CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE

Not long after Nyx left the house with her friends, Jeremy found Elena unconscious on the floor in Ric's old bedroom. He called 9-1-1 and they rushed her to the hospital, which is where the three of the siblings are now.

"She's going to be fine." Meredith tells Nyx and Jeremy. "She got a little banged up today, hit her head. But it was just a slight concussion. Nothing to worry about."

"She collapsed, there was blood." He says, still concerned about their sister.

"Honestly, Jeremy, she's okay." The doc insists. "She's just... She's been through a lot. Is there anyone you want to call?"

"I'll get Caroline and Tyler down here, you call Stefan and Damon." Nyx tells her brother, and he sighs as he nods.

The Salvatore boys immediately decide that the hospital isn't the safest place for the girls to be, so Caroline and Tyler take them home. Nyx has a few choice words about being tired of not being allowed near her children, but for the most part, she leaves without protest.

"Couch." The blonde orders as they walk in the front door.

"I'm fine. I just— I want something to eat first." Elena tells her.

"We're on it." Tyler says. "As soon as we make sure no one's lurking in the closets​." He and Matt then make their way upstairs.

"Alright. Couch, now." Caroline repeats, and Nyx chuckles as her sister groans.

"I told you, I'm fine." Elena complains.

"Doctor says rest, you rest."

Nyx goes into the kitchen then and sits on the counter as she takes a drink out of the bottle that was left out from their mini party earlier. She's swinging her feet when Caroline walks over to her.

"How are you doing?" The blonde asks.

"Well, the originals want Elena dead — and probably me — because Evil-Alaric's life is connected to hers — and probably mine. I want to see my babies, but my bossy blonde friend pointed out that it's dangerous for me not to be in the house where vampires can't enter. And I really want to see Dean..." She looks at her. "But, honestly, I think I'm okay."

"Really?" She asks, and Nyx nods.

"I'm slightly buzzed, but otherwise, yeah." She says, and Caroline chuckles.

"Good." She smiles at her. "So, when do the boys get here?"

"I don't know exactly. A few hours, I think."

—

"Nycole!" Elena suddenly yells, and her sister gets up from her bed and runs downstairs. She sees Elijah standing in their house, just inside the door.

"Hello again." He looks between the twins, and Nyx walks over to her sister.

"What are you doing here?" Nycole questions as she looks at the original.

"I have a proposition for you."

They all go into the kitchen then to talk, and Nyx's sitting next to Elena​ at the dining table. Both girls are uneasy, but they don't see any other option here.

"All we need is to take that stake away from him." Elijah says. "Once he's been disarmed and the weapon's in my possession, my family will scatter to the ends of the Earth. And Alaric will follow us."

"And you'll just...run?" Stefan questions as he sits on the other side of Elena.

"We've done it before. Klaus and Rebekah spent the better part of a thousand years evading my father." He says. "What's another half century while Nycole and Elena are able to live out the rest of their natural lives?"

"We finally stopped him, Elijah. After everything​ that he's done to us, I can't just let you bring him back." Elena says.

"I give you my word, Elena. I will not revive Klaus within yours, nor even within your children's lifetimes." He looks between the two of them, his eyes settling on Nycole a little longer. "Perhaps it'll finally teach him some manners."

"Your word doesn't mean a God damned thing to me." Nyx says, and he looks back at her. "You gave us your word that you'd kill him after the sacrifice, but instead me and Jenna died for nothing. He killed me right after telling me that I was pregnant."

"And for that, I'm deeply ashamed. But know this, you both could have been dead the instant I walked through that door tonight." Elijah tells her. "So, I leave it to you two to make the decision whether to trust me or not."

"Not!" Damon yells at them through the phone. He's on speaker. "Hello! Did your injuries give you brain damage? His lunatic siblings will kill you both the first chance they get!"

"Rebekah and Kol will honor the terms if you return Klaus' body to us... Nycole and Elena will come to no harm." He tells them. "Do we have a deal?"

"No! No, no, no, no. Did I mention, no!"

Nyx leans forward and hits end call on the phone. Damon's driving her crazy.

"Elena, Nycole​, it's up to you." Stefan tells them, and the twins look at each other.

"Why do you want Klaus' body?" Elena asks Elijah as she looks back at him.

"He's my brother." The original says. "We remain together."

"Dean?" Nyx looks at her phone. He's been on speaker too, but he hasn't been saying anything.

"I don't trust him." He tells her.

"Neither do I, but what other choice do we have?" She asks.

"Do whatever you think is best."

"No, Dean... It's not just about me and Elena, it's about the twins too. I can't make a decision about our family like this on my own." She tells him.

"I trust your judgement." He says, and she sighs as she looks at Elena.

The younger of the twins is already looking at her sister, and Nycole sighs as she thinks for a second. She reluctantly nods, and Elena turns back to Elijah.

"We have a deal." She tells him.

"Call Damon back." Nycole says, and Stefan picks up his phone.

