Audrey's scent drifted around the room quickly and Klaus nearly fainted. Her tempting fragrance had him on his toes. That verboten pull between the duo took a hold of every nerve in his body. He sped at her, knocking Stefan away right as he was about to sink his fangs into her. Her petite body fell into Klaus's arms delicately. He checked for a pulse, silently exclaiming when he found one. He bit into his wrist and put it to her mouth to force feed her. Warm thick blood slid down her throat slowly. Klaus held the back of her head sighing when he felt the wound start to close up. Relief spread out through his whole body and he didn't understand why. Something in his soul made him react the way he did. He tried to shake it off as he gently laid her body on the floor, but it wouldn't stop. All eyes were on him as he looked up but he ignored them. Audrey Gilbert was burrowing into him somehow and nothing terrified him more. Rebekah's heart was jumping out of her chest as she looked at her new friend. She hadn't meant to hurt her, only her sister. "Is she..?"

"She'll be fine," Klaus snapped. "Now stop acting like a spoiled brat,"

"This wouldn't have happened if she just told me where my damn necklace was!" Rebekah pointed out turning back to the doppelgänger.

"Just tell her where it is!" Klaus snapped annoyed.

"I'm telling you the truth. I don't know where it is! Katherine stole it," Elena cried still upset over her sister.

"Katerina. Of course. Well that's unfortunate. If we had the necklace it would make things a whole lot easier for your witch, but since we're doing this the hard way let's put a clock on it, shall we?" Klaus taunted walking over to the side of the gym. He turns on the scoreboard emitting a loud buzz. Once he set the clock, he sped over to Stefan and began to compel him. "Twenty minutes. If Bonnie hasn't found a solution by then, I want you to feed again. Only this time, I want you to feed on Elena. You know you want to,"

"No, Klaus! Don't do this to him!" Elena screamed.

"No one leaves. If she tries to run, fracture her spine," Klaus compelled again before letting Stefan go. He exits the room with Rebekah, leaving the once lovers alone. Elena ran over to her sister's unconscious body kneeling down to see if she was really all right. After checking her pulse and the wound on her head she sighed with relief. Her sister would be fine.

"I didn't want this life for her," Elena cried. "I didn't want it for her or for Jeremy,"

"Audrey put herself in this situation like she does with everything. She even stood in front of me the other night when Klaus realized I wasn't truly with him," Stefan said glancing down at the girl. "She's fearless in times when she shouldn't be,"

"Why do you think he did it?" Elena asked. "Klaus, I mean. He saved her life when he didn't have to,"

"Something happened between the two of them the other day. Audrey was being a smartass and I think Klaus was trying to teach her a lesson but it backfired," Stefan explained. "He was trying to make her nervous so she wouldn't be sarcastic around him but he pushed her off of him like she was fire. I think he was scared of biting her,"

"Why would he be scared of hurting her?" Elena asked with shock.

"I don't know. I asked myself the same thing, but it was obvious even when he was trying to hide it," Stefan shrugged. "No one has any idea on what goes through Klaus's head. For all we know he could have some plan he's cooking up and he needs Audrey alive for it,"

"Did...Did he do anything to her while she was with you two?" Elena asked nervously.

"No," Stefan answered. He glanced at the clock on the scoreboard and saw that it was down to 11 minutes. 11 minutes and he would kill the person he loved most.

-

Klaus was still upset with himself as he walked around the high school. Why did he save her? Why didn't he just let her die? As these thoughts filled his mind, an ache took over in his heart. He didn't know what the hell was going on. Was this some witch thing? He hadn't had his humanity on for centuries and planned to keep it that way, yet why was he feeling things? No matter how much he tried Klaus couldn't wrap his head around it. He didn't even know why he cared so much about coming up with an excuse. He's never had to explain himself before so why start now? "Nik!" Bekah shouted in annoyance. "When can I finally kill someone?"

"You're not killing anyone unless I say so," Klaus snapped back. He glanced at Tyler who was still dead on the floor and his blonde girlfriend kneeling over him. "Watch over them. I have a witch to check on," Rebekah rolled her eyes but nodded. Klaus walked away and the moment he passed the gym doors he could smell her. He wanted to slam his face into the wall just to get the scent out of his head. He continued his search for Bonnie but couldn't find her anywhere. Eventually, he heard her.

