"

She waits, listening to Alaric scold Elena for her sympathy towards her best friend. "Of course it is. All those hours you spent training, getting stronger, you could be a hunter, Elena. But you've never actually staked a vampire through the heart."

Salem holds a hand over her mouth as his harsh voice echoes, and she stops in the doorway his classroom, holding her breath.

"Salem," His voice holds a hint of shock, but he quickly smirks, looking her up and down. "You're not supposed to be here."

"Neither are you," She shakes her head, stepping into the room as her eyes shift pleadingly. "Ric, what are you doing?"

"I'm doing the right thing, Salem," He sighs, like he's put out by the fact that she's not on his side. "Elena needs to learn. They all need to learn."

Salem gives him an incredulous look, gesturing to Elena and Caroline. "So, what, you're going to make her kill her best friend? And then every other vampire in this town– including yourself?"

"Yes. You can help me do it, you can help me fix this town."

She grimaces, wondering which part of him was speaking this nonsense. The alter ego that the Gilbert ring created, or Esther's spells. She knew either way it would be impossible to stop him from doing these things, no matter how much she cared about him, and vice versa. But she wasn't going to give up, because Alaric had died to prevent this from happening. And she wasn't going to let that sacrifice become useless.

Salem draws her fist back and slams it into his jaw, earning a gasp from Elena. Salem doesn't look away as she swings at Alaric again. Her eyes widen when he catches her wrist in his hand, glaring at her as blood trailed from his nose.

Instinctively, she raises her knee and hits him in the stomach, making him loosen his grip on her wrist enough for her to follow through on her punch. Alaric doubles over, groaning in pain, and Salem backs up from him, her hands fumbling behind her as she reaches for the vervain on his desk.

Her hand wraps around one of the two beakers full of vervain and she throws it as he stalks towards her, watching with horror-filled eyes as his skin burns. His pained yells echo in the empty school, and Salem holds her hands out at her sides, feeling the hum of her magic draw through her veins.

His skin heals, faster than she knew even Klaus's would if he'd been soaked in vervain nearly head to toe, and fear rushes through her before she stubbornly shoves it away. She shakes her head at the newly-turned vampire, hope in her pleading tone. "This isn't you, Alaric. You would never hurt Elena or Caroline. You care about them– about all of us."

He shakes his head, grinning darkly. "You've got it all wrong, Salem,"

He steps towards her and she holds her hands up warningly, watching him completely disregard her silent threat with a mere blink. "I'm just teaching Elena what her parents couldn't, and once she understands that vampires are inherently bad creatures, it'll all be fine. Don't you get it, Salem? We'll finally be free of the Originals, of all of them."

The frown on her face deepens, and in her confusion, the yellow wisps around her hands die out slightly as she stares up at the face of her friend, knowing that he is nowhere to be found in the cold gaze of the vampire before her. "Alaric, this isn't you. You never wanted to be a vampire, and you would never make Elena hurt the people she loves. You would never want to hurt me."

He brings a calloused hand up to her cheek, the action making her flinch. "I won't hurt you, Salem. Not any more than I have to– to make you see what we need to do."

Salem's eyes widen and she looks at him confusedly. "What are you going to do, Ric?"

He sighs pitifully. "You'll forgive me, won't you?"

"Salem, look out!" Elena's panicked voice comes from behind Alaric and the hybrid's eyes widen when she sees Alaric's hand swing up towards her, his fingers grasping onto the braids at her scalp, twisting them in his grip tightly. 

Her sharp cry of pain is cut off when he slams her down, letting her head bounce off the hard edge of his desk. There's nothing but satisfaction behind his eyes as she falls limply to the ground at his feet. 

─────⋅☾ ☽⋅─────

"Get help!"

Alaric's pained groans greet her when she comes to, and for a moment she panics before she remembers their current situation. Her fuzzy vision blurs as her eyes dart worriedly around the room, and only when she sees Caroline disappear in a blur does her brain fully wake once more.