After getting that settled, Nyx goes upstairs for a while, and Elena walks into their room a little later. "Jeremy told Alaric that Damon's burying Klaus' body in the woods off of route twelve. He bought it." She tells her, and Nyx nods.

"I'm gonna take a quick shower." The older girl says. "I know we have more important things to do, but my head hurts and the vampires that have infiltrated my life are driving me crazy. I need to take a few minutes to be somewhere that they can't go." She says, and Elena nods, understanding.

She gets out of the shower later, and sees Matt and Elena talking in the girls' bedroom. "Sorry, I guess I'll be...downstairs." She tells them and then goes down to the kitchen.

—

Nyx's phone rings later on that night, and she pulls it out of her jeans pocket. "Hello?"

"Nycole." Damon's voice comes through the phone, and she can tell that something's off.

"Hey, is everything​ okay?"

"Klaus is dead." He tells her. "Alaric killed him."

"What? But that means​..." She trails off as her heart sinks.

"There's still a chance he could've been lying." He says. "But​ in case he wasn't, there's something I have to say to you."

"Okay. What is it?" She asks.

"Thank you for teaching me what it was like to fall in love with someone who cares about more than just themselves." He says. "You were the first woman that I loved after Katherine, and it taught me a lot about loving the right people."

"Since we're sharing our feelings..." She takes a deep breath. "Thank you for showing me that bad people are capable of being good if they choose to be. It's something I needed to learn."

"I'm glad our friendship did you some good." He smiles. "But there is one thing that I was always curious about."

"And what's that?"

"If you and I had met first, and I were the one to help you in all the right ways since we met... Would there ever have been the possibility...that you could love me like you love him?" He asks, and she looks down at the table in front of her.

"I don't know, Damon." She answers honestly. "But I do love you. You know that, don't you? It may not be the same as you love me, but it's still love. You fight endlessly, and you've made an honest effort to be better. I appreciate everything​ that you've done for us."

"I love you, Nycole." He says, and she smiles.

"I prayed." She tells him. "For the twins to get better. What you said gave me back a little bit of the hope that I'd lost a long time ago. And there are no words to describe what that means to me. It means more than an I love you."

He smiles, genuinely happy to hear what she just said. "I'm glad." He tells her. "Listen, I have to go. I'm sure I'll see you soon, after we find out for sure that Klaus was lying."

"I hope so, Damon." She says, then they hang up the phone. "Oh my God." She mumbles as realization dawns on her. "Tyler."

Whether or not Klaus was lying about Stefan and Damon, he's still Tyler's sire.

The doorbell rings then,​ and Nyx looks in that direction. "Dean." She quickly gets up and rushes for the front door, wanting so badly to be safely in his arms after everything that's happened since he and Sam left.

Nycole opens the door, but it's not Dean and Sam standing on her front porch. She sees a man that she doesn't recognize instead. Before she can ask him anything, she feels a sharp pain in her stomach, and she gasps.

"Rebekah says goodbye." The man says as he pulls a knife out of her stomach, and then turns​ around and walks away from the Gilbert house.

Nyx looks down as blood stains her shirt, and she places her hand over the wound as the red spot on her clothes gets larger. She takes a step back as she starts to feel herself becoming lightheaded. The world around her seems to slow as she backs up toward the stairs, and she grabs the banister as her body starts to collapse.

She's too in shock to even think to call for help. She just tries to prop herself up on the steps as her blood pools on the floor beside her. The more blood she loses, the harder it is for her to stay conscious. Her breathing becomes more and more shallow as she turns her head and looks out the still open door.

Then she sees lights outside.

"Nycole!" Sam's voice carries in from beyond the porch when he sees her through the doorway, and he starts up to the front steps.

"Sam... Sammy..." Her voice is barely audible, and then her eyes slip shut as she starts to lose consciousness.

Sam freezes in the doorway, unable to​ move any farther when he sees all of the blood, and Dean quickly shoves past his brother. He kneels down beside her, immediately pulling her body into his arms. He sees blood running down her chin, and all of the dark liquid that's soaked into her shirt.

"No." Dean mutters as he holds her. "Stay with me, baby, please. Please... Please, stay with me."

He places his hand over the wound, trying to stop the bleeding, but it's too late. She's already gone. Tears run down his face as he lifts her up, holding her against his chest. He moves her hair away from her face, not realizing that his hand is covered in her blood.

"I was almost here. Just sixty more seconds, that's all I needed... I was almost here." He chokes out through his tears. "I'm sorry, baby. I'm so sorry. Please, come back to me."

Sam walks over to them slowly and kneels down beside his brother. He rests his hand on Dean's shoulder as he fights back tears of his own, then his knees hit the floor; he's unable to keep himself upright.

"Nyx?" Jeremy stops just inside the door, freezing when he hears Dean's sobs and sees the men with his sister. Sam looks up at him, but Dean doesn't even notice his entrance.