"As soon as you're feeling better, I'm going to kill you," Bonnie growled to Matt as they walked.

"It worked. I saw her, I saw Vicki," Matt laughed in disbelief.

"You did?" Bonnie asked stopping. Matt stopped walking too and turned to face her.

"She said she had a message for you," Matt continued. "From the witch that put the hybrid curse on Klaus. She said that Elena shouldn't have survived Klaus's ritual. The hybrids can't transition because Elena's still alive,"

"Tyler..," Bonnie sighed with sadness.

"He's going to die, isn't he?" Matt asked hesitantly. Klaus smirked and decided to show himself.

"I wouldn't be too sure about that," He smirked as he stepped out from behind the wall. Bonnie and Matt turned around to face him. "Given the choice, doppelgänger or a hybrid, I go hybrid every time,"

"What do you mean?" Bonnie asked. Klaus didn't answer her. He turned around and walked away. He could hear the buzzer in the gym going off and knew that Stefan would try his hardest not to hurt Elena. He heard Elena running so he sped into the direction of her. He got into the door before she could and watched as she looked out the small window on the door with fear. When she turns around to keep moving she bumped right into Klaus.

"We've got to stop meeting like this," Klaus chuckled sarcastically. Elena's eyes widened and before she could realize it, Klaus had her by the back of her neck. He pushed her out of the room they were in and guided her to the cafeteria where Stefan was. He was bent on the ground with a broom sticking out of his stomach. "Now this is fascinating. I've never seen this before. The only thing stronger than your craving for blood is your love for this one girl. Why don't you turn it off?" Klaus taunted as he pushed Elena away from him.

"No!" Stefan shouted back. Klaus smirked as he sat down on a nearby table.

"Come on. Your humanity is killing you. All the guilt must be exhausting. Turn it off," Klaus demanded. Stefan shook his head.

"No!" Stefan screamed again.

"Stefan..," Elena gasped on the verge of tears.

"You're strong," Klaus stated walking over to Stefan. He yanked the broom out of his stomach and grabbed his shirt to pull him to his feet. "But you're not that strong. Turn. It. Off!"

Stefan continued to shake his head. "NO!" He pushed Klaus away from him but Klaus reacted quickly. He grabbed Stefan's throat and pushed him against the wall.

"Turn it off!" Klaus screamed once more, compelling Stefan to do as he said. Stefan's face changed to a blank expression. It had worked, Klaus had made him turn his emotions off.

"What did you do?" Elena cried helplessly.

"I fixed him. But I think a test is in order, don't you?" Klaus snickered. He walked behind Elena but still held Stefan's eye contact. "Ripper, perhaps you'd like a drink from the doppelgänger's neck?" Stefan didn't even hesitate before rushing over to Elena and biting into her neck. She let out an ear piercing scream. While Stefan was feeding off of her Klaus took out a vial, filling it with her blood. He sped out of the room and walked into the classroom where Rebekah, Caroline, and Tyler were. "Well, the verdict's in. The original witch says the doppelgänger should be dead," Rebekah perked up.

"Does that mean we can kill her?" Rebekah asked mischievously.

"No, I'm fairly certain it means the opposite," Klaus replied.

"What?!" Rebekah asked shocked. Klaus shot her a look and she pulled Caroline's arms back restraining her.

"Call it a hunch," Klaus mumbled. He got out the vial with Elena's blood and showed it to Tyler. "Elena's blood. Drink it,"

"No! No, no, no, Tyler, don't!" Caroline shouted, thrashing in Rebekah's arms.

"If he doesn't feed, he'll die anyway, love. Consider this an experiment. It's okay," Klaus said as he handed Tyler the vile. Tyler struggled but he eventually drinks it. "There we go. Good boy," Klaus mocked. Tyler coughed rapidly and fell onto the ground. He started to scream and groan in pain. He held his face as it began to change. His eyes turned yellow, black veins formed under his eyes, and fangs appeared from his gums. "Well, that's a good sign,"

-

Klaus stood outside the hospital about to walk in to retrieve Elena, when Damon walked up. His face was contorted in anger as he approached Klaus. "Look who finally decided to show up to the party,"

"Where is she?!" Damon growled viciously.

