"Found him." A smile appears on my face as I look at my brother from afar, currently swinging his bat.

Klaus has found Jeremy's location and his safety means so much to me that I was the first to suggest bringing him back home where we can protect him.

Elena and Damon accompanied me on the ride over to Jeremy's location. Not that I didn't mind, but their constant bickering made me want to jump out of the plane.

Alaric's alter ego came back and hid a white oak stake that we desperately needed to hand back to the original siblings. So, as if now, Alaric is locked away in a cell to prevent any occurrences that may happen while we're away.

We sit on a bench behind a fence at the batting case, watching as my brother fails to hit another ball. "Next time we compel him, remind me to make him better at baseball." Damon says and I laugh.

Elena makes her way over to the cage, "Hey Jer!" she shouts to get his attention. He turns around at the sound of his name and breaks into a smile. "Elena? Maya?"

The four of us walk out of the batting cages as Damon explains to Jeremy about our inconveniences we've been through during his absence.

"Katherine sired us, Rose sired Katherine, all we need to do is find out who sired Rose." Damon tells him and Jeremy gives him a look.

"So, you traveled across the country to get me to talk to a dead vampire?" Jeremy questions while he puts away his bat and gear into his locker.

"Dead vampire is redundant, but yes." Damon answers. "Well, I can't. I could talk to Anna and Vicki because I knew them. I've never even met Rose." Jeremy says and I cross my arms, trying to come up with an idea to work around that issue.

"What good is you dying and coming back to life if you can't talk to a ghost when I need you to?" Damon asks sarcastically.

"Rose spent a long time running from Klaus as well. She and Damon were close, so maybe we can use him as a connection." Elena suggests and I nod, silently thanking her for that good idea.

"Fine, fine, but can we do this later? My friend just got here and yes, Damon, I actually have some. I'll call you when I'm done."

Jeremy walks over to me and gives me a quick goodbye and a hug. I squeeze tightly before letting him go. When my brother gets out of my view, I spot one person and my blood grows cold.

"Kol?" I ask in disbelief, my voice hoarse in shock. "Hey, man," Jeremy greets him and I feel Elena tug on my arm, pulling me back. "Damon, it's Kol!"

I watch as Kol hits Damon with a wooden baseball bat and upon impact, the bat breaks in half. Damon falls to the ground due to the unexpected hit. "Oh, my god." I gasp.

"What are you doing?!" Jeremy yells. "Jeremy, get back! He's an Original." Elena warns him and Jeremy looks up with surprised eyes. "What?"

"No hard feelings, mate. But we're not buds." Kol grabs an aluminum bat from the bat rack. I walk forward slowly and grab one of the broken half wooden bat.

"You know, I'll never get use to aluminum. But hey, at least it won't break." Kol swings it to hit Damon, but he catches it with ease.

I run from behind, adrenaline running through my veins as I shove the broken bat into the back of his skin. Kol turns around with red eyes and veins appearing beneath his eyes.

My back gets smacked against the lockers in seconds with Kol's hands wrapped around my neck. I struggle to catch a breath, trying to pry his fingers off.

"I was going to leave you alone, courtesy of my brother's annoying obsession with you. However, you hurt his feelings so I will gladly kill you as my gratitude."

His fangs come from his mouth and he rushes his head to an angle of my neck but he stops and he releases his hand from my neck. I hit the floor and take in the biggest wave of air into my lungs. Kol's body falls to the ground, his skin turning grey due to the other half of the bat sitting in his heart.

Damon stands behind him, then steps over him to grab my hand. "Don't ever do something that stupid again, understand me?" he says and pulls me into a hug.

"Thank you." I whisper in his ear since he's the one who saved me. Elena and Jeremy run over to me and steal me away from Damon to take their turns for a hug.

"I'm glad you're okay." Elena pulls away from our embrace. Jeremy stares at Kol's half-dead body. "Did you kill him?"

"No," Damon answers, "but it'll give us a head start. Okay, come on."

§

Damon and Jeremy grab all of our luggages from the car. I lean on the car and watch them with Elena by my side. "It'd be nice if you helped." Damon says to us.

"Oh come on, you need to prove you're a gentleman, right?" I give him a playful smile and Damon rolls his eyes, shutting the trunk.

"So, where are we?" Jeremy asked as we all started to walk to our motel room. "Ah, reminds me of Supernatural. Too bad we're not catching monsters."

