CHAPTER FIFTEEN | THE LAST DAY

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IN THE TWO DAYS EDEN HAD BEEN TRAPPED IN ALARIC'S APARTMENT, EDEN HAD TRIED HER BEST TO COME TO TERMS WITH EVERYTHING. Her aunt was dead. Her twin sister was dead. She was dead— a vampire— but technically dead. Hell, as far as she knew, she still had a father but he was a complete and utter waste of oxygen. Surprisingly, she and Katherine had become somewhat closer, if that was even the right word to describe it. Given the pair were both confined together by Klaus' intent, they bonded over it. Eden thought it was out of character for the Pierce vampire, but she swore that Katherine felt a minuscule piece of empathy for her plight.

"Do you think he's dead?" Eden asked with an inquisitive tone as she hung upside down on the couch once dropping the blood bag from her lips. "Perhaps Bonnie actually succeeded."

"Do you seriously think I'd still be here if he were?" Katherine snarled back with an irritated tone of voice. "He compelled me to stay here. If he were dead, the compulsion would've broken and I'd be free. My guess is they failed."

Eden felt a wave of anger wash over her as she thought about the fact Klaus was still breathing air and her family wasn't. Everything they had sacrificed was for nothing if Klaus was still alive.

Suddenly, the door to the apartment was slowly pushed open as both doppelgängers turned their head in the direction of it. Eden was cautious, half expecting it to be Klaus, but instead it was Stefan. The Salvatore blinked in surprise as he came face to face with the Gilbert girl. "Eden, are you—" He trailed off, awkwardly. "We knew that Klaus had taken you. We tried—"

"—Clearly not hard enough." The girl bit back with a slight hint of attitude. "I get it. My sister dies, you wash your hands of me."

"What? No. You've got that wrong. Elena didn't—" Stefan's attempt at reasoning with Eden came to a sudden halt once his eyes met Katherine's. "Hello, Katherine."

"Two days I've been waiting. I'm suppose to be free of Klaus' compulsion right now, he's suppose to be dead!" The Petrova woman bit with almost as much attitude as Eden. 

Stefan shrugged. "We ran into complications. I just need to find him. Do either of you have any idea where he might be?"

Almost immediately, Katherine grabbed Stefan by the throat and pinned him against a nearby wall. Both Eden and the Salvatore were caught off-guard by her actions until the door swung open again. "Klaus. You're back." Katherine innocently spoke. "Look who decided to come for a visit."

"You just keep popping up, don't you?" A psychotic smile swept across the newly transitioned Hybrid's face as Elijah followed in after. "Eden, sweetheart, why is Mr. Salvatore here?"

Eden remained silent. Truth be told, she actually had no idea why Stefan needed to locate Klaus so desperately. Stefan stepped forward upon the silence. "I need your help. For my brother."

"Well, whatever it is, it's gonna have to wait a tick. You see, I have an obligation to my brother that requires my immediate attention." Klaus stepped past Stefan once more, sparing a small smile for Eden as he did so. 

"You understand how important family is or you wouldn't be here." Elijah told him, simply and bluntly. "My brother gave me his word that he would reunite me with my own."

"And so I shall." As the words left Klaus' lips, he appeared behind Elijah. Elijah turned around to face him, but as he did so, the Hybrid plunged a dagger right into his brother's chest. A roar of agony left Elijah's lips as his skin began to desiccate and he dropped to the ground. 

"Oh, my God." Eden softly whispered. She could not quite believe that Klaus had daggered his own sibling. 

Then, he rushed at Stefan once more. "Now, what am I gonna do with you?" Staking him in the chest, Klaus wanted nothing more than to inflict pain on Stefan. "Do you feel that? It's scraping against your heart. The slightest little movement and you're dead."

"Stop it." The Gilbert vampire finally voiced. She couldn't bare to listen to Stefan's agonising grunts any longer. "Just help him."

"The witches said you had a cure." Stefan lifted his head up and desperately gripped onto Klaus. "Make me a deal. Just give me the cure and I'll do whatever you want."

Klaus retracted the stake from Stefan's chest as the vampire dropped to the ground. Eden couldn't help it— she had fell down beside him and held onto him. "Trouble is, I don't know if you'd be any good to me the way you are now. You're just shy of useless." He bent down in front of Stefan and Eden. "Eden, I've got a story. You'll love this— I heard about this one vampire, crazy bloke. Always on and off the wagon for decades. When he was off, he was magnificent. 1917, he went into Monterey and wiped out an entire migrant village. A true ripper."

The Gilbert girl took a deep breath as she noticed the shameful look on Stefan's face. "You? He's talking about you?"

"I haven't been that way in a very long time." The Salvatore coldly admitted as Eden realised the extent of what was about to happen. Klaus didn't want to make a deal with Stefan. He wanted to make a deal with The Ripper.

"That is the kind of talent that I can use when I leave this town. Katerina, come here." Klaus motioned for Katherine to walk toward him, and she did. As requested, she placed her hand within his, without warning, he lifted it up to his mouth and bite her wrist.

"No! No, no. No, no, no." Katherine desperately rambled as Stefan and Eden then watched Klaus bite his own wrist and force it up to Katherine's mouth. As she drank from his wrist, her werewolf bite soon healed. 

"You want your cure?" Klaus raised an eyebrow as he looked to Stefan. "There it is. Now, let's talk." He took a knife and slid it across his palm, collecting his blood in a vial. "You wanna save your brother? How about a decade-long bender? You know, I have big plans for you when we leave this town."

"I'm not like that anymore."

"Well, that's too bad. You would have made a hell of a wingman." Klaus turned toward the sink and slowly began to pour his blood down the drain.

"Wait!" Stefan called out again.

