★·'¯'·★

Sprawled across the bed, Ana flipped through the pages of the book in her hand. She wasn't really reading it, she was just listening to the sound of the pages as they turned, savouring the feeling of the paper beneath her darkening fingers.

Damon was sat downstairs with Stefan and Elena discussing her mom and, to be quite frank, Ana was glad. The hunger in her throat had begun burning, clawing itself up her throat and driving her to insanity. It was like some sort of persistent itch in her throat, an unquenchable thirst and Ana didn't want Damon, or anyone else for that matter, to see her this way.

In all her five hundred years of being a vampire Ana could never remember feeling this hungry. She knew that it would definitely impact her trust in witches in the future. If she had a future.

A soft knock at the door interrupted Ana from her various thoughts and she looked over to see Katherine at the door, clutching a blood bag in her grasp. "Hey, Ana. I wanted to come check how you were doing, desiccating and all."

"I mean, I'm certainly not in the right state of mind to endure one of your psychotic plans at the minute, so if that's what you're here for you can leave right now." Ana huffed, glaring at her older sister slightly and turning back to the book in her hand. They had been sisters long enough for Ana to tell when Katerina was scheming, even if they hadn't spent all their years together.

Katherine paused for a minute, sucking in a breath. She let her eyes wander to the floppy book loosely held in Ana's hands and smiled to herself. "The hunchback of Notre-Dame, huh? I remember you were reading that back in the 1850s when I visited you."

"Just relieving some fond memories before my journey ends." Ana muttered, not taking her eyes away from the pages.

At this, Katherine strolled into the room and took the book out of Ana's hands. It didn't take much force, seeing as Ana didn't really have much fight in her anymore. "What if I told you that I'd found a way to get you the help you need?"

"I'd chuckle slightly and go back to reading the scene where Quasimodo is tortured. It's mesmerising, really."

"Stop this. Now." Katherine snapped, yanking the book back from Ana's hands and pelting it across the room, cringing at the sound of it smacking against the wall.

Under her breath, Ana added "Good luck telling Damon that you damaged the wallpaper."

"I don't give a damn about Damon, Ana! Okay! I'm trying to help you here! Look, I found out from Isobel - a.k.a Elena's mom for context - that she's going to give the moonstone and the doppelganger to Klaus, and-"

"Let me guess, you want me to offer myself up." Ana finished, looking at her sister with a sense of sadness. "For starters, Isobel might not even make contact with him, heck she could just be using this as a method of getting to Elena! Secondly, it might not even work. Face it Katherine, this is the end of the line for me. I was never supposed to live past the 1500s anyway, these last hundred years have been a blessing. I'm sorry."

Staring at Ana with furrowed brows, Katherine shook her head. "No. You can put on this defeated act all you want, but I know my sister and I know that she wouldn't just give up like this. I don't care what you say, I'm getting you help."

Without saying another word, Katherine rose from the bed and stormed out of the room, practically slamming the door behind her.

Despite the overwhelming grief Ana was feeling for herself, she couldn't help the glimmer of hope that sparked in her mind at the thought of not having to dessicate.

★·'¯'·★

Drifting in and out of sleep was the easiest way to subdue the hunger. For Ana, dream world seemed better than the reality of this internal conflict. Sometimes she'd dream that she was back in Bulgaria with her mother, father and Katerina, other times she'd dream of the late nights in England when she'd dance under the stars in the arms of Niklaus.

"Hey, sweetheart?"

Ana stirred but her eyes felt heavy and her body weak. Perhaps some part of her wanted to peek to see who'd come to disturb her, to see who'd be staring at her with concerned eyes this time. She could already guess who it was though.

"Mmhmm... go away Damon..." She hummed, turning over, only to be turned right back round again.

"Seriously, you're not sleeping beauty Ana. Wake up."

With a hefty grunt, Ana pried open her eyes and blinked a couple times to adjust to the light. Damon, Stefan and Elena sat around the bed, staring intently at the weak vampire. Ana noticed that Elena held some papers in her hands and a pen.

"What do you want?" Ana murmured, glancing between the three.

"Good morning to you, too." Damon said sarcastically, forcing a cheerful smile. "Now, on today's agenda... house deeds. We've decided to sign our house over to Elena for protection because, head's up, Klaus seems to be pretty close. Because of this, all of us will need to be invited in again. Including you."

"Damon, you might wanna slow down. She's only just woken up." Elena told Damon, lightly tapping his shoulder to get his attention.

Upon realising how out of it Ana seemed, Damon sighed. "You're right. Sorry. I just... I really wanna get this Klaus thing over with so we can focus on fixing this hex."

"I do too Damon, I do too." Ana croaked, pushing herself up in bed. It took all her strength just to sit up and, frankly, she found it embarrassing. Being the oldest in the room, she should be protecting them all, not the other way around.

Looking between his brother and the ill vampire, Stefan took a slow step forward. "Clearly, you're in no state to get yourself out of the house. Perhaps if Damon-"

"No. I will walk myself out of this house, thank you very much." Ana snapped, clinging to the side of the bed and using it to pull herself up. Once up, she glanced down at her arms to see that they were a faint shade of grey, light veins slowly tracing up them. It had begun, the dessication.

"You sure you don't want a hand? I mean, I don't offer everybody my-"

"I said I'm fine. I need to get used to walking like this anyway, if I plan on coming to that stupid dance with you all." Ana announced gruffly. She pushed her dark locks from her face, feeling their brittle texture beneath her fingers.

Damon sent a confused glance to his brother and Elena, before turning to Ana with parted lips. "Maybe it's my old age getting to me, but I don't remember telling you about the decade dance..."

"You didn't. I overheard you talking about it. Mind you, I couldn't pick up many details between your creaky floorboards and my crappy vampire hearing. This is the most human I've felt in centuries! It's ridiculous!" Ana exclaimed.

"Oh, I'm sorry, was me not telling you not enough of a hint? You're not coming, Ana. There's no way I'm letting you out in the open when you can't even get out of bed." Damon retorted, rolling his eyes and following behind Ana at a slow pace as she limped out of the boarding house.

Within seconds of Damon speaking, Ana had whipped herself around to face Damon with flaring eyes. "I didn't ask for your permission. Face it, Damon. I'm the only one out of all of you who knows what Klaus looks like. If anyone can spot him, it's me."

"She's right, y'know?" A voice said from behind, and both Ana looked over Damon's shoulder to see Elena emerging from the room, a frown on her face. "As much as it pains me to admit it, Ana's the only one who knows what Klaus looks like. It makes sense to have her there. You know, in case Klaus does turn up."

"Not you too." Damon threw his hands in the air. After a minute of silently thinking to himself, with his eyebrows knitted, he turned around with a defeated look. "Fine. You can come. But you're going to be by my side the entire time. That means no running off. Are we clear?"

Slipping past Damon out the door, Ana remarked "Uh, like I said. I didn't ask for your permission, Damey. I'm going."

Damon pursed his lips but said no more, waiting for Stefan to make his way down the stairs so they could all be invited in again.

Next step: picking an outfit for the decade dance.

★·'¯'·★

Ahh! I got the second update up! I understand that things seem to be going at a much faster pace, but from Ana's POV she's feeling really ill and sleeping a lot, so things are obviously going to merge together and she's not going to be in the loop as much. Also, sorry for any title confusion. I got the last chapters title a little muddled. However, I hope you enjoyed reading this one as much as I enjoyed writing it ;)

Now, who's excited for the Klaus reunion?! I can't wait to slip some much-need flashbacks into the scenes as well so you can see more of human Ana!

MikaelsonMonday x