Book Two: Aquiver (A. Saltzman)

Chapter Fifty-Six

Diana sits with her back against the wall, as far as she can physically get from Klaus as he rummages in Alaric's wardrobe. She doesn't want to be anywhere near him. He's wearing her fiance, he tricked her into sleeping with him, he tied her up and left her here. And if it wasn't for Katherine, Diana wouldn't even get to go to the bathroom. That's a weird situation in itself, having to rely on the person that started all of this. But it's all Diana has right now. Katherine is the only ally she has.

"Oh! Who is this guy, Safari Sam?" Klaus asks and pulls out two shirts from the wardrobe, he turns to Diana and holds them up to himself. "Okay, bad, or badder?" She just glares at him. He purses his lips at her and steps towards her.

"The dark colors suit you better." She rushes out and curls away from him.

"Oh, thank you, honey." He purrs and smirks. "Okay, pop quiz." Klaus turns to the living room where Katherine is tied to a chair. "The dagger and white ash are in the Salvatores' possession, correct?"

"The dagger was used to kill Elijah. You'll find him in the basement of the Salvatore house." Katherine answers.

"Okay, that dagger needs to stay exactly where it is. The last thing I need to do is resurrect Elijah. Oh, that guy is a buzzkill. What else?"

"That's it." Katherine answers, he gets closer to her and touches her face. She seems afraid.

"Oh, so jumpy."

"Please, just...kill me. I've told you everything that I know." Klaus puts his hands on the armrests on Katherine's chair and looks her in the face.

"You see, I believe that you believe that, but what would you not know? What could they be keeping from you? Hmm? Anything? Tell me." She looks at him and he compels her.

"They were trying to see if Bonnie could find a way to kill an Original without a dagger."

"Bonnie the best friend? I thought you said she didn't have her powers anymore."

"She doesn't or didn't. I don't know. You kidnapped me, remember? I'm kinda out of the loop."

"Well, we'll have to get to the bottom of that."

"Please, just kill me, Klaus, and be done with it."

"And show you kindness? I've searched for you for over 500 years. Your death is going to last at least half that long." Klaus takes a single-blade pocketknife from his pocket, opens it, and holds it before Katherine. "I want you to take this knife...And stab yourself." She takes the knife and stabs her thigh. "Now take it out." She takes it out. Her wound heals. "Now while I'm gone, I want you to do that over and over and over again and if you get bored, switch legs."

"Where are you going?"

"I'm gonna go lay eyes on my precious doppelgänger." Klaus kisses her on the forehead. "Oh, don't look so glum, Katerina. The fun is just beginning. Again." He leaves the apartment. Katherine stabs herself again as Diana reaches the boundary on the bedroom, Katherine looks at her, they share a look as Katherine stabs herself again.

"Try again," Katherine tells her, Diana places her hand on the frame around the entryway to the bedroom and closes her eyes. The room shakes a little but nothing happens. Diana lets out a small sob as she leans against the wall.

"I can't do it...I'm so tired" Diana complains.

"Suck it up, princess, you're our best shot at getting out of here" Katherine scolds her. "When this is over, do you really think he's going to let you go?" Katherine asks her. "He will kill you, and them" Katherine nods to Diana's now...viable pregnancy bump. "Now dig deep, okay? You can do this...just need to find a gap to broadcast, right?" Diana nods. "Tiny one will do...crack the wall"

"We've been doing this for more than two weeks, and I can't do it, between this stupid damn cuff and the spells and charms and shit..." She slides down the wall and rests her head back.

"Then try harder" Katherine snaps. "You're supposed to be this powerful demigoddess and now you're just whining like a little bitch" Diana shoots her a glare. Above her, the wall cracks slightly. Katherine's eyes flicker up. "Well. Insulting you works best. Good to know"

.............

At the Mystic Falls High School. everyone sits down in their seats before class starts. Elena takes the poster for the 60s decade dance out of her bag and shows it to Stefan with a smile. He shakes his head in disapproval. Then, she shows it to Bonnie. She nods her head. Elena looks back at Stefan. Alaric/Klaus arrives.

"Hello, class. What are we learning today?" Klaus asks them all. 

"With the decade dance tonight, we've been covering the sixties all week." Dana answers.

"Right. The sixties." Klaus sees Elena. He looks at her for a while and turns to the board. "The, uh, ahem..." He writes on the board. "The sixties. I wish there was something good I could say about the sixties, but...Actually, they kind of sucked. Except for the Beatles, of course. They made it bearable. Uh, what else was there? The Cuban missile thing, the...we walked on the moon. There was Watergate."

"Watergate was the seventies, Ric. I-I mean, Mr. Saltzman." Elena corrects him.

"Right. It all kind of mushes together up here, the sixties, seventies. Thank you, Elena." He turns back to the board. Elena reaches up and touches her head.

"Ow," She whispers. Stefan looks at her.

"What is it?"

"My head" Elena complains, Klaus glances to her out the corner of his eyes.

"What's wrong?" Stefan asks Elena.

"It's like....like when Diana reaches out...but I can't hear anything....she's not saying anything...I can just feel her" She lowers her hand when the pain stops. "I'm really worried" Elena admits. "I haven't seen her in over two weeks, and Ric says she's been resting, but since when does she ignore my texts?" Stefan takes her hand and kisses the back of it.

"She's pregnant, Elena, with twins...she probably really is just exhausted all the time...." Elena sighs a little and nods.

"I miss her," Elena tells him, he squeezes her hand. 

"I know" he gives her a sad smile. 

...............

Diana looks up from the bed when Klaus returns, his eyes shifting between her and Katherine. He walks into the bedroom and Diana scrambles from the bed and away from him. Klaus glances at the chains attaching Diana to the bed and then around the room. Something is wrong. Something let her reach out to Elena.

"Did anything interesting happen today?" Klaus asks, Diana swallows a little and shakes her head. "No?" he asks her, she shakes her head again. Klaus sighs and holds out a knife, Diana glances to it and then back at him. "I happen to think you are lying to me, Diana" She shakes her head. "And I know I can't compel you" He offers. "But there are other ways of making you tell me the truth" Diana attempts to hide her fear, but she is terrified of him and it's all made worse because he currently looks like the man she loves.

............

Katherine closes her eyes when she hears Diana scream.