Back In Town, Chapter 2: The Mystic Grill
"This place has changed quite a bit over the years," Elena Constantinova said, observing The Mystic Grill with keen eyes. "It's certainly different from 1897."
Rebekah Mikaelson smiled fondly. "Yes, it really has."
The pair walked into the establishment with a bounce in their step. As Elena made her way to the bar, Rebekah hurried quietly to catch up to her sire.
Matt Donavan walked up to them, his brows lifting comically on his forehead. "Elena. And Rebekah. I didn't know you guys were- friends, considering…"
Elena finished his sentence. "The fact that she's the main cause of my death? Or that I'm a vampire?" She slumped dramatically onto a bar stool. "Matty, it's all her fault. I can't believe my charge would try to kill me! I mean, Elena Gilbert's parents died on the same bridge, right?" Elena turned to Rebekah and faced her with a mocking glare. "Tsk, tsk, Bex."
By now Matt's brows were furrowed very deeply, forming a very unattractive unibrow. "What?"
Rebekah shook her head at the bartender. "Just get us some shots, would you? Vodka. Or tequila. Anything you've got. Just make it quick."
Matt refused to budge. "Elena, what the hell are you talking about?" Her stared intently into her eyes.
She moved to compel him. Elena didn't care much for vervain, and though it was harder to compel when someone had it accessible, she still had the ability to compel people. Vampires, even. After all, she was The First. Nothing could actually stop her. "Matty, get us some drinks. Now. And don't ask questions." Elena broke off her gaze, looking down and biting her lip. "Please, Matt. I think your life depends on it."
He was still looking at her, and his face softened in sympathy. "Right away, Elena. Don't worry about me. I'll be back with your drinks." He strode to the other end of the bar, gathering a tray of vodka and tequila shots for the two women.
Rebekah looked enviously after the human. "Your charm and your compulsion. What would we do without them?"
Elena looked to Rebekah. "Use your compulsion, and whatever charm is buried underneath that façade of yours." Her face lifted into a lopsided grin. Elena was just teasing.
Rebekah looked about to reply when Elena sat erect in her stool. She listened in on a conversation taking place outside of the Grill.
"Look, Stefan. I don't know how Elena feels about all of this doppelgänger stuff. Yeah, and the fact that Klaus decided to stay in our town instead of ruining New Orléans is bothering her..."
There was a pause in conversation, signaling that the Salvatore was using a cell phone. In this time, Elena beckoned for Rebekah to listen in on the discussion too.
"I don't know what to do about Silas. Vervain might work against him. I already took some earlier. Maybe Klaus'll do us all a favor and kill the bastard."
His voice was louder in Elena's ears. He was getting closer.
"I'm Elena's boyfriend. I'm going to be there for her. I don't think you should just pack your stuff and go. She needs a friend, and I need a brother."
The door to The Mystic Grill opened, and a leather clad, raven haired man strolled up to the opposite end of the bar.
"I gotta go, Stef. No, I'm not cutting you off. Fine. Yeah, whatever. See you at home."
Rebekah turned to Elena, who had a glint in her eye as she openly stared at the Salvatore. "I'm dating him? Not bad. Not bad at all…"
Rebekah was cut off from speaking once again as Matt made his way over to them with their tray of alcoholic shots. "Here you go, Elena. Rebekah." He nodded to the blonde. "Nice seeing you two again." Donavan went over to make Damon's usual drink of choice, bourbon.
Rebekah finally spoke. "I suppose you want to greet your boyfriend, now, right?" She frowned a little. They'd barely talked on the way to the Grill and now they wouldn't talk at all.
Elena grabbed a shot and downed it, ignoring Rebekah. Slamming it to the counter, she used her arm to divide the shots into four groups. "Tequila for you, tequila for me. Vodka for me, vodka for you." She paused. "Drink up."
Rebekah smiled. They would have some time yet. That is, unless the Salvatore made his way over here, seeing the way he was eyeing Elena and their shots.
Elena grinned good-naturedly. "Want to know what he's thinking?" She asked Rebekah, who pursed her lips in good humor.
"Sure. I wonder what Damon Salvatore is thinking. I did sleep with him once, you know." Rebekah was caught between sarcasm and genuine curiosity.
Elena held a small bit of jealousy in her eyes. "I slept with him too. At least, my doppelgängers did." She looked lustily at Damon. He turned to stare glumly into his drink. Elena shook her head to clear her thoughts. "Any who…."
Damon stared glumly into his bourbon. He had left the house to get away from his brother, who looked alarmingly like Silas. Who is, by the way, the very first vampire in existence! I've got to figure out how to kill him, and how to tell him apart from Stefan.
I don't believe for a second that Klaus is done with Elena, done with making Hybrids. Yeah, she's a vampire, but there must be ways to cure her. Besides The Cure, of course. Katherine took that. Wonder how she's holding up? Way to knock her down a few pegs.
Why isn't Elena coming over here? I've got to man up. Just walk over there, and talk to the love of your life. And why is Elena with Rebekah? Didn't know they were having quality-bonding time. Still pissed at Rebekah. Killed Elena…Damn bitch. Going after Elena? Bad move. But she did help with that rock we needed for the cure.
Elena quietly mouthed the thoughts in Damon's head, smiling when he thought about her doppelgängers and scowling lightly when he mentioned Rebekah.
She decided to make the first move. Would he be able to tell apart her kisses from her doppelgänger's?
Elena hopped off from her bar stool and grabbed four shots in hand- two vodka and two tequila. Then she strode confidently to Damon's end of the bar. She garnered the attention of her boyfriend fairly quickly.
Rebekah looked on, tuning in to the couple's conversation. It wasn't like her to stand on the sidelines- or was it?
"Damon," Elena said, gentle reprove showing on her face. "Why didn't you come over to Rebekah and me? You know I would've shared some of my shots with you." She set the four shots in hand down on the counter, next to his half-empty tumbler of bourbon.
Damon got off of his bar stool, and went to lean his elbows on the raised edge of the bar counter. He faced Elena with a smirk on his face.
"Well, I like playing hard to get." Damon did that eye thing that had all the women fawning after him. Elena's heart fluttered for the smallest of an instant.
Elena Constantinova couldn't resist any longer. She had to know if Damon could tell who she was- or rather, wasn't- just