Ava's POV:

"Ava?"
I turned away from the window I had been gazing out of to find one of our maids standing just inside my room. I felt a definite downward spiral of spirits. I had been hoping that mother would change her mind and let me and Louis eat dinner at a later time after her small dinner party with what she called a 'few close friends'. I knew mother too well, and a' few close friends' roughly translated into a 'few of your fathers friends with whom I hope to marry you off to'. I was tired of my mother trying to push me into getting married just because it was what was expected of me. I didn't want to end up with someone I didn't love, like she had.
With a sigh, I got up from the chair I had been occupying, smoothed down my dress and made to walk across the room.
"Yes, I'm ready." I replied, ushering the maid out of my room as I left and closed the door behind the two of us. From across the hallway came my brother, who was also expected to attend this dinner party so it wouldn't look like an obvious attempt at finding me a husband. He surveyed me for a moment before offering his arm to me, which I took.
"Mother's really taking this seriously, isn't she?" Louis murmured as we descended the stairs together. I took this to mean he had noticed exactly what I had. I made to reply when I heard a peal of high pitched laughter coming from downstairs. Evidently, mother had found something funny. I shot Louis a dark look.

As we reached the bottom of the stairs, I heard my father compliment someone called Elijah on his fine choice of wine. Pretentious on my fathers behalf, he didnt even like wine.
"Are you ready?" Louis whispered as we neared the door to the dining room.
"As I'll ever be." I whispered back.

"Ava! At last! I was beginning to think you'd got lost!" Came my mothers exclamation as Louis and I entered the room. She giggled at her own wit before hurrying forward and taking my hand. She lead me over to where my father was engaged in what looked like an in depth conversation with three men. My father, having heard my entrance, ended the conversation and turned to face me. The other men followed suit and my father set down his wine glass and gestured towards the first man.
"Elijah, may I introduce you to my daughter, Ava."
Elijah was tall with mid-length dark hair and dark eyes. A small smile graced his lips as he took my hand and kissed it. "A pleasure to meet you, Ava."
"The pleasure's mine." I replied, returning his smile before pulling my hand back and turning to the next man. I barely heard the introduction to the next two men. I was, and I hate to admit it, too preoccupied with thoughts of the first one, Elijah. Despite my mothers track record, she had made a good effort in finding someone I might actually like this time.

It wasnt long until we sat down to dinner, where my mother made sure to seat me in full view of every one of my potential husbands.
"So, Ava," Elijah began as we started out first course. "Your English is very good."
I smiled, the butterflies in my stomach were going, I had it bad. Before I could answer, my mother pitched in, leaning forwards so that Elijah couldn't help but direct his gaze at her.
"Yes, me and Danton taught them English from a young age, and we encourage them to speak it frequently to keep it fluent."
I shot my mother a look of annoyance. Did she want to marry this guy? She hadn't let me get a word in edgeways so far!

As the dinner progressed, mother got quieter, presenting me with the opportunity to speak for myself. This was the first dinner where I had contributed voluntarily to the conversation; usually I sat, not speaking unless I was spoken to. I could see my parents exchanging what they thought were subtle looks of glee. I suppose I was finally taking steps towards being the daughter my mother craved i.e. one that wanted to get married to a wealthy man and therefore bring both honour and money to the family name as well as a few grandchildren to carry the family legacy.

The dinner drew to an end far more quickly that I would have liked. All too soon I was bidding goodbye to Elijah and the other two men whose names I hadn't troubled myself to remember. We - my parents, Louis, Elijah, Gentleman 2 & 3 and I - proceeded into the hallway where Alexandre, the maid, was waiting with their coats.

Gentleman 2 & 3 left first. They kissed my hand and shook my fathers hand before departing. That wasnt the goodbye Id been looking forward to, though.
"Thank you for a lovely evening." said Elijah to my parents. He kissed my mothers hand and shook my fathers. He turned to me and Louis, who were stood a few feet behind. He shook Louis hand, also, before taking mine and bestowing upon it a kiss that filled my stomach once again with incessant butterflies. How did he do that? I struggled to hide my pleasure; I was more than willing to hide the fact that my parents had actually brought home someone who had taken my fancy.

Elijah's POV:

Hunting down Katerina was proving difficult. That girl knew how to hide, and Klaus was getting angrier with every passing day. He had come so close to breaking the curse that had plagued him since his werewolf side had been bound to become dormant by the witches, and Katerina, his only hope, had somehow managed to thwart him and for that she must pay the price.

It was pursuing Katerina that led me to France and into the friendship circle of Giselle and Danton La Torre. It was only too easy to slip into town with the pretence of being a young man, travelling the world. My sources told me that Katerina had been seen in this remote area of France, and I was going to stay, scour every inch of the place and interrogate the locals on her whereabouts. I had it all planned out. What I didnt expect was to have my attention diverted.

I was going to 'talk' to Danton and Giselle, and by 'talk' I mean compel them to tell me everything they knew. I knew that they had a young daughter, close to Katerinas age. If she was going to seek refuge in anyone, it would be someone she could identify with. Danton and Giselle invited me to their home for a dinner party, it was the perfect opportunity, and I took it without a second thought.

I went into their house with the intention of compelling and disposing of them without a second thought. Half an hour in, my intentions were abruptly altered.

It wasnt until Dantons daughter, Ava, and her brother - I forget his name - entered the dining room that my attention was focused on anything other than locating Katerina Petrova.

Ava was beautiful. There was no other word for it. Her skin was pale and flawless, it was almost glowing. Her dark hair contrasted perfectly with her pale skin. It cascaded down her back like a waterfall. And her eyes, so blue. Looking into them was like falling into a bottomless lake. I shook myself internally, I couldn't let myself feel like that again. I'd fallen into that trap with Katerina and the results had been nothing short of disastrous.

It was a bad idea, to put it lightly, for a vampire to fall for a human. So many complications.
I put on a pleasant demeanor, though inside I was fighting the urge to kill everyone in the room and take her far away. I'm not completely sure what I wanted to do with her. Kiss her, kill her, turn her? Since I was on the verge of loosing control right there and then, they all sort of blurred into one emotion. I reprimanded myself internally for failing to feed beforehand. I didn't think I'd need it, I hadn't exactly counted on meeting a girl like Ava, either. Not only was she beautiful, she was charming, open-minded, independent. I wanted her for myself. I knew how this would have been settled if my brother was around. Klaus would have snapped her neck the second he realised that her presence was going to affect my efficiency in the search for the Petrova girl.