A/N: Ok, new story. Sequel to A Rose Between Two Thorns. I will be changing the names of the Originals to the ones in the show, but I'll do a key to stop any confusion. Because we only know two other of the Originals names right now:

Leda - Esther (the Original mother)

Aurelia - Rebekah

Ava's POV:

I gasped for breath, my hands going straight to my chest. It felt a little like emerging from under water. There was no pain and my heart seemed to be intact. A wave of relief washed through me, Klaus had spared me. He hadn't ripped my heart from my chest. Perhaps he'd compelled me to believe that was what had happened, perhaps the whole thing had happened inside my head.

But then…why were they fighting?

"She trusted you!" growled Elijah, forcing Klaus against a tree.

Klaus laughed. "Her mistake." he released himself from Elijah's grip easily, but took a branch from the ground and forced it through Elijah's stomach for his trouble.

I cleared my throat, announcing my presence. Neither of them of them even looked my way.

"Hello?" I said, raising my voice a little. They didn't seem to hear me. I stood up, thinking that this would draw their attention away from trying to pull each other limb from limb.

"Oh no," I heard a quiet voice say from behind me. I turned to find Rebekah gazing down at something on the ground. My gaze followed hers an-

Oh.

It was me.

My eyes were open and unseeing. Dead. What I presumed to be my heart was lay a few feet away. So it hadn't been happening inside my head.

I knelt down beside my body in fascinated horror. My hair was splayed out behind me, still sopping wet from the rain that must have stopped somewhere between the time I died and woke up as a ghost. My expression was relaxed, funnily enough. I didn't remember being so relaxed during the moments leading up to my death.

I glanced over at Klaus. My blood was on his hands, literally and metaphorically. Bastard. He had Elijah pinned to the same tree that Elijah had forced him up against. He was forcing the branch deeper into his stomach. I winced. He was in pain - Elijah, I mean - and I didn't like it. I got up and attempted to snatch the branch from Klaus' grip but my hand went straight through it. Well, wasn't that just frustratingly inconvenient?

Rebekah forced herself between them and pulled the branch from Elijah's stomach.

"What is wrong with you?" she exclaimed, glaring at Klaus as she threw the branch to the ground. "Get out of here."

Klaus didn't need telling twice. Without so much as a glance in my direction - or, the direction of my body - he left. Charming.

Elijah, on the other hand, his wound healed, knelt down beside me. He brushed my hair from my face and closed my eyes. I could have been sleeping. He placed one hand under my knees and the other under my neck and pulled me up with him as he stood up. His face was devoid of any emotion, but when he spoke his voice was full of every kind of pain imaginable. It almost tore my heart out all over again.

"That's the second time he's killed her."

"I'm sorry." Rebekah murmured.

"I'll return the favour, even if it's the last thing I do."

"Is she really worth it?"

Oh, wow, thanks for that. First I get my heart ripped out, now I'm worthless. Worst day ever.

I watched as they retreated back to the house, my body still cradled in Elijah's arms. I was numb. It didn't seem real. How could it be real? I was here and yet I was there…dead. It had to be a dream.

I know it's not a dream. The pain was too intense, too real for it to be a dream. After a few painfully long moments within which I did nothing but watch Elijah and Rebekah walk across the field, I started to run after them. If I was still here, perhaps there was some way I could make them hear me. Perhaps I could push myself over into their world.

"Elijah!" I shouted as soon as I caught up with them.

Nothing.

"Elijah!" I cried, louder this time. "I'm here! I'm still here!"

Again, nothing.

"Eli-Rebekah!" I yelled, changing track mid-sentence. "Rebekah!"

She didn't even flinch. I made to push her but my hands made contact with nothing but air.

I let out a long, drawn out scream, hoping to break some kind of sound barrier and push my way through into their world. I achieved nothing but a ringing in my ears.

Why? Why was I still here? Even hell would be preferable to being isolated and all alone in this world. Ever present but utterly non-existent at the same time.