When she looked back on the events of that afternoon later on, it was all a lot more of a blur than Frankie first realised.

She remembered her and Cami's escape, the ring heavy in her pocket and the blood that coated her sleeves. There was the feeling of her clammy hands gripping Cami's so tightly as her friend frantically slammed her hand against the elevator button. Terror and adrenaline that coursed so strongly through their veins that their hands shook and their muscles tensed.

And then there was Aurora, her devilish grin and comparison to Francesca.

It wasn't that she'd been surprised to know Aurora knew about Francesca. She had no doubt that like her brother, she'd gone to visit her corpse after her death. While the thought itself revolted and horrified her, it wasn't exactly an unexpected one. She expected a grudge against her for what Elijah had done and she worried about what would happen now that she and Cami were alone with someone so clearly deranged.

Elijah had told her enough about Aurora to know that she hated him and would likely want to do her harm. Unlike Lucian however who had some sanity and self preservation that required he keep her and Cami safe, it was clear almost immediately that Aurora had no boundaries nor barriers keeping her the same.

Frankie remembered waking up in a car, in the trunk to be exact, crammed in so tightly that she could feel every breath Cami took beside her. She wasn't sure how long she drove for nor how long she'd been out, she only felt as it stopped and started, each pause causing her heart to pound with fear. At last the trunk had been opened and they tried to attack, but this time was clumsier than the last and Aurora caught them both with ease.

They'd been brought to the church. Cami was shoved violently into a corner causing her to collapse to the floor, clearly disposed of until later when Aurora was interested in her. Frankie had tried to follow after her to see if she was okay but that was when Aurora's fingers curled tightly around her neck.

Pressed against the wall for a chat, Frankie learned a lot in that moment that she didn't remember until later. The conversation flitting away until the supernatural brought it back for her.

Aurora had been the one to lure her back to New Orleans. She'd impersonated her brother, delivering her the invitation to the Strix ball with Tristan's message to dissuade Elijah from suspecting anything. That had been why Tristan faltered when she'd brought it up, covering a moment later when he pieced it together with surprise. She'd wanted Frankie back because she wanted a chance to bring she and Elijah together and then inevitably to tear them apart.

Frankie heard first hand what had happened between Aurora and Klaus, curtesy of Elijah. Heard each agonising detail of the night and each word that Elijah had said in his rage and then watched it too as Aurora pushed the memory into her head, showing her too the pain she felt as it happened. The two accounts matched up surprisingly well but she should've known that Elijah wasn't one to lie to her.

She found out too that Elijah's descriptions of Aurora were correct, her insanity, her desperation, and her hatred of Elijah more than anyone else all were shown to be true.

At first when Aurora spoke to her Frankie only listened out of obligation, certain that her rage and insanity was skewing her perception of things. After a little while though they began to make more sense. Auroras hand that had been curled around her neck in a bruising grip to hold her in place softened as Frankie began to realise that she was far from her enemy.

Soon she knew the truth.

She understood now that Aurora wasn't crazy like she'd been told, she was only someone who'd been hurt in a betrayal that ricocheted through her life and spun her off course.

She wasn't angry at Aurora anymore either.

It was clear who'd hurt her and she understood that he would hurt her too if she let him. Everything Aurora told her made sense, every horror that she outlined now seemed like a certainty and each time Aurora said his name her blood ran cold and terror enveloped her. Her words curled through her mind, intoxicating her with their truth until she knew without doubt that the only thing that could and would protect her was if she hid away forever.

Frankie should've realised something was wrong with her when she'd turned from the gym and walked out leaving Cami behind.

It was something that felt wrong but after her talk with Aurora it was what she had to do. She knew too that really she should've called someone and told them where Cami still was but it was like some invisible force held her back. Instead she left the moment it was suggested, running back to her apartment and locking all her doors to try and hide.

She felt bad leaving Cami behind and while her thoughts flickered for her friend who was slumped against the wall, terror enveloped her so tightly that she couldn't think past Aurora's suggestions that she leave.

Frankie wasn't alone long before the first knock came, a sharp rapping on the door that felt so loud it was deafening. She froze in her place, she had a freshly brewed teacup in her hand but she didn't even have the courage to set it down lest the person outside heard her. The knocking stopped and then started again, this time accompanied by a voice that struck terror into her heart calling her name.

It was a voice that she knew that had once brought her comfort though now it did anything but. She recognised it from her memories but she recognised it too from the ones Aurora shared with her. The steadiness of its words which before had been calming now felt cold and unfeeling and she knew that for the first time she was seeing him clearly, as he truly was rather than as the illusion he'd presented to her.

She did what she could to stay still and quiet but she hissed as her shaking hand caused the boiling water in the teacup she held to spill over and splash across her hand. Her eyes squeezed shut in horror and her teeth pulled her bottom lip between them to try and stay silent.

Then it happened. As she stood waiting with horror from the kitchen, she watched the lock begin to turn and then the door slowly push itself open.