"We caught Kol." Damon shrugs.

I let out a small laugh, smiling slightly. I'm glad he's warming up on me again. That night when I revealed to Klaus that I had a chance to kill him, Damon was furious with me afterwards. He wouldn't speak to me for a couple of days. Damon thinks I got soft for Klaus, and I couldn't prove to him that I haven't because his words were true.

It has taken me awhile to admit to myself that I feel something for Klaus and safe to say, I am ashamed of it. Better yet, I have broken my promise to Damon since I got caught up in Klaus' charm.

"Corner of somewhere and nowhere where Kol can't find us." Damon answers Jeremy, which causes me to snap out of my thoughts.

"I can't believe Kol was a vampire." Jeremy sighs as the four of us walk up the stairs to our assigned rooms.

"Well, didn't you find it weird that you made a friend so fast? Have you met you?" Damon questions and Elena glares at him, "Not helping."

Jeremy unlocks the motel door and all of us enter it. I close the door and immediately take off my jacket, tossing it on the bed. "Does this work for you, Jer?" I ask him, referring to the room to do his ghost business.

"Yeah, doesn't really matter." he answers.

Damon walks into the bathroom and flickers the lights on. "Maya, come in here." I hear him say. I give Elena a look, who shrugs and opens up her luggage on her bed. Jeremy sits on the edge of the bed and starts flipping through the channels on the TV with the remote.

"What, Damon?" I ask and lean on the doorframe. "Get in." he says and pulls my arm into the cramped bathroom.

"This is honestly not how I pictured our first kiss." I joke due to our in close proximity. Damon pauses for a second before staring right back at me with a smirk on his lips, "You pictured our first kiss?"

I glare at him, not expecting that response. "Shut up. What do you need?" I change the subject.

"Your neck is bruising. I am going to check on it." he says as if it was the most obvious statement. "Damon, I'm fine." I assure him, but he shakes his head.

"No. Sit here." He pats on outdated countertop and I oblige, not really in the mood to protest. I move my hair to the side to give him access. "I'm telling you, I'm fine. It doesn't even hurt-ow!" I hiss in pain once his fingertips come in contact with my skin.

"Yup, sure you're fine." he rolls his eyes sarcastically. Damon turns his head, his nose nearly touching mine. His faint blue eyes caused by the terrible lighting in this bathroom stare into mine and goosebumps rises on my skin.

We don't say anything for a minute and I catch his eyes flickering to my lips. Suddenly, he moves his head and looks out the door. "Elena, get in here."

I look down at my lap and exhale a breath I didn't know I was holding. My sister comes in and widens her eyes at the sight of my skin.

"Okay. Stop being dramatic, the both of you." I jump off of the counter. "It'll heal... eventually."

"That looks pretty bad. Look, I'll grab some ibuprofen. Damon, make sure she doesn't move too much." Elena says and grabs her jacket.

"Anything you say, Dr. Gilbert." Damon grins and we both exit the bathroom. Elena leaves the room and closes the door after her.

"Woah, what's going on? Where is she going?" Jeremy asks as he mutes the television.

"Thanks to your best buddy, Maya here is dying in pain." Damon says and I roll my eyes. "She's getting some medicine for my neck. I'm okay, by the way." I give Damon a look and Jeremy frowns.

I take a seat on the bed and Damon looks at me from above with his arms crossed. I roll my eyes again and look at my brother who's sitting on the other bed, "Do you want to start now?"

"Sounds like a fantastic plan." Damon smirks and Jeremy shrugs, "Yeah, we can."

"Alright Whoopi, what do you need?" Damon closes the curtain, "Candles? Incense? Pottery wheel?"

"That's not how it works." Jeremy replies and Damon shrugs, "I know, I know. They push from the other side and you pull from this one."

I shoot him a glare and he throws me an innocent look. "Alright, you uh—you got a picture of her?" my brother asks and Damon gives him a look, "Picture? What, a trip to Disneyland?"

"Come on Rose, you're not gonna actually make us wait, are you? I know you're obsessed with me." Damon talks to the air, pretending ghost-Rose will pop out.

I chuckle softly and Jeremy purses his lips, "All right, uh—tell me something about her."

"Um, well," Damon sat down on the bed next to me. "she does this little thing with her tongue."

"Something that matters." I tell him and he grins at me. "Why? Jealous?"

