"I think I'm going crazy. I'm totally paranoid all the time." Elena says to both Bonnie and I. She said she was out running and thought there was a boy stalking her. I laughed, but she was being serious.

"You have the right to be. Klaus is still out there, and he knows you tried to kill him." Bonnie points out and I look around. All three of us were currently sitting at the grill, having a girl talk or whatever.

"Why hasn't he made a move?" Elena asks "Maybe he needs a break?" I shrug and my sister shakes her head, "Still, there's been no sign of him, nothing." she states.

"Just my slow spiral into insanity." she murmurs. "Join the club." Bonnie sarcastically replies, "Every time I close my eyes, I have that nightmare on repeat."

"The same dream?" I ask her and she nods, "Yeah. 4 coffins. Klaus is in one of them. It's weird." she tells me and I sigh as Bonnie explains more about her dream.

"What if it's not just... some dream?" Elena starts, "What if it's, like, you know, a witch dream?"

"It's just stress." Bonnie reassures, shaking her head. "I'll figure it out."

"What about Stefan? Has there been any sign of him?" Bonnie quickly changes the subject. Elena shakes her head, "He betrayed us, Bonnie. The Stefan we know is gone." she frowns. "How is Damon handling that?" Bonnie asks.

"Damon is..." Elena starts and sips her tea, "Damon."

§

I stand over the bar counter, more than furious at the moment. Not that long ago, Alaric informed us that Jeremy got fired and he's no where to be found.

I toss my phone on the counter in front of me after calling Jeremy a million times and he won't answer. And on top of that, Elena and Damon are currently flirting a few feet away from me. They're currently talking about Damon's attractive look and it was starting to gross me out.

"You seem rather upset, love."

I scrunch my eyebrows, turning my head. "What are you doing here, Klaus?" I ask, totally not in the mood for his schemes.

"What do you mean? I just came down to my local pub to grab a drink with a mate." Klaus turns around and there was his friend. I didn't even know he had one.

"Get a round, then, would you, Tony?" he asks his friend and his friend nods, turning around. Klaus turns back around to face me, smiling.

"I'm surprised you stuck around town long enough for happy hour." Damon jumps in and I roll my eyes. Why must he always include himself?

"My sister seem to be missing. Need to sort that out." Klaus states, dropping his smile. From what I heard, Elena stabbed her in the back with a dagger.

"Cute, blonde bombshell? Psycho? Shouldn't be too hard to find." Damon sarcastically says. Klaus walks towards Damon, "Truth is, I've grown to rather like your little town. Thinking I might fancy a home here." Klaus states, taking a dart from Damon's hand.

"I imagine you're wondering how does this affect you." Klaus starts, "And the answer is, not in the slightest. As long as I get what I want, and everyone behaves themselves, you can go on living your little lives however you choose. You have my word."

"What more could you possibly want?" I ask him, crossing my arms. Klaus turns his head to me, smirking. He walks in front of me, a few feet away. "Well, for starters, you can tell me where I might find Stefan."

"Stefan skipped town the second he saved your ass." Damon answers for me. "Well, you see, that is a shame." Klaus throws a dart at the board and it was perfectly in bullseye.

"Your brother stole from me." He steps in front of Damon, "I need him found so I can take back what's mine."

"That sounds like a Klaus and Stefan problem." Elena jumps in and Klaus goes forward to her but Damon stops him. Klaus chuckles, "Well, this is me broadening the scope, sweetheart." He smirks at Elena.

Before Klaus walks away from us, he comes over to me. Grabbing my hands, he places the darts in them and walks back to his friend without another words.

"He totally has a crush on you." Damon whispers in my ear.

§

"Vampires, hybrids, and originals. No problem." Elena sighs, telling Alaric what happened back at the grill.

Elena and I are currently setting up the table for dinner as Ric chops up some vegetables. I place a few plates on the table before walking back to the cabinets to fetch some glasses.

"My rebellious brother... I'm worried." Elena adds on and I shrug, "I'm sure he's fine, no need to worry." I state, trying my best to calm her down. After a few hours, I've realized that he probably ran off and I know he'll come back.

"Proof you're a human." Alaric jokes, causing me to laugh along with him. I hear the door open and shut as Jeremy walks into the kitchen.

"Just in time. We're cooking." Elena smiles and Jeremy shakes his head, opening the refrigerator. "Sorry. Just passing through."

"Aww. Well, I thought we'd all stay in, have a meal together like a typical atypical family." Alaric suggests.

"Come on, Jer." Elena begs and Jeremy furrows his eyebrows, "Why?"

"Maybe because you got fired and you didn't tell anyone." I chime in, crossing my arms at him as he shuts the refrigerator door. "Look, can we do this later? I made plans with Tyler. He's right outside." he tells us.

