My head was a mess. As usual. I made a swift exit after the conversation I had with Stefan. I told myself it was because I needed to get away, to think. It was partly true but I knew that the main reason was to get out before Damon got home. After Stefan asking me to say I didn't have feelings for Damon and me not being able to answer, I couldn't imagine facing him or to be in the same room with both of them. Once I made it back to the house I walked into the kitchen and stood for a moment listening to the silence of the house. My stomach began to twist as I remembered the days when the house was filled with chaos, family...and love. I thought of Jeremy and it sent a sting of tears to my eyes. It seemed that one by one I was losing everyone I loved in some way or another. Now that Alaric was not even staying at the house I was completely alone. Somehow I saw this coming.
I jumped when a knock at the door disturbed the screaming silence. My phone began buzzing in my pocket and I saw that it was Stefan trying to call. I hit ignore and opened the door.
"What are you doing here?" I asked finding Katherine standing on my doorstep.
"I was in the neighborhood." She shrugged. I rolled my eyes waiting for her to get to the real explanation.
She sighed. "I heard through the grapevine that you guys found white oak. I was curious to see how that was working out." Katherine explained.
"That still doesn't explain why you're here. Why didn't you go see Stefan and Damon?" I asked.
"Not up for a girls night?" Katherine smiled.
I gave in and stepped back for her to come in the house. She stalked through the front door. The sound of her heels loud against the hard wood. As usual she was dressed to impress. A more sleek, stylish version of me. Her hair, tumbling curls over her shoulder. She stopped and turned to face me.
"All alone?" She asked.
I suddenly felt a little weak. What had she really come here for? Had she finally decided to do me in? I wondered why she stood in my place the night we tried to kill Klaus the first time if she was just going to kill me off anyway.
She smiled, noticing the tensed up look on my face.
"Relax, I just wanted to talk to you." She said.
"About?" I asked. I sat down on the staircase to show that I was relaxed and not at all wondering if I was about to be killed.
"Well first, have you guys taken care of the originals? Is Klaus dead?" Katherine asked.
"No. Once again we came very close but...they stopped us. Again." I explained.
Katherine's shoulders fell a little.
"Also we've run into a huge problem." I told her. "We did manage to kill one original. Finn. About an hour after his death Sage and a vampire she created both died. Right in front of us."
"No stake?" Katherine asked looking shocked.
"No stake." I confirmed.
She began to open her mouth in question..
"It's the bloodlines. When an original dies, so does the entire bloodline." I explained.
"Of course." Katherine said. Her expression half fear and and half anger.
"Now Klaus and Rebecca have all the stakes me made from the white oak except for two that Damon is getting from Alaric. So, soon they will have all the remaining weapons that can kill them." I said.
Katherine sighed and crossed over the open hallway and took a seat a couple of steps below me. It felt strange being alone with Katherine. Talking to each other like old friends. As if she had never tormented me and everyone I love. I tried to muster up the anger I should have, to tell her to leave. Instead I watched as she settled in on the step and leaned her head back on the railing.
"So how is Stefan and Damon?" Katherine asked. The corners of her mouth twitched slightly showing a small bit of amusement in her question.
"Well Stefan is still hell bent on destroying Klaus and struggling with his blood problem. Damon is..." I was at a loss of words.
"Ah, Damon." She said, grinning up at me.
"What does that mean?" I asked, feeling my cheeks tingle with heat.
"Oh come on Elena. I know when Stefan was away with Klaus you became very close with Damon. It's very easy to see." She said, her voice purring with satisfaction.
"Of course we got close, it was just the two of us...that doesn't mean anything though." I said in defense.
"Really? I'm sorry. I must be mistaken. Maybe I thought you would eventually understand how I felt. They really are both so wonderful aren't they? You're right though. Just because you got close doesn't mean there's feelings." She said her eyes flashing in suspicion.
I opened my mouth to say something but no words would come out. The only thing I could see was the night Damon and I kissed. Just a few feet outside of where we were sitting.
"We kissed." I said, almost against my will. It just came out. I wasn't sure why I said it, gave her the satisfaction.
She looked up at me, but not in the way I imagined she would. I imagined a face full of triumph, or amusement. Instead her face fell serious.
