"WHAT THE HELL?" Colby mumbled to herself, her head aching as she blinked her eyes open. She'd been awake for a few minutes, but the sunlight streaming in through the windows hurt her eyes. It took Colby only a few seconds to realize that she was not in her own room, and was instead in a room she didn't recognize.

Slowly sitting up, mindful of the headache, Colby took a glance around the room. While it was fairly large, it was also pretty plain-looking, which meant that it was either a hotel room, guest room, or the room of someone with very little taste. It didn't seem like a hotel room, so Colby was leaning towards a guest bedroom. She recalled the events of last night — meeting the woman in the park, the men who attacked, the blonde woman who saved them. After that, what little she could recall was fuzzy, and the rest blank. Colby figured maybe she passed out, and ended up at one of their houses. The thought of being in a strangers house was alarming, but at least they didn't leave her unconscious in the park.

Slipping on her shoes that were placed neatly on the floor by the bed, Colby slowly stood up. She was thirsty, and hungry, and wanted to know whose house she was in. Slowly walking out of the room, Colby cautiously walked down the hallway, coming to a set of stairs. Figuring the kitchen would be downstairs, Colby began walking down the stairs carefully. She only made it halfway down, before yelling echoed up the staircase and reached Colby's ears.

"Nik!" A woman shouted, making Colby jump slightly. The woman sounded angry, and a touch desperate. Colby quickly ran down the rest of the stairs, turning to see the blonde woman from the night before. She ran at a strange man with inhuman speed, shoving him off of Hayley, the girl from the bench, who gasped for breath, coughing. "Keep your hands off her! She is pregnant, for God's sake! All of this bluster about not wanting the child, and the the second she tells you shes ready to get rid of it?" The blonde scoffed, shaking her head, before focusing back on the man. "It's okay to care. It's okay to want something. That's all Elijah was trying to do, all he's ever wanted for you. All we've ever wanted." She spoke, voice turning gentle.

Colby suddenly felt like she was intruding as the man sat down on the stairs that she had just ran down. Now at a different angle, she could see that he was the man Marcel was having lunch with, his friend from out of town. The blonde sat next to him, and Colby awkwardly took a few shuffling steps away. Hayley moved to stand next to Colby, placing a comforting on her shoulder, now noticing that she was there. Colby smiled weakly up at her, before looking back at the man as he spoke.

"I gave Elijah to Marcel." He said, and while Colby faintly recognized the name Elijah, her mind conjuring a memory of the man in the bar, she had no idea what Marcel had to do with him. Judging by the way the blonde's face fell as she stared at him, however, it was nothing good.

"What?" She asked bluntly, making the man sigh, almost looking guilty.

"Marcel was nervous. It's bad enough one Original returned to town, but two? His crew was getting antsy. He wanted Elijah gone, so," The man averted his gaze from the blonde, to the ground. "I gave him a peace offering." A look of astonishment crossed the woman's face.

"You bartered our brother?" She gasped out, tone sharp and accusing.

"I have a plan. Gain Marcel's trust, dismantle his empire, honor Elijah's wish that that baby be born. I am executing that plan the only way I know how. If you don't like it, there's the door. See if I care." The man stood, quickly walking past Colby, barely sparing her a second glance as he left the room. The strange talk of Marcel was enough to make her already aching head spin. Colby awkwardly cleared her throat after a moment, catching the blonde's attention.

"Finally awake, I see. Well, dear, I am Rebekah. That was my awfully unpleasant brother Niklaus. And I'm sure you already know Hayley." Rebekah introduced herself and the other man, and Colby nodded nervously.

"What happened last night? Who exactly are you and your brother?" Colby asked hesitantly, making Rebekah smile before she placed an arm around Colby's shoulders.

"Come on, love. We have a lot to talk about."

–•–•–

Rebekah and Hayley carefully explained everything to Colby — from vampires, to werewolves, to witches. She took it all in stride, but she'd be lying if she said that her head didn't feel like it was about to explode with the news. Colby wanted to say that they were lying to her, but after what she had seen last night, she knew something strange was going on. Combined with her dreams, pieces of Marcel's life slowly fitting together, and seeing what Rebekah could do, Colby found it hard to deny the truth.

While Rebekah and Hayley stepped out onto the back porch to discuss something between them, Colby decided to explore the house in an attempt to make her mind focus on other things. It was large, and she'd only seen a guest room, the foyer, and the living room. Colby wandered through the big kitchen, and found a bathroom, before coming across a room with closed doors. Colby briefly thought that she had better just keep moving, but she was too curious for her own good.

Opening the doors slowly, Colby stepped into a room filled with paintings. Moving over to the easel, Colby smiled brightly, running her fingers lightly over the paint brushes on one of the tables.

"Enjoying yourself?" Colby jumped at the new voice in the room, spinning around quickly to face Klaus.

"Are these yours? They're beautiful!" Colby exclaimed, amazed at Klaus' work. She continued looking around the room in awe, eyes dancing across the paintings. An amused smirk worked it's way onto Klaus' face.

"You're an artist yourself. Ever paint?" Klaus asked her. Colby shrugged, before shaking her head.