"Wait. When did you start hanging out with Tyler Lockwood?" Ric asks and I give my brother a look." I don't know. Does it matter?" Jeremy asks and Elena nods, "Yeah, Jeremy, it matters. He was sired by Klaus. He's dangerous."

"Klaus will do anything to put us all in danger. You hanging out with Tyler isn't doing any good." I point out.

"Tyler can still hear you. He's right outside." Jeremy says, pointing to the door. "And Maya, he's your best friend. Why are you up against him now?" Jeremy asks and I let my arms fall, "Perhaps because he's sired to an original?!"

"Besides, you of all people are going to lecture me on who I can and can't hang out with?" Jeremy states, sass filling up his words.

"What is with the attitude?" Elena asks, folding her arms. "Whatever. This is lame. Tyler's waiting." my brother tells us and starts to leave, but Elena stops him.

"No. Oh, no, no. You're not going anywhere, especially not with Tyler." Elena runs in front of Jeremy and he looks at Alaric and I for help.

"I'm with her on this, Jer. Sorry." Ric says and Jeremy's eyes turns over to mine. I gave him a look, "Sorry, Jeremy."

"All right. Fine. You want me to stay in? Let's all stay in, then." He finally agrees, "Yo, Tyler, come on in!"

"Jeremy–" Elena starts but Tyler walks into our home and into the kitchen. Jeremy pours a drink for Tyler then he gives it to him. Tyler thanks him and sits on one of the chairs at the table.

"This is weird. Klaus has hybrid stalking me, and now, you're just sitting in our kitchen." Elena murmurs. "Look, maybe I should go." Tyler says, getting up from his seat.

"Unless you have to, you know, check in with your hybrid master." Elena says and Tyler chuckles, sitting back at his eat and Jeremy soon joins him.

"It's not like that, Elena." he claims and I sit down at my seat, listening on with the conversation. "Tell me, Tyler– What is the difference between being sired and being compelled?" Alaric questions from his seat.

"Compulsion... that's just mind control, like hypnosis. And being sired is... it's like faith. You do something because you believe it's the right thing." Tyler explains to us and I nod, believing that although it was wrong for him to be forced like this.

"So, you believe that serving Klaus is the right thing?" Elena asks. " I don't serve him. Klaus released me from a curse that was ruining my life. I owe him for that." Tyler explains once again.

"What if he asked you to, uh... jump off a bridge?" Alaric inquires. "He wouldn't. And even if he did, I'd be fine. I'm a hybrid." Tyler expresses and I could sense he was getting annoyed.

"Okay. So what if he asked you to rip your own heart out?" Elena questions and Tyler rolls his eyes, "Again, he wouldn't."

"What if he did?" Elena challenges. "I don't know. Then I'd rip out my heart." he retorts. I frown, taking all this in. Tyler and I weren't as close as we used to be. After he turned, we went our separate ways and never looked back.

"You guys sound like Caroline, getting all freaked out over something you don't understand." he yells at the both of them, since they were the ones edging him on.

"You're right, Tyler. I don't understand. Klaus has terrorized every single one of us, and you're just blindly loyal to him." Elena proclaims. "You're overthinking it. I can still make my own decisions." Tyler defends.

Jeremy's phone begins to ring and he excuses himself to answer it. A few moments later, he comes back. "What was that about?" I ask as he hangs up his phone. "It was nothing." He responds and sits back down down.

Tyler looks at his watch, "I got to go. Um, thanks for the food offer, but next time..." He gets up and leaves the house in a hurry.

Elena and Alaric get up after he leaves, "Well, that was illuminating." Alaric states. "So, Tyler Lockwood is a lunatic who has access to our house." Elena tells Alaric and I soon join them.

"I mean, this whole sire bond this is wild. I don't even think Tyler's fully aware of what little reason lies behind what he's saying. It's—it's his weird cult logic." Alaric tells us both and I nod, agreeing with him.

"Well, great. That's a wonderful influence for you, Jer." Elena says and I turn my head, noticing Jeremy isn't at the dining table.

"Where did he go?" I ask, walking over to the table, noticing his ring on the plate. "That's his ring."

I felt a breeze rush to my arms and I look around for any access from where the wind is coming from. "The front door is open, guys."

The three of us walk towards the front door and spot Jeremy in the middle of the room. "What the hell is he doing?"

I hear a vehicle approaching and speeding towards Jeremy. I widen my eyes, about to run to him but Alaric beat me to it. "Jeremy!"

"Jeremy? Jeremy, move!" Elena screams, holding onto my hand. In a flash, Alaric pushes Jeremy out of the way and the car rams into Alaric instead.

I gasp, tears brimming at the edge of my eyes. I ran towards the both of them and kneel down to Alaric, moving his head around to make sure he's alive, but he was unconscious.

