The burdens of family

39

Damon called for a meeting at the Salvatore boarding house, to which Alexis and Xavier said they could not come. Alexis assured them she'd still be at the dance that night to help them if Klaus showed up. Arkyn was reluctant in letting her go, but she managed to convince him to let her go. He left to pick up Bonnie, while Xavier drove Alexis and Jeremy.

"So, you were right about Klaus being at school today." Bonnie said as they walked up to the school.
"You met him?" Arkyn asked.
"No, he compelled a student to say hi to Elena and tell her to save him a dance."
"Of course he did." Arkyn asked. "I don't think he was really there. Definitely not in his own body."
"Do I want to even know what that means?"
"I didn't actually see him. I just knew he was around."
"I didn't know vampires could do that."
"It's not really a vampire thing. I spent five centuries with him. I can tell when he's around. Don't worry about him. Let's enjoy our night a little?" He asked. She nodded, and he gave her a hug, kissing her cheek. He led her inside and they bumped into Elena and Stefan.
"Oh, hey, you two." Elena greeted. She looked at Bonnie. "You look nice!"
"Thanks." Bonnie smiled. A girl stood on a stage with a microphone.
"Thanks for being here, everybody. We have a special shout-out tonight." She said. "This is for Elena. From Klaus." Arkyn began to look around as soon as she uttered his name. There was no sign on him.
"That was a lame, cheap shot." Damon said.
"Klaus may be a miserable excuse for a person, but he's a genius when it comes to evil plans. No way this is anything more than a laugh for him." Arkyn said. He held his hand out for Bonnie and she accepted, walking to the dance floor. They started to dance, and he saw Alexis and Jeremy dancing too.
"So, do you think he's watching Elena or watching you?" Bonnie asked.
"Probably Elena but I wouldn't be surprised if he'd be keeping an eye on me too. Elena's his priority." Arkyn explained. He saw Jeremy leaving the dance floor and Alexis dancing with Damon instead. "What do you think's going on over there? Why does Jeremy look like a kicked puppy?"
"Don't eavesdrop." Bonnie warned. "Alexis will be pissed at you."
"It's my job to do things that piss her off." He said. "Literally."
"Not for tonight, okay? She and Jeremy look like they're in a little fight, and she'll need you later. Not now." Bonnie said.
"Fine." He said. He watched as Damon walked off. "I'm going to go talk to Alexis for a second. Give me five minutes?" He asked.
"Go." She laughed and walked off the dance floor to Elena. Damon and Stefan were talking too.
"So... everything okay between you and Jeremy?" He asked before she could walk off the dance floor.
"Yeah. Peachy."
"Liar." He said.
"Can we not?" She said. "Not now."
"Alright. You can talk to me about anything, Lex. Okay?" He said and she smiled. "Love you."
"Love you too." She smiled. "Now you go get some punch, and I'm going to go find your girlfriend." Arkyn looked up and saw she and Elena had disappeared. "They probably went to the bathroom."
"Okay," he nodded and they walked in opposite directions. Alexis quickly ran out of the hall to find the girls. She found them with Alaric.
"Elena! Bonnie!" She called.
"It's Jeremy." Elena said. "Klaus has him."
"What?" Alexis said. "Where?"
"Not really." Alaric admitted. "I just had to get away from that dance. The sixties, ugh. Not my decade. I mean, whose call was that, anyway? I much prefer the twenties. The style, the parties, the jazz."
"What wrong with the prof?" Alexis asked.
"Alaric. Are you on vervain?"
"Now why would you ask me that question, Elena?" Alaric replied.
"He's being compelled." The doppelgänger gasped.
"Nope, try again." He laughed. "Here's a hint-"
"It's not the Professor." Alexis interrupted.
"Klaus." Elena breathed.
"Surprise!" He spread his arms out.
"It's not possible." Elena denied.
"Just relax, Elena. I'm not here to hurt you. You're not on my hit list tonight." He looked at Bonnie. "But you are. Might take the other witch down too." Bonnie threw him against the wall. "Now, did I mention that I knew a witch? You're gonna have to hit me a lot harder than that." He taunted. She used her powers to knock him against the glass case. He just got up and laughed. "By all means. Fire away! If you kill this body I'll just jump into another. Maybe Jeremy. Maybe even my brother's. You seem intimately familiar with him."
"Jealous?" Alexis asked. AlariKlaus sneered.
"Go! Run!" Arkyn yelled, speeding into the room and shoving AlariKlaus against a wall, glancing at the girls. Bonnie and Alexis hesitated. "Go!" He yelled and they ran.
"I should've known you were behind this attempt."
"Please. If I wanted to kill you Niklaus, you'd be dead. But I'm not going to stand by and watch you kill the people I care about again."
"You can't do anything about it."
"I don't want to kill you. So leave us alone."
"Can't do that. I want the doppelgänger. Your girlfriend is looking out for the doppelgänger. Ergo, your girlfriend is my enemy. I kill my enemies." Arkyn scowled and sped away to find Bonnie and Alexis.
"How did you know we were.." Alexis started.
"I'm not an idiot, Alexis. I've known you your entire life. You think I can't tell what you're up to? I had a feeling so I followed you guys out here." He said. "Now get out of here. I'm going to distract him for the rest of the night."
"No. We can do this." Alexis said. Arkyn glared at her.
"Go get Elena and the Salvatore brothers and go home for tonight. He's angry right now. You don't have much of a chance when he's this angry." Arkyn said. "Anger fuels him, it feeds his strength."
"What about you?" Bonnie asked.
"He can't kill me, and I won't let him close enough to dagger me. Deal?" The girls hesitated. "I promise I'll be fine. I just need to know you two're okay."
"Fine." Alexis nodded. Bonnie didn't answer.
"Bonnie..." Arkyn started.
"Fine. But if he hurts you I'm going to hurt him." She glared.
"Thank you." He said and turned to head back to his brother. Elena pulled the girls back along with her.