In the dead of night, Elena's eyes fluttered open. She was curled up in bed, her diary to her side. Nothing unusual or out of place, but something had woken her up. Glancing at her clock she realized it was only an hour until she'd planned on waking up, anyways- she usually woke up around five am to be ready for a training session with Alaric at five thirty. She tried to go back to sleep, but after ten minutes of a gnawing sensation in her stomach telling her something wasn't right, she decided she should probably listen to her gut.
She made her way to what was now Alaric's bed room, and knocked lightly on the door. When this didn't produce a result, she grasped the door knob, intending to just go on in and wake him up, and then she heard a crash.
She instantly went into defense mode, pulling herself against the wall to seem scarce, and straining with her ears to hear anything else, to pin point what had caused the noise. As far as she could tell, glass had been broken in the living room, or possibly the kitchen.
Her breathing grew haggard as several seconds passed, and she decided she wasn't going to be a damsel in distress. Maybe she was incredibly stupid, or incredibly brave, or probably both, but she ran back into her bedroom, slipped on her converse, and grabbed the stake she'd started keeping underneath her mattress.
Making her way down the stairs, it became clear- someone had broken a window. Half walking and half crouching, in an effort to not be seen by whatever may be watching from outside, she approached the scene. On the floor, scattered among the glass shards, were coins. There was nothing special about them- quarters, pennies, dimes- but she knew Elijah's calling card. The Original was somewhere in her direct vicinity- but why break windows? Elijah already had an all-access pass to the Gilbert family home thanks to the late Aunt Jenna, so why would he toy with her? Elena gripped a coin in her hand, looking around warily. Tired of the waiting game, she spoke out.
"Who's there?" No answer. "I know you're here. Just show yourself."
There was a flash, and suddenly she was looking into her own face. No, not her own. Katherine's.
"Hello Elena," Katherine purred, side-stepping the girl's advance with the stake and leading her into the kitchen. "Oh, I wouldn't try to use that if I were you." Her heels clacked on the hard wood floors, and Elena grimaced as she watched Katherine trace a line with her finger on the exact spot she'd cut Uncle John's fingers off.
"What are you doing here? Do you know who broke the window?" Elena demanded, tucking the stake against her side as she crossed her arms.
"That was me. Sorry,I always had a flair for the dramatic. And the reason I'm here is so that I can deliver a message."
Elena stiffend, shifting her weight. "A message from whom?"
Katherine's eyes glittered, hate suddely filling them. "You skip your vervain dose one day, and there Klaus is," She spat, taking a step closer to Elena. "Making you his little messenger, courtesy of compulsion." Katherine tucked a piece of hair behind her ear, leaning against the kitchen island, looking more bored than compelled, but still clearly seething with contempt.
"Why would Klaus send you to give me a message? Why not just tell Stefan, or Damon?" Elena asked, not understanding.
"Because that wouldn't be as poetic. And also, problem with Damon. That's the message. Klaus has taken him hostage."
Elena gasped, almost loosing her grasp on the stake. "What? What do you mean, hostage?"
"Klaus wants his last coffin back, and Stefan doesn't wanna give it. And seeing as Stefan loves you whether he'll admit it or not, and you both love Damon, whether you'll admit it or not, he figured: threaten Damon, and one way or another, he'll get what he wants."
Katherine had delivered her speech in an amused monotone, surverying her manicure for any flaws, and something about how bored she looked was pissing Elena off. The human girl grabbed her doppelganger's arm, knocking her off her guard, and looked her square in the eye.
"Does this really mean nothing to you? That Damon's in danger? How can you be so flippant?" Elena demanded, shaking her head in disgust as Katherine ripped her arm free, retreating from the kitchen.
"Sorry if i seem a little self-centered lately, but after the message was delivered I'm not really supposed to stick around for chit chat. I have to go back to being tortured by Klaus." The female vampire's voice was dripping with sarcasm, and Elena almost felt sorry for her at the mention of her having been tortured. But Katherine had made her bed long before Elena had been brought into this. Whatever happened to her, she probably deserved it.
"So I'm supposed to, what? Go try to convince Stefan to give the coffin back? He'll never do it. He doesn't care about anything now other than destroying Klaus."
Katherine raised an eyebrow, her lips turning up into a grimace. "Well then I hope you have a plan B. Because Damon doesn't have a lot of time left. "
The bewilderment shone in Elena's eyes as the wheels in her head turned. "Time left until what? What did Klaus do?"
Katherine's voice got quiet for a moment, and for the first time that night, her tone displayed the appropriate severity for the circumstances.
"He bit him."
And then she was gone.