The vehicle approaches us and the guy rolls down the window, "There I go again, bumping into people." The guy chuckles and I study him for a moment, realizing it's Klaus' friend Tony from the bar earlier.

Anger boils up inside of me as I watch the car speed away. "That's Klaus' hybrid." I tell them and get up from my spot. "Alaric has his ring. He's gonna be alright. Are you okay, Jeremy?" Elena states, looking at our brother as he gets up from the ground.

The look on Jeremy's face made me question who he was on the phone with earlier. He looks confused and unaware of what happened. "I don't understand." he says, giving us both looks.

"Who was that on the phone earlier?" I ask him, putting my hands on my hips. "It was Klaus." he answers and I sigh, "Of course."

"You were compelled, Jeremy." Elena tells him, shaking her head. "We've got to get him inside. Help me." Elena grabs ahold of Alaric and I hold onto the other side of him as the three of us bring him back inside

§

"I've been looking everywhere for you." I tell him, a hint of anger lingering in my voice. "Oh, it warms my heart that you care." he sarcastically tells me, not making eye contact like he normally does.

I sit next to him on the bar stool, watching him as he takes another shot of his drink. "You told me you wouldn't hurt my brother, why lie? I thought you were a man of your words."

"I do keep my words, love. You just didn't keep the end of the bargain." Klaus tells me and I furrow my eyebrows. "I didn't touch your hybrids."

"My little sister's missing and I assume you know where she is, yet you won't tell me." Klaus says, turning his head to connect his eyes with mine.

"That wasn't apart of our deal." I tell him, getting more angry by the second. "I consider my hybrids as family... and as you know, Rebekah is family."

I groan, turning away from him. I pull out my phone and read a recent text message from my sister that says Alaric has awaken. I let out a sigh of relief and put my phone back in my pocket.

"Well, lucky for you. No one got hurt." I tell him, about to leave when his hands grab my arm to stop me. "Wait."

I look down at his hand and he lets go of my arm. "Have a drink with me."

I open my mouth, unable to say anything for a split second. I furrow my eyebrows, taking this in. "What? You almost kill my brother and now you want to share a drink? Yeah, no thank you."

"Please." he tells me, something in his eyes that almost wants me to say yes. "Why?" I ask him, not thinking clearly. "Your presence entertains me, love."

"I–I can't." I concede, but that doesn't stop him. "Come on, it'll be our little secret."

§

"Where were you?! I've been trying to call you for hours?" Elena yells at me the second I walk through our door. "I was, um, taking care of some business. Don't worry."

"Yeah, business that lasted three hours." she says, crossing her arms at me. "How's Alaric?" I ask, changing the subject as I take off my jacket.

"He's fine. Damon and Ric are upstairs with Jeremy right now." she claims and I knew there was something else she wasn't tell me. "Elena, what did you do?"

"Please don't get mad, but I told Damon to compel Jeremy to leave town and never come back."

"What the hell, Elena?! Why?" I ask her, running up the stairs, but she stops me. "Maya, listen. You heard what he said earlier, about wanting to leave. I think it's best, just so he doesn't get caught up in all this."

I think about it for a moment, before I realize she's right. Jeremy doesn't deserve to be brought into this supernatural nonsense and he has a chance to be free from it.

"It's done." Damon says from the top of the stairs. "He's already packing his bags." Elena nods, "Thank you, Damon. I'm gonna go upstairs and help him." she says and walks up to his room.

Damon comes down the stairs and gives me a look. "Where were you for the past couple hours? Your sister was totally freaking out."

I pull him into the kitchen, making sure no one was around. "Okay, I think you may be right about the whole Klaus having a crush on me because I just spent the last three hours having a drink with him."

"You did what?!" Damon yells, anger in his voice and eyes. "Listen! We're still going to kill him, right? So, if he trusts me, then I can tell you what he knows."

"You've been watching too many tv shows, Maya. He's a thousand years old, what makes you think he won't catch on?" he says and I give him a smirk, "He won't catch on."

"Three hours with an original hybrid? Must of been a bore. What did you two even talk about?" he asks me, leaning up against the wall.

"He told me about his time in the 1920s with Stefan. Not really much about him, though. He mostly wanted to know everything about me, which is fine I guess. Considering I really don't care much about him."

"Well, start caring. At least pretend to. If he's into you, you have to return the favor." Damon states and I widen my eyes. "Damon, I'm not going out with him."

"You did tonight, all on your own." he points out and I roll my eyes, "I didn't really have much choice. I mean, he looked at me with sad puppy eyes."

It was a moment of silence before Damon steps towards me. "Promise me something. Don't get caught up in his charm. Make sure those feelings stay fake."

"I promise, Damon."