Klaus was almost amused at how quickly Stefan had caved in to temptation. "Now, that's more like it. I want you to join me for a drink." He slid a full blood bag across the table and in front of Stefan. Eden watched as Stefan picked up the bag, and her mouth began to salivate at the thought of the blood. "Finish it. All of it. You do everything I say, I save your brother. That's the deal." Once Stefan had finished the first bag, Klaus tossed him another. Then, he got off of his seat and wandered over to Eden. "Want some, sweetheart?"

"You can't do this to him." Eden whispered as her mouth began to salivate more. She wasn't even looking at Klaus, who stood opposite her, she was staring at the crimson liquid in the bag. "Please." She whimpered softly.

"I'm not doing anything. He's the one who wants to save his brother's life. Everything comes at a price, Eden. But, this?" He handed the blood bag gently to the doppelgänger before he brushed her brown hair behind her ear. "This is a gift, sweetheart."

Eden softly nibbled her lip as she unclasped the top of the blood bag. She lifted it up to her lips and tasted the familiar feeling that she so craved. It was euphoric and everything inside her wanted to drink every last drop and never drop, but she didn't want to be like Stefan. As she lowered the bag from her lips, she noticed he had drank at least ten bags in the time she had drank half of her one. 

Klaus marvelled at Eden's ability to control herself as he spun on his heels to look at Stefan. "You're very cooperative. It's almost as if you're enjoying it." He dropped another in front of the Salvatore. 

Stefan shook his head. "No more. Not until you give me the cure."

"Not until we make a deal. It's your choice, Stefan. You can either remain here, living your life in Mystic Falls or you can embrace what you truly are. Leave town with me and save your brother's life." Klaus picked up the bag that Stefan had shoved away and held it out again. With one final sigh, Stefan grabbed it and began to drink desperately. He then grabbed the vial of blood from the counter and moved over to Katherine to compel her. "Take this over to Damon and come right back."

Katherine took a breath. "You want me to leave?"

"No!"

"Yes." Klaus smirked. "And, if I were you—" Before he could even finish, Katherine had disappeared with the blood in her hand. "I'd hurry."

"She's not gonna give it to him!" Eden snapped in immediate distress. "Katherine's never gonna take the damn thing to him."

"I have a deal for you, too." Klaus sauntered over to Eden as he gently took her chin within his hand whilst his thumb grazed against her cheek. "You don't wanna be like him, do you?" Eden gulped, and shook her head. "If you come with us, I'll teach you everything you need to know."

"You sacrificed my sister. Why would you help me?" Eden was skeptical about the Hybrid's intentions. "The best thing for me would be to run a mile from you."

"Would it?" The Hybrid retorted with a knowing look. "You are already displaying an insatiable blood lust. I can help you control that thirst— that crave for blood and you can keep an eye on the love of your sister's life. Think of it as her last wish."

"You're sick." Eden scoffed. But, in the corner of her eye, she saw Stefan. He was past the point of no-return and desperately draining blood bag after blood bag with no sign of stopping any time soon. She knew that Elena would not want him enduring this alone and if there was a chance they Stefan could be pulled back, she'd want Eden to help him. "Fine. I'll come with you."

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They were ready to leave and somehow Eden was still anxious about her decision but there was nobody else left that could help her control herself— and she knew she needed that. If Eden wasn't careful, she could easily become a Ripper and she felt that inside her every time she drank. Klaus was her best option— her only real option. 

"You don't need to do this." Stefan spoke softly once he knew they were out of Klaus' earshot. The Hybrid had gone to retrieve some final things from the apartment which gave them time to speak.

"Who else is gonna keep you on the straight and narrow?" Eden shot him a small smile, despite how nervous she was. "Look, I hate that I was an afterthought since Elena, but—"

"Elena's alive, Eden. Your father gave his life for hers." Stefan blurted out immediate and the doppelgänger's mouth gaped open in amazement. "I'm sorry. I should've told you sooner, but I can't risk Klaus knowing. He needs to leave Mystic Falls and she needs to stay safe."

There was so much to process for Eden. "John's dead?" She asked quietly as Stefan nodded. "Well, at least he did one good deed, I suppose. Does she know I'm a—"

"—We all kinda guessed." Stefan hummed as he gripped the doppelgänger's hand. "Look, we'll get through this. I'll keep you safe."

"I think you'll find I'll be the one keeping you safe." The vampire whispered softly as her attention flickered to Klaus. He had appeared behind Stefan with a pointed look on his face. "We ready to go?"

"Not just yet. I have a gift for the two of you." He hummed softly as two women appeared out from behind one of the crates. "See, I wanna make sure you honour our deal that you'll be of use to me. A real ripper enjoys the hunt, so hunt!" 

The woman Klaus had intended Stefan to drink from had quickly sprinted desperately away, screaming as she went. Within a second, the veins underneath Stefan's eyes had appeared as sped after her which left Eden alone with Klaus.

"You have yet to drink from the vein, haven't you?" Klaus brushed the hair away from one of the women's neck. His fangs extended as he began to drink from her neck whilst Eden watched. She began to salivate as she watched how desperately and easily he drank. Everything inside of her wanted to throw him away and drink herself. "Join me for a drink, lovely. You know you want to." He whispered from the woman's neck.

The veins underneath Eden's eyes began to grow with every cautious step she took toward her victim. The blood was calling her, and she couldn't stop it. She licked her lips, smirking viciously before she sank her teeth into the neck of the woman Klaus had compelled her to drink from.

After a few moments, Klaus pulled away and watched as Eden drank hungrily. It consumed her every thought as sucked the woman dry. "Come on. That's quite enough." Klaus told Eden, however she ignored him. "Stop!" He yanked Eden away by her arm as she licked the blood from her lips. "You are going to be quite the handful, aren't you, love?"

"All the best people are."

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