"I used to here and there, before my mom passed. After that we moved to a smaller apartment and there wasn't room for an easel anywhere." Colby explained, and Klaus nodded slowly, walking towards her.

"And that drawing from yesterday? It looks rather, well, violent. That doesn't seem like your work, like you're not that kind of person." Klaus turned Colby to look her in the eye, pupil's dilating as he spoke to her. "Tell me what made you draw that picture." Colby scrunched her eyebrows together, taking a quick step away from Klaus.

"First of all, you could always ask a bit nicer. Second of all, I don't know. I don't remember beginning to draw it. I just opened my sketchbook, and there it was. I just felt like I had to finish it. I didn't even know what I was drawing in the first place, but for some reason, I knew how to finish it." Klaus looked puzzled, both at her answer and at the fact that his compulsion didn't work on her. Colby laughed awkwardly after Klaus didn't reply for a moment. "I really should be getting home, my aunt's probably gonna be worried, if she's home." Klaus smiled quickly to cover his confusion.

"Of course. Allow me to take you home, hm?" Klaus offered, and Colby smiled warmly, the nervousness fading away quickly. She knew what Klaus was, had heard Rebekah tell her that he could be very dangerous, but Colby didn't see that in him. Not yet, not at that moment.

"That would be great, thank you."

–•–•–

When Klaus dropped Colby off, she quickly ran up to the apartment. Opening the door, Colby found herself alone, the apartment dark. Flipping on one of the lights, Colby made her way to her bedroom, a note stuck on the door.

'Your friend Rebekah told me you were staying over at her place when I ran to Rousseau's for some dinner. Hope you had a good time, dear. I'll be home late again. Love you. xx'

Colby found it odd that Rebekah had even known who Claire was, but didn't think much about it as she threw the note on top of her dresser. With a sigh, Colby pulled off her jeans, swapping them for a pair of sweatpants as she crawled into bed. Her mind raced, headache coming back as she went over all the information she learned today. Vampires, werewolves and witches existed. They were real. Marcel was a vampire. The same Marcel who would buy her ice cream cones when it got too hot. Colby's chest tightened, her lungs constricting as she was overcome with a feeling that everything was suddenly very wrong.

Sitting up quickly and turning on the lamp next to her bed, Colby's heart pounded in her chest as she shakily sucked in a lungful of air. She felt sick now, like she wanted to throw up, her stomach cramping up painfully. The ache in her chest lessened the more she took deep breaths, but her head only continued to pulse in pain. Fumbling for her phone, Colby thought about calling Claire to tell her to come home, but she decided against it, not wanting to worry her. She didn't know who to call — Diego was an option, but he worked nights for Marcel, and she didn't want to bother him, nor face him just yet. Sabine or Sophie were probably still grieving, and Camille was out on a date with Marcel.

As Colby was staring down at her contact list, the lamp next to her flickered and turned off, the only light now coming from Colby's phone. Light footsteps echoed across the wooden floor directly outside of her bedroom, and Colby froze, clicking on the next name she saw. After a few rings, Hayley picked up.

"Colby? What's up?" Hayley asked, and Colby swallowed down a startled gasp as footsteps continues to pace, whispering into the phone.

"Hayley, I think something's in the apartment with me." She whispered, slowly shifting towards the side of the bed furthest from the door. There was a pause, and she could hear Hayley yell something to a person who Colby assumed was in the room with her.

"Colby, are you still there?" Hayley asked, and Colby answered back with a quiet yes as her doorknob began to rattle, like someone was trying to open the door but couldn't get a proper grip on it. "Klaus is on his way, alright? When he gets there, you need to invite him in. He can't get in if you don't invite him." Hayley said, emphasizing the invitation part. Colby was hoping screaming a 'come in!' from her room would be enough, as she didn't think she'd be able to fight around whatever was now creaking her door open. Colby's phone gave a pop-up warning, before it quickly died, the light flickering out and leaving her in complete darkness. The sound of her door creaking open was all she could hear, before pounding on the front door made Colby jump.

"Colby? Invite me in, would you?" Klaus' voice came echoing through the apartment, and Colby let out a quiet sigh in relief.

"Come in!" Colby yelled, and the footsteps began again, as if sensing they were almost out of time. Colby's heart pounded in fear as the the steps turned into a sprint, which had her leaping off of her bed in an attempt to put distance between her and whatever was in her room. Just as the footsteps reached her, and she could feel something like icy breath against her cheek, the bedroom door slammed open, light flickering on. Colby wanted to scream, or maybe even cry at the sight of the totally empty room. Klaus narrowed his eyes, as if trying to hear for anything else besides Colby's erratic heartbeat, but quickly relaxed when there was no sign of an intruder.

Colby quickly made a beeline for the door, narrowly dodging around Klaus as she ran for the bathroom. The second her knees hit the tile floor, Colby threw up, emptying the contents of her stomach into the toilet, not even caring that she was getting it in her hair. Klaus watched from the doorway with a frown, not knowing what to do, and even feeling a little uncomfortable. After her stomach had settled a bit, Colby turned to Klaus, voice barely above a whisper.

"What's happening to me?"