"The only reason you can't admit that you love Damon is because you're afraid of change. You loved Stefan, and you were always angry at Damon for one reason or another. Something changed though, didn't it? You finally saw a glimpse of the truest form of Damon. The Damon that used to be. Before I met him. Before I ruined him." She said looking down, pretending to study the tips of her boots.
"What was he like? When you first met him?" I asked. It was something I always wanted to ask her. Something I always envied about her. She knew them both when they had hearts that were still beating. Before the weight of the world and time had warped them both into altered versions of themselves.
"Hardly at all what you would think. Aside from Stefan's ripper phase and his recent behavior Stefan has always been seen as the even tempered do gooder. Damon has always been viewed as cold, sarcastic and impulse driven. Which is true. When I met them, so long ago...they were both kind hearted, gentle. Innocent. I guess you could see that in Stefan more easily. Damon on the other hand. The boy he was then is buried so deep you're a lucky girl if you see anything close to it. Damon had a good heart. He loved his brother and his family. He wanted to do good for other people and when he loved, he loved deeply. His innocence ran deeper than even Stefan. That was one thing that set them apart. Stefan is good at seeing things for what they are. He keeps his head above the water and maintains this balance that's comforting. Damon, believe it or not is the romantic. He loves deeply, and sees things in such a beautiful way. A poetic way in which only a few us are lucky to see too. I think Stefan is more along the lines of compassion. Damon...is passionate. He's more tender, more breakable then Stefan. I ruined him." She said quietly.
"You feel guilty." I said before I even thought about it. I was shocked to see it so clearly.
She shrugged. "Maybe I'm getting soft in my "old" age." She smiled weakly.
Suddenly there was a bang on the front door.
"Elena, open up!" I heard Stefan.
"Come in!" I said, Katherine and I both standing.
He opened the door and came in followed by Damon. I felt my heart stutter. I wasn't ready for this. Both of them zeroed in on Katherine.
"What are you doing here?" Damon frowned. He looked up at me. "Are you okay?"
"I'm fine." I assured him.
"Just came by to have a friendly chat. Twin power and all that." She grinned.
"This is probably the worst time for you to be in town Katherine. Your game is stay away from danger and you just walked right into it." Stefan told her.
"What's going on?" I asked noticing the urgency in both Damon and Stefan.
"It's Alaric. He hid the last two stakes that we need to return back to Klaus. As luck would have it Judgy the witch failed on her brew. Apparently Alaric went Jekyll on us while we were out." Damon said.
"You look a little pale." Katherine said to Damon. I had noticed it too.
"I had a rough night." He said sharply. I could tell he didn't like Katherine here.
"So what are we going to do?" I asked.
Stefan crossed his arms over his chest, the way he always does when he's thinking his way out of a problem. "We need to see if Bonnie can figure out an alternate plan as far as a Alaric is concerned. Before that, we need to wait for his other side to come out and see if we can't get him to help us locate the other stakes. Unfortunately that means we are going to have to strap him down or cage him so that we can interrogate when he's changed. I've already discussed it with him and he's agreed."
I shook my head. I couldn't stand the thought of Alaric going through all of this, He didn't deserve it.
"I think we should use this mishap to our advantage." Damon said.
"Meaning?" Stefan asked.
"Meaning, we tell Klaus exactly what's going on so he can see that we aren't posing the danger to them anymore. We are all in danger. Hopefully we will gain some time from that and he won't start attacking us or Elena. If we have the extra time we need to get to the bottom of this bloodline thing." Damon said.
"Katherine, do you know who turned Rose?" I asked.
"I honestly have no idea." She answered.
"I know someone who might." Damon said. We all looked at him. "Jeremy, the boy who sees ghost." Damon said smiling.
"I'll go. I'll go see him. I remember Bonnie saying Klaus threatened Jeremy. I need to go make sure he's okay, anyway." I said.
"You're not going alone." Stefan said.
"You guys need to stay here and take care of everything else." I said.
"I can stay here. I can take care of it. Damon's been bled dry of vervain. He's too vulnerable right now. Plus, this is between me and Klaus anyway." Stefan looked at me. There was an expression on his face that I couldn't read.
"So, Denver it is. Thank god I need a vacation." Damon said.
Katherine turned and smiled at me. "Have a good trip."
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