I shove him slightly, "You wish. Now, answer him." I say and he sighs, pondering for a second.

"She spent her last day in paradise. Soaking in the sun and reminiscing about what it means to be human. And when death came, she didn't fear it."

"I was with her on her last day and she definitely wasn't in paradise." I remind him, thinking of that memory of her clinging onto life.

"It was in the dream he gave her." Jeremy responds out of the blue and his eyes look behind me. "She's here."

I turn my head and so does Damon. As expected, she's nowhere insight. "Is she lonely on the other side?" I ask him, hoping for a positive answer.

"She says not to worry, she's happy." Jeremy answers and I nod once, letting out a sigh of relief.

"Is she still hot?" Damon smirks which causes me to smack his arm next to me, "Damon!" I scold. "What?!"

Jeremy raises his eyebrows behind Damon and I can imagine Rose standing right there. "She misses you." Jeremy replies.

"And she wishes you good luck, Maya." Jeremy said and I raise an eyebrow, "On what?" I asked. After a second, he widens his eyes and shakes his head. "Uh, she didn't say."

"She was sired by someone named Mary Porter." Jeremy says after a moment and I look at Damon for answers. "Ugh, Scary Mary. Well, where is she, Rose?"

"She says she'll find out and for us to sit tight." Jeremy answers Damon and I fall back on the bed, looking at the ceiling with a sigh.

§

"I can't believe you guys started without me." Elena crosses her arms in annoyance. I throw the ibuprofen pills in my mouth and swallow them with my water bottle.

"We're on a mission, miss whiny pants. We couldn't wait." Damon tells her and Elena rolls her eyes at him.

My phone blares in my phone pocket and I look at the Caller ID. "Hold on," I tell Elena and Damon before exiting the motel room because of Jeremy's loud show on the TV.

"Hi, Stefan. Any news on Evilaric?" I ask, and make my way over to a vending machine. I insert some quarters and mentally decide on which snack to choose from.

"Nope, only dead Alaric." he replies back and I freeze in my spot. "What...?"

"Don't worry, he was wearing his ring. Klaus was here, let's just say he's not very patient." Stefan replies and I scoff at his answer.

"Are you serious? When I get back I swear to God I will—" I get cut off by Stefan, "He can hear you."

"Good!" I reply and press numbers on the vending machine to get a bag of chips. "Anyway, how long has Ric been out?"

"A few hours. I'm hoping when he wakes up, it won't be him, it'll be the other him." Stefan answers.

"You still haven't found the stake?" I ask him and I can imagine him shaking his head. "No. So, were you able to contact Rose?" he changes the subject.

"Yeah, no answers yet. So, we're just stuck in this motel until she gets back to us." I sigh.

"A motel?" he asked, almost chuckling. "Yeah, we had to get away from Kol. I'll call you when I know more." I hang up after we say our goodbyes.

I open the room door, closing it when I got in. "Where's Damon?" I ask them, plopping next to Jeremy who was laying on the couch watching television.

"Getting food. Unlike you, who gets food for yourself." Elena says as she goes through her luggage, grabbing her toothbrush. "Whatever."

"Maya, can I talk to you outside for a sec?" Jeremy ask, getting up. I groan, "I just sat down."

He gives me a pleading look and I sigh, following him out the door. I close it and fold my arms at him for answers. "What's wrong?"

"Rose mentioned something and I didn't want to say it out loud."

"Which is...?" I egg on, growing curious. "She told me I should watch out for you... because you have a thing with Klaus."

I laugh, "What? Now she's spying on all of us from the other side?"

"Maya." Jeremy frowns, wanting a serious talk. "Alright. I don't know what her definition of thing is but, there's nothing going on between us. I was using him, that's all." I assure him. Although, a part of ached at my last sentence.

"Are you sure?"

"Yes. Why would I lie to you?" I ask him and unfold my arms. "Okay, fine. I believe you."

"Good." I smile and shove the bag of chips to my brother's chest, not really in the mood for them anymore. I head back inside and wait for Damon's return.

§

"How do we always meet up alone?" I heard Damon say as he closed the door to his motel room. I glanced at him and put the number of the water bottle on the vending machine.

"It's maybe fate." I reply, obviously joking. I didn't realize how close he was to me until I felt his hot breath on the back of my neck.

He swiftly turned me around and smirked, "Nice responce." I didn't have time to respond as our lips touched, both of our lips now slowly moving together as I drop my water bottle to the ground.