Her brain seems to catch up to the strain on her body and her eyes widen as she throws her head back with a muffled scream, biting the gag tied around her head, inhaling wolfsbane down her throat every time she inhales. 

It doesn't hurt nearly as bad as it could, but with the throbbing ache from her head, throughout her entire body, it feels like she's swallowing razor blades. 

Her wrists and ankles ache as she pulls against the binds tied tight around them, and she watches Elena's eyes fill with helpless pity as Alaric goes after Caroline. 

The brunette kneels before her, shaky hands reaching out to rest reassuringly on her knee. Salem looks at her student with wide, tear-filled eyes as the doppelgänger shakes her head apologetically. "I'm sorry," She whispers, looking over her shoulder. "He said he'd kill you if I untied you. I'm sorry,"

Salem shakes her head at Elena's guilt, budging her knee up slightly and wincing at the wolfsbane burning around her ankles. "It's okay," Her words are muffled through the gag, and she blinks her tears down her cheeks, relieved only for a second when the liquid takes away from the friction of the fabric chafing at her jaw. 

"I'm– I'm gonna help, okay?" Elena's hands shake as she unties the binds around Salem's ankles, but they quickly drop when Salem nudges her away with her now freed legs.

"Go," Salem bites out around the cloth. She jerks her head in the direction of the open door, watching Elena follow her line of sight. "Go!"

Elena hesitates, backing up towards the door with worried glances back at Salem, who simply shakes her off and wraps her ankles around the legs of the chair she's bound to. She waits for Elena to go, hoping silently that Alaric is distracted with Caroline's whereabouts long enough for Elena to escape to safety.

When she's sure she's alone, she lets out a sigh that ends on a whimper as her body tenses through the pain. Her hands clench around nothing, fighting for circulation that barely comes through.

She unwraps her ankles from around the two front legs of the chairs and braces herself for the pain to come. She thrusts her legs out, kicking back into the legs of the chair that snap easily with the force of her strength. The chair gives out and she twists as she falls to the tiled floor, avoiding impact with her face as the chair breaks around her.

Salem's groans are muffled through the gag as her ribs crack on the tile, and she crumples into herself as the new source of pain ebbs through her body. Forcibly, she takes her attention away from the pain in her body and grapples for the freedom of her hands, now unbound from the back of the chair.

"Oh, Salem, what have you done?"

Alaric's chilling voice sends a shiver down her spine, and she panics when he steps towards her, a syringe of something in his hand.

She shakes her head, whimpering from behind the cloth in her mouth as Alaric kneels before her, forgoing the syringe in favor of lifting her up off the floor and tossing her over his shoulder.

She struggles against him as he carries her out of the classroom, ignoring the way his grip on her legs tightened enough to undoubtedly leave more bruises on her skin.

Her eyes widen in surprise when she's swung back over his shoulder and dumped on the cold tiles beneath a row of lockers, her sounds of pain forever muffled by the cloth in her mouth. Her consciousness fades in and out at the constant pain, and her pulse races when she catches bits of Elena's voice echoing in the empty hall.

"Do it, now!"

Her eyes snap open when she hears Damon, and she forces her wavering attention on the scene before her; Stefan and Damon holding each of Alaric's arms, and Klaus plunging his hand into the man's chest, wrapping it around his heart.

Salem shifts, mistakenly dragging the cloth up her cheek, and she cries out at the burn, unknowingly catching the Original's attention.

Alaric uses the distraction to rip Klaus's hand from his chest, and throws him to the ground, making Salem jerk around her restraints, fear pulsing through her.

Alaric watches Salem raptly, and his upper lip curls in a snarl when he sees her eyes fixed on Klaus. He grabs the Original, throwing him up against the lockers, and flips him all in a swift move that she barely catches until he's pressing the white oak stake into Klaus's chest.

Elena's wide eyes look over at the helpless art teacher and she takes a deep breath before leaning down and grabbing the knife by her foot. "Stop!"