It was him.

The man who she knew would haunt her nightmares.

The monster that only she truly saw.

She knew all at once that every image she'd ever had in her mind of him was false. She knew he was cruel, a wretched thing who was unworthy of anybody's love let alone hers. It was the first time she had ever seen him clearly and all she could see of him was a monster, one who she knew without doubt would be the cause of any cruelty to her and the one who'd be the inevitable cause of her death.

"Frankie," he sighed in relief, "Why didn't you-"

"How did you get into my apartment?" she cut him off, her voice quivering as he took a step closer and she took one back, "What're you doing here?"

"You gave me a key," he said gently with his eyes furrowed, still approaching and noticing as her eyes seemed to widen with each step, "remember, you gave me a key to let myself in. When you didn't answer I was worried you were hurt."

He was almost a foot away now and she realised she was shaking with such horror that tears began to gather in her eyes. His face screwed up in horror though her terrified brain translated it to anger and she bolted. Just as his hand reached out to her she ran abandoning the cup to the floor where it shattered loudly. He was between her and the door so instead she ran to the corner farthest from him, collapsing into a ball with her arms wrapped protectively around her.

"Frankie," he said softly, his arms were raised in surrender and his brows furrowed as he tried to deceive her, "I'm not going to let anyone hurt you again."

"Please don't come closer," she begged, "Please don't hurt me."

She could hear her heart pounding so loud in her chest that all she could hear was that and a ringing that ricocheted through her head. Her breaths too were shallow and fast and it was clear by the pain that seemed to crush her chest that she was falling into a panic attack.

Elijah's face furrowed again but with each step closer she only shook in more terror and horror.

"I'll never hurt you," he promised, his hand landing softly on her knee making her flinch back as if she was in pain, "What did they do to you?"

"I can't breathe," she choked out, "I know what you are and I need you to leave."

"I would never do anything to hurt you, Frankie."

"You are, you are hurting me, don't touch me. I know what you would do. I see you for the wretched deceitful thing you are, you're a monster."

Elijah felt everything in his body burn at her words.

He'd seen her flinch away before but never from him, she'd never been scared of him and she'd never believed that he'd hurt her before. Even as she'd descended into terror before, she'd always sought comfort with him not from him.

This is what he'd seen in the vision from the seer, Frankie terrified and traumatised.

Though it had been an image burned into his brain the moment he saw it, he never expected that the reality would be that he was what she was terrified of. He'd expected something would've happened and he would be there to rescue her not that he was the one hurting her. If there was anything he could do to take away her pain and her terror he'd do it in a heartbeat, seeing her so afraid she was making herself sick made him feel helpless.

Frankie had been compelled, that much was clear, and judging by the words she used he knew by whom. Compulsion was something that could be lifted and it was something he'd ensure her freedom from. It wasn't only for his own selfish desires that he wanted her mind cleared, it was because she too deserved her own autonomy and the chance to make her own decisions on the supernatural without terror plaguing her.

His hand still burned from when she'd flinched away from him and as he considered the best way to help her understand that she could trust him. There was little he could do as she shook and flinched away from him but he knew that he needed her to leave with him from her apartment. He'd come with the intention of taking her to the compound to keep her safe and although he now knew it would be harder to bring her, abandoning her here only seemed to him to leave her more vulnerable.

If he had her at the compound too he could take her to Freya. His sister was powerful and he knew with her help they could lift the compulsion and allow her to understand they wouldn't hurt her. While Freya and the compound where the solution, it was more than obvious that any decision he made regarding her movements would be against her will.

He knew it was him who terrified her and that fact was almost as bad as the terror itself. He hated it, hated knowing that her heart that pounded so quickly he worried it might give out was a result of him and his proximity. Her hysterical breaths were coupled with tears that poured down her cheeks and he decided his next action with guilt gnawing at him.

"Frankie," he said gently, catching her tear filled eyes with his own as he compelled her, "You're going to sleep now."

She didn't realise as she fell asleep what had happened. Didn't know as she was scooped up into Elijah's arms and sped to the compound, past a rescued but shaken Cami into his bedroom where she was tucked under the covers with a kiss on her temple.

He left her be after that. It was clear that the thing that terrified her was him and while he allowed himself to wait outside the room so he could hear if she needed him, he kept from entering so he didn't terrify her more.

Eventually Frankie stirred. Five hours had passed and her stomach growled so loudly it knocked her awake. She was in a bed, not her own bed but one familiar enough that her mind flickered to its owner and she felt her heart race nervously. At least she'd been left alone and so with tentative movements she slid to her feet, padding gently to the door. She couldn't find her shoes, he'd obviously hidden them to prevent her escape, so instead she intended on running barefoot until she could at least find some help.

Frankie held her hand on the door handle for a moment before she had the courage to open it. Pulling it back barely half a foot before her eyes widened in terror and she slammed it back shut again.

He was there.

Waiting for her.

Guarding her.

