I found myself with my back to a tree for the second time that night. Except instead of a helping hand, this one was wrapped around my throat, cutting off my air.

My feet dangled, and I fought against the grip, struggling uselessly. "Please." I gasped out.

"You thought you could escape me?"

His eyes were blue. Not the kind of blue that they sometimes looked in a certain light. No, it was a bone chilling shade. It wasn't him.

I tried not to think about how I wouldn't see my sweet little kids grow up. That they probably wouldn't remember me, and by the time they went to school, they'd call someone else mom.

At least Klaus would snap out of it when I was dead. He could take care of them.

Well. Maybe Hayley'd help.

My mind began getting hazy, my vision blurred.

Wait. Could our mark help?

In a last ditch effort, that might not even fucking work, I felt along his shoulder, looking for it.

His head tilted, and he slowly grasped my wrist, not quite pulling it away. I dug my nails into his mark and I knew I found it when his arm spasmed. I fell to the forest floor, coughing violently.

Klaus stumbled backward, pressing his hands into his eyes.

I got up on shaky legs, moving toward him. I hated doing this to him. But it needed to be done. "Klaus, can you hear me?" I rasped. "You're in the woods, you were cursed."

He froze.

"You have to come back to me, baby. Please."

I stepped into his space, gaining access to his mark again. That seemed to work before. Marks were meant to be shocks to the system. He and I had an access to one another that no one else did.

It could be used against someone - had been used against me.

Gods. Was I going to do it? I pulled his hands away, watching as his eyes flickered between the bright blue and the green I loved. "Let me help you."

He surged forward, slamming me into the ground. The breath raced out of my chest, and I grasped his forearm, desperately trying to breathe.

Fuck.

"Stop." He growled, forcefully pressing me into the dirt.

"No." I tried to go for the mark again, though this time, he pinned my hands, with his other one.

I fought against his grip.

Something barreled into Klaus' side, knocking him off me. I rolled onto my knees, coughing. Why was it that he was choosing asphyxiation to kill me? I'd come back. He'd have to rip out my heart or decapitate me.

Jackson landed on his feet, crouched and ready to fight, eyes glowing.

"What the fuck are you doing here?"

"Couldn't let you die alone."

"You're an idiot."

Klaus stood, brushing off his jacket. "Jackson. You've come to face your death alongside Maverick."

"We need to get me to his mark."

"Why?"

"It'll help snap him out of it."

"Perhaps announcing your plan isn't the wisest decision." Klaus rolled his shoulders. "Is he your saving grace? Maverick. I expected better of you."

Jackson and I nodded at each other.

I wasn't confident that we could do anything to him, it was a losing situation. I ran toward Klaus Mikaelson. The thousand year old hybrid that was trying to murder me.

Was I an idiot for trying to get him back? For not giving in?

Klaus predictably reacted. He thrust his hand into my chest, his fingers curled around my heart. I cried out, freezing in place and holding as still as I possibly could.

"There it is." He tutted. "All that fight gone the moment I hold your life in the palm of my hand."

"Kill me then." I dared.

Jackson was behind Klaus.

"I think there's a part of you that can't."

His blue eyes really were unsettling. His head whipped to the side, a horrid cracking sound echoed through the woods and Klaus fell to his knees and for just a second I thought he'd take my heart with him.

Jackson was holding back a grin. "Wöðen, I've always wanted to do that."

I rolled my eyes. "Just help me get him somewhere safe so we can figure out how to fix him."

"Fine."