Immediately, Alaric's actions cease and Elena takes the moment to continue. "Let him go, or I'll kill myself." She holds the knife to her throat, forcing Alaric to drop Klaus, forgetting about his jealous rage for a brief moment.

"Put it down, Elena."

"Why?" She scoffs. "Because you still need me alive? There's a reason why Esther used me to make you, isn't there? She didn't want you to be immortal, so she tied your life to a human one. Mine. That way you have only one life span to kill all vampires and then you'll be gone."

Elena's eyes widen with the realization of her words. "So, when I die, you die, too. That's it, it has to be,"

"You're wrong," Alaric shakes his head.

"Am I?" She digs the knife into her throat, drawing blood that makes Alaric's eyes widen.

Salem grunts, catching Klaus's attention. She looks pleadingly at the hybrid who's pinned by Alaric, and jerks her head towards Elena as she digs the knife into her skin. Klaus looks at her with wide eyes that shift over her battered form, and she shakes her head, looking at Elena once more, hoping he'll get the message.

"Stop, stop! Stop! Stop!"

Klaus silently shakes his head, and Salem's eyes flutter as she flicks her wrist, loosening up the rope as much as she can to send a wisp of magic at Klaus that gives him the strength to overpower Alaric again.

"Salem!" The hybrid yells out, enraged at her actions that undoubtedly draw the murderous vampire's attention to her again, but she turns away from him quickly. In the moment of panic, Klaus rushes towards Elena and takes her in his hold before he disappears entirely.

Alaric grits his teeth, reaching inside the pocket on his shirt for the syringe he'd pocketed earlier. He gets up, turning to Salem who looks up at him helplessly.

"You're going to pay for that, you know."

Her eyes pinch shut as the needle pierces her skin, and she chokes out a sob as fiery pain rushes through her veins. 

Alaric rolls his eyes as Damon's phone starts to ring, causing the temporarily dead vampire to stir. "Why am I still alive?"

"Get up," Alaric grunts as he throws a limp Salem over his shoulder, making her groan in pain. "I said get up. Klaus is going to kill Elena."

"What?"

Stefan pushes himself up to his feet. "Klaus needs Elena's blood to make hybrids, she's the last person he'd kill."

"The witch bound my life to Elena's. If she dies, I die. Klaus figured that out, thanks to this one," He jostles Salem on his shoulder, and she whimpers when her still-broken ribs shift painfully. "Now I'm trapped here until the sun goes down, so you two better get to doing what you do best; saving Elena's life."

Alaric pushes between the two brothers, who watch him walk off with Salem helplessly. The hybrid doesn't even bother pleading to them through her gag, knowing she's made her loyalties known to them all.

There's no point in struggling, as she'd long since come to accept that loving Klaus would get her killed. She just hadn't thought it would be her best friend that did it.

─────⋅☾ ☽⋅─────

Salem wakes into nothingness, a darkness that seems to engulf her completely. She jerks abruptly as she's ruffled, and her eyes flash yellow in the darkness.

"Oh, good, you're awake. Just in time."

Her eyes snap upwards to the source of Alaric's voice, and she sees the dark glint in his eye in the shadowy night, and the cold grin on his face as he turns around to look at her.

She grits her teeth, only momentarily relieved to find that the gag has been removed from her mouth. "Where are we?"

Her voice is hoarse, her body still too weak to fully heal from the damage she'd suffered mere hours before.

"The storage sheds," Alaric's grin seems to widen as they park beneath a pale streetlight, and he shuts the vehicle off, the silence it brings sending a chill down her spine. "You're going to do something for me."

─────⋅☾ ☽⋅─────  

author's notes; i've had this chapter drafted for a really long time I was just unhappy with how certain things were written but I just got a weird surge of motivation to fix it so boom here's my fav toxic couple doing crazy ppl things

edited and published; 11.6.23.

- liz