Preparing his next move to hurt her like he'd hurt so many others.

She knew why he was there. He was waiting outside the room to prevent her leaving, leaning across the balustrade with his arms crossed and eyes that flicked to her the moment the door moved. There was something in his eyes that screamed to her to run, something that told her nothing was worse than him but with him blocking the door she knew she couldn't run and instead had to hide.

Bolting back from the door with horror, she burrowed beneath the covers until her terrified heart had stopped racing. She knew that in earnest the covers did little to protect her but they comforted her and at least with her body curled up beneath them she could pretend to be anywhere but here.

When she heard the handle move again she didn't have the heart to look and see who it was, instead she only curled tighter, tears slipping from the sides of her eyes.

"Frankie," a voice cooed gently, "love, you there?"

He was gentle as he entered knowing what his brother had told him about her compulsion. Elijah had explained what had happened when he'd gone to her apartment, told him how she'd shaken as he neared her and flinched away when he touched her. He said too how he didn't know how deep it ran and who it affected. She was scared of him, that much was more than obvious, and he wondered whether it was a terror that extended to all vampires or even all those who were supernatural too.

Klaus came to check in her, not just because he needed to know how deep the compulsion ran, but because like Elijah he needed to know how she was. Hearing his brother talk about her like that was almost unbelievable.

Terrified, he'd called her.

In all the time he'd known her he'd only once seen her seem truly shaken and it still was an image far from that Elijah had described. He'd heard too from his study the creaking of her door and then the squeak of terror accompanied by the subsequent slam of the door. When he'd approached too he could hear her muffled sobs beneath the comforter. Elijah's face outside the room as he approached was screwed up in pain at the sound and Klaus was desperate to check in on her.

"Klaus!" she said frantically, tugging the sheets from her head to see him closing the door behind himself, "Klaus, thank god you're here. I need you to help me."

"Of course," he said gently, "No ones going to hurt you again."

Klaus too thought she'd been hurt like he had. They didn't understand that he was the problem. It wasn't that she'd been hurt by Aurora or Lucien it was that he was a monster and if she stayed here with him his cruelty would surely kill her. Only she knew the truth and, if she really thought about it, she was almost grateful for her time with Aurora that showed her just that.

"You need to get me out of here."

"I'm sorry sweetheart," a hint of guilt did actually flash across as he said this and he sat beside her before he continued, "It's not permanent. Camille's here too but you were taken by Lucien and then Aurora. Just until the threat has been neutralised, its best if you both stay here."

"You don't understand," she pleaded, "It's him. You have to help me get away from him. He kidnapped me. He's even guarding the door so I can't leave."

Klaus evidentially knew who the he was because his eyes flicked to the door and then back to her, softening a little. Something like guilt seemed to pass over him and her heart began to pound again.

She needed him to help her, to believe her. Only she knew the monster that he was and she knew he was laying in wait outside for her so if Klaus didn't help her then he would surely win.

"He's not keeping you in, he's keeping you safe."

Her face screwed up now. Her arms were crossed across her chest as she tried to keep herself calm but she knew that the tears that had flooded her eyes minutes ago were returning.

Even his acquiescence that he was waiting outside terrified her. It was like she could feel as he paced outside her jail cell and her fists only screwed up tighter as she tried unsuccessfully to manage her fear.

"Are you hungry?"

"Please you have to help me. You don't see who he truly is-"

"I do."

"You don't."

"If there is any absolute truth in this world it is that my brother would never lay a hand on you," Klaus assured her gently, "He loves you, Frankie."

"He's a monster."

"No more than I."

"You don't see!" she snapped, standing from the bed and shouting, "Only I see him for what he truly is."

"You did once. Your mind has been addled," he turned to face her, sharp with her for the first time since he entered the room causing Frankie to shrink back, "Freya is weak now but tomorrow she'll have strength enough to lift the compulsion and you will see."

The handle rattled again and Frankie felt her heart leap up again. As it was pushed open she shifted back, her fist balling up instantly onto the sleeve of his shirt as she involuntarily cowered behind him in fear of Elijah walking through the door.

"It's alright," Klaus said gently, ignoring the stitches on his shirt snapping with the tightness of her grip, "It's only my sister, Freya, remember?"

"Hi Frankie," she said sympathetically, "I just thought you might be hungry. Elijah said you're fond of noodles."

Both Mikaelson's noticed the way at his name she flinched back, her eyes flicking to the door and then the floor again. Frankie knew she should say something but at his name she felt as if someone had their hand wrapped around her throat and was squeezing tightly and so instead she only nodded, steadying her breaths.

"I'm still exhausted from everything with R-" Freya cut herself off here as she caught the sharp shake of Klaus' head, "Tomorrow I can help you and we can lift the compulsion. If you want to leave after it's all gone I'll help you myself, but first let me help you remove it so you can think clearly."

Frankie nodded shortly again and after Freya placed the bowl on the side table she slid from the room.