Disclaimer: Only plot and original characters belong to me.
"So, this is the house, is it?" Klaus asked Elijah as his brother brought him into a rundown castle he'd just acquired. "I hope you didn't pay too much for it. It looks like it'll fall apart any minute."
"Well, it's not like I don't have the resources to fix that up," Elijah remarked. "I'll get it set to rights in no time. I've even been told that it's a historic landmark. And that it's haunted as well, but you know I don't take stock in such ridiculous stories. There are no such things as ghosts."
Klaus chuckled. "That's pretty closed-minded coming from a vampire," he said. "You better be careful. Some angry ghost could come and murder you in your sleep."
"It can try," Elijah remarked. "But soon enough, it will learn that any and all efforts toward that end are fruitless." They then encountered a young blonde girl with a load of laundry in her arms. She placed it on the floor to shake Elijah's hand and he saw that she was wearing a red sweater and blue jeans. "Hi," she told him and then turned to face his brother to shake his hand too before turning back to Elijah. "You're Mr. Mikaelson? I'm Caroline Peters. Welcome to your new house."
"Thank you, Caroline," Elijah told her. "I'm glad to be here. And very…honored that you allowed me to purchase your home. I know it's been in your family for a long time and it had to be painful to have to give it up like this."
Caroline shrugged. "I suppose it was, but I never really cared for it. It was my sister Katherine that loved the old place. But after she died in the car accident, I decided that since I didn't want it, there was no use keeping it in my possession."
"But you know that you're more than welcome to stay if you'd like," Elijah told her. "I'm sure there'll be enough room for all of us."
"I was going to suggest we do that," Caroline replied. "I was planning to stay anyway. My reasons are hard to explain and someone as sophisticated as you would probably think they were silly if I tried to explain them."
"Are you haunted by the ghost?" Klaus wanted to know. "Elijah doesn't believe there are any ghosts, but there have to be in a house like this. It's certainly old enough."
Suddenly, Caroline went stiff, muttered, "Oh, no, not again," and collapsed to the floor. As Elijah helped her up, Caroline's blue eyes suddenly snapped open and she slapped his hand away. "My god!" She cried. "What the hell is your problem? You take my house, and now you have the right to touch my sister too? Hands off!"
"What in the hell?" Elijah whispered.
"It's the ghost!" Klaus told him with a smirk. "Isn't it obvious?"
"Really, Niklaus, you are the most ridiculous man," Elijah huffed and squared his shoulders to face Caroline, who seemed to be ill or insane. "Caroline, are you all right?"
"I'm not Caroline," She replied. "I'm her sister. The one she cheated by selling our castle just one month after my death! And to a stuffy, boring person besides! That just makes it worse!"
"Well, I don't know why you feel the need to be so judgmental when you've hardly even gotten the chance to know me," Elijah told her, feeling affronted. "At least tell me your name so I know more about who is hurling so much vitriol at me."
"Oh, I'm sorry," Katherine sassed. "I'm dead! Do you want us to go out, get coffee and have a chat?"
"Don't be an idiot!" Elijah replied. "You know very well that we can't do that. You can talk to me here. And I would appreciate it very much if you just talked to me and didn't use your poor sister as a vessel."
"Who are you to call me an idiot, you idiot?" Katherine shot back.
"Your name?" Elijah prompted. "You haven't told me that yet."
"You know my name," Katherine pointed out. "Caroline told you when she was saying stuff about me."
"I know," Elijah replied. "But I'd like to hear it from you, if you don't mind."
"All right," she replied after a long silence. "Katherine. Katherine Peters. Or Katerina Petrova. I go by that too. They Anglicized the name from Petrova when the family came over from Europe. They were displaced after a war or something. And they built this place cause they couldn't give up the good life."
"Well, hello, Miss Peters," Elijah replied, giving a slight bow. "My name is Elijah Mikaelson. May I call you Katherine?"
"No, you may not," Katherine snapped. "Not yet, anyway. I don't know how I feel about you. Just know that I'll be watching."
"If you want to visit with me, you'll do it in your own form, as I said," Elijah told her. "Not possessing your poor sister. Can you do that?"
"Of course," Katherine replied. "The question is not 'Can I do that?", it's 'Do I want to do that?'"
"Well, do you?" Elijah pressed. "I would be very pleased if you did."
"All right," Katherine sighed. "But just know that I'm only doing it because I have a feeling you'll nag me relentlessly if I don't."
"I'm glad we seem to understand one another," Elijah replied. "Thank you."
Katherine then left her sister very suddenly, and when Caroline had come back to consciousness, she found herself resting in Klaus' arms.