Damon was the first one to bring it up a notch, by skillfully sliding his tongue pass mine, where he sought out, and found my tongue.

All I could think about was Klaus. I felt like me kissing Damon is me cheating on Klaus. I feel like when I put my hands around Damon's neck, Klaus is just watching us, especially me, kissing him back and leaning towards the pillar.

We pulled apart for a quick second to capture some more air, our lips were quickly back together once we received what we needed.

"Damon..." I start, pressing my lips on his again. I put my hands on his chest, pushing him away slightly. "We should head back inside before someone sees us."

§

I swallow thickly as I stare out through the car window in the dark night. Damon sits besides me in the driving seat, pulling up to a driveway.

None of my siblings witnessed a terrible mistake I have made and I'm grateful. Neither Damon or I have spoken a word since it happened and I'm also grateful for that.

I don't even know what to think. Why did I kiss him back? I didn't even think that was capable of happening, yet it did. I can't lie and say I didn't like it... because I did but I also can't lie and say I wasn't thinking of another man.

Damon unbuckles his seatbelt and I clear my throat, unbuckling mine as well. Jeremy informed us that Rose gave him the locations to the mysterious Mary in Kansas.

"This is the address." Jeremy sighs as we all look at the abandoned house the second we all piled out. "Looks about right." Damon says.

"Wait here." Elena tells my brother, who groans in protest. "Why?!"

"Because it's not safe." she replies and Jeremy looks at me for help. "I'm with her on this one, Jer." I shrug.

"Listen to your sisters." Damon tells him and Jeremy scoffs, going back into the car and slamming the door shut.

We step onto the front porch and I shine the flashlight into the foyer room once we opened the door. "Ugh, it smells horrible." Elena groans.

I grimace at the smell and the lack of decency in this home. Books and papers were stacked and scattered on the floor.

"Oof, like Vampire Hoarders." Damon jokes as he shines a light on her belongings.

"Who is this Mary person?" I ask him out of curiousity. "Scary Mary. She's really old, super creepy." Damon replies.

"Shut up. You're giving me the chills." I start rubbing my arms up and down. "Boo!" Damon comes in front of me and as a reflex, I hit his arm. "Damon!" I gasp and he starts to laugh.

"How do you even know her?" Elena asks after Damon calms down from his laughter. "I dated her." he responds. "Of course."

"What? I said creepy, not ugly."

A loud noise comes from the other room and I jump at the sound. "You know, for a newbie vampire hunter, it's not good to scare easily."

I give him a look and he raises his hands up in question. "What? I'm giving you pro-tips."

I ignore his comment and enter the room where the sound was heard in. Elena and Damon follow close behind. I move my flashlight and the beam reveals a vampire who has been staked to the wall.

Elena and I gasp at the sight. "Mary..." Damon sighs beside me.

"Quite contrary." I turn around at the new voice and the lights come on in the dark room. Kol sits in a chair with a smirk plastered on his face, holding a baseball bat in his hand.

"Shame about Mary. She used to be a blast." Kol walks toward Mary's dead body then turns to us, "Don't quite know what happened. I fear all the time she spent with my family might have ruined her. She was a bit of an Original groupie."

"And were you her favorite?" Elena asks. "You mean, did I turn her?"

"I think I did. But no, wait, maybe it was Rebekah. There was also a Klaus period. And let's not forget the Elijah affair. I spoke to my brother, I know you're trying to find out who you descended from. Now you never will." He said.

Kol turns to Damon, "So, where did we leave off?"

Kol hits Damon's leg with the baseball bat and he falls to the ground. I look around the room, trying to find something to stop his violent movements.

Unfortunately, I wasn't prepared on this trip because who thought Klaus would let his maniac brother on the loose?

Kol continues to wack Damon with a bat on repeat and I had to think on my feet. There's a wooden chair that sits nicely by a table. I grab onto it and smack it onto the ground, broken pieces now cover the floor.

I pick up a leg of the chair and flip it to a pointy end. I run to Kol and push the newly made wooden stake into his shoulder since I couldn't have direct access to his heart.

He stops hitting Damon with his bat and turns to me slowly, ripping the stake from his shoulder before tossing it to the floor. I gulp in fear and he starts to laugh. "You really don't know when to quit, do you?"

"Nasty little bruise you got there." He points to my neck. "I wonder who did that." Kol grins.