"Who? Elena or the lovely Audrey?" Klaus crossed his arms over his chest as he stared down the dark haired man. "One's making a donation to a greater cause and the other is probably knocked out still," Damon rolled his eyes and attempted to walk towards the hospital but Klaus stopped him. "I'm afraid I can't let you interfere, mate,"

"You'll have to kill me," Damon spat getting in Klaus's face.

"Oh, I would love to kill you, but I made a pledge to your brother, and unlike him, I keep my word. Although, you know what, thinking about it now, he probably doesn't care that much anymore," Klaus explained pushing Damon onto a hood of the car. He was just about to rip his heart out when Damon stopped him.

"Don't you want to know about your friend Mikael?" Damon smirked, watching as Klaus's face paled.

"What do you know about Mikael?" Klaus demanded.

"Just that he knows you're here," Damon replied having the upper hand. For once, Klaus was one step behind everyone.

"You're bluffing," Klaus said, but he wasn't sure. Damon was smarter than he first thought.

"Katherine and I found him. Consider it our leverage," Klaus roared at Damon and flung him against another car before leaving. Damon jumped up quickly and sped into the hospital. He was intending on finding Elena first, but Audrey's scent caught his nose as he turned down a random hallway. He looked into all the rooms until he found her. Damon's heart thudded in his chest as he looked at his little bird. He unhooked her from all of the tubes and monitors before grazing his finger along her cheek. The moment he felt her she started stirring awake. It was almost like she could sense him.

"D...Damon?" She muttered before coughing. Damon smiled and crushed her to his chest. Since she's been gone he thought about her every second of the day. He knew it was his fault she got taken away from him and it broke his heart. He had promised to always protect her and he let her down. Audrey buried her head into his chest and relished in his warmth. "Let's go home," She whispered tiredly. He nodded at her and sped her away. When Audrey woke up again she saw she was on the couch in the Salvatore's living room.

"Look who finally decided to wake up!" Damon teased handing her a glass of water. She glared at him as she took the glass and drank it. He smirked and sat next to her. He grabbed her legs placing them on his lap.

"Where were you?" Audrey asked as she finished her drink. "I figured you'd be the first one to show up when trouble started to brew,"

"I was helping Katherine," Damon responded looking away from his friend. "It was my job to protect you Audrey and I failed,"

"Shut up," Damon raised an eyebrow at her. "I was being stupid okay? Don't blame yourself," Audrey groaned and clutched her head in pain. Memories of getting thrown against the wall resurfaced in her mind. "Holy crap, Rebekah almost killed me,"

"Yeah, you're lucky Klaus had a moment of kindness," Elena chuckled stepping into the room. Audrey furrowed her eyebrows at her sister.

"Come again?" Klaus having a moment of kindness was like a rabid dog not biting anyone.

"Stefan tried to stop you from hitting the wall but your head cracked open. He was going to kill you but Klaus ripped him off of you and fed you his blood," Elena explained taking a seat on the armrest of the couch they were all sitting on. Audrey was confused because why would someone like Klaus save someone? Especially someone like her. She had annoyed him to no end while they were together and she knew it too.

"That asshole probably just needed you alive for something. When I went to get you two from the hospital he wouldn't let me through until I threatened him with Mikael," Damon muttered rubbing Audrey's ankle. Audrey was still lost in her thoughts that she didn't even hear Damon's explanation.

"Well, isn't this cozy?" A familiar voice echoed through the house. All eyes turned onto Stefan as he leaned against one of the pillars in the room. Damon jumped up and stood in front of the sisters.

"What are you doing here, brother?" He asked Stefan cautiously.

"Last I checked, I lived here. Klaus is gone, but he's asked me to keep watch on you," Stefan smirked, his eyes going to his former girlfriend. "Both of you actually, until he returns. From now on, you're under my protection," He walked over to where Damon kept his liquor and poured himself a glass. "Mmm, by all means. Carry on," Before anyone could blink he sped out of the room. Everyone looked at each other in shock.

"Well, doesn't that just put the icing on the cake?" Audrey muttered leaning back on the couch. Her eyes closed and she tried to forget everything but her mind couldn't let go of the fact that Klaus had saved her.