"What just happened?" She asked him. "Did my sister pay a visit? Who are you?"
"I'm sorry, Miss Peters," Elijah apologized as both he and Klaus helped her to her feet. "This is my brother, Niklaus. I brought him with me to show him the house. I hope you don't mind."
"No," Caroline shook her head, boldly looking Klaus over. "I don't mind at all. I hope my sister was nice to you. She wasn't too happy when I told her that I was selling the place."
"She made that very clear," Elijah nodded. "I made her promise not to possess you whenever she wants to speak with me. Is that a frequent occurrence?"
"Sadly, yes," Caroline nodded. "She prefers to talk through me instead of facing other people. Her funeral was a nightmare." She then looked at Klaus. "Will you be living here too? There's a nice room next to mine that you could have."
"No, I just came to look," Klaus smiled. "But if it's not too much trouble for you, I might come visit my brother from time to time." He kissed her hand and Caroline let out a goofy laugh. Then, as if she realized how ridiculous she looked, she straightened up and looked at Elijah. "Speaking of rooms, how about I show you yours? Or would you rather pick it out yourself?"
"Just show him where the biggest room is and that's the one he wants," Klaus said and slapped his brother on the back. "Isn't that right, Elijah?"
"That was my plan," Elijah nodded. "If it's no trouble." Then, he noticed Caroline's hesitant expression. "What is it?" He asked. "If you've already taken the master bedroom for yourself, that's all right. I don't want to displace you."
"No, that's not it," Caroline shook her head. "The master bedroom isn't mine. It's my sister's. Or it was hers before she…passed away. I mean, you can take it if you want. I'd be more than happy to show you the way. Just be prepared for more trouble when my sister finds you. Can you handle that?"
"Yes," Elijah assured her. "I most certainly can."
"All right," Caroline nodded. "Good luck!" She led him there and asked him if he needed help settling in.
"No, thank you," Elijah shook his head. "I can handle myself."
"I certainly hope you can," Caroline replied and left to escort Klaus out to his car. "I hope you come back," she said. "I really wouldn't mind seeing you again."
Klaus smiled. "I was thinking the exact same thing," he said, leaning against the door of his red Ferrari. "My brother and your sister will probably be so busy fighting that you'll need some company. You wanna go see a movie or something in a few days?"
"Of course," Caroline smiled. "I would love to."
"Wonderful," Klaus replied. "If you'll just give me your number, I'll call you."
"All right," Caroline nodded and wrote her number on the slip of paper, which Klaus had good reason to make note of, not just because it was her number, but it was Elijah's too.
"Good," Klaus smiled. "I'll see you in a few days. Make careful note about what goes on between our siblings so you can tell me detailed stories when we meet again."
"Oh, of course I will!" Caroline nodded and shut his car door. "I promise I won't forget a thing."
Elijah had kept Caroline's warning about Katherine not liking having him in her bed at the back of his mind, so that when he woke up suddenly and found her staring at him from a spot next to him on the bed, he was only mildly terrified out of his mind instead of scared to death.
"What in the world are you doing in my bed?" He cried, pulling the covers against his chest. "Do you do this often and intrude in other people's private spaces?"
"I could ask you the same question," Katherine replied dryly. "This is my bed. Did Caroline bring you here? She knows she's not supposed to do that. This is my house! We didn't even have the same father and it was mine who got it built!"
"Why shouldn't Caroline have showed me the room?" Elijah asked. "You're dead! You don't belong here!"
"Let's not split hairs," Katherine replied and crossed her arms. "I know you're a vampire. I saw you feeding. That technically makes you dead too…doesn't it? So if you're dead, you can't really use that as an excuse to throw me out of here, can you? I was here first, and using your logic, I deserve to stay here just as much as you do."
"Fine, you can stay!" Elijah agreed. "Just go away and let me sleep."
"Fine," Katherine huffed. "And by the way, did you notice I did what you asked and appeared in my regular form. I hope you're happy."
He studied her. Other than a vague glow around her body, she looked like a normal (and very pretty) woman with dark eyes, olive skin, and curly brown hair. She was very beautiful and not scary at all, like ghosts were supposed to be. "I like what I see," he got out.
"Of course you do," Katherine replied. "And I suppose you're not so bad yourself. I suppose you'd like to get some sleep now."
Elijah pulled the covers over himself again. "I'd appreciate that, yes."
"Fine," Katherine agreed. "But don't think you won't see me tomorrow."
"I know I will," Elijah replied. "And then I'll be ready for it. Goodnight, Katerina Petrova."
"Good night," Katherine replied, and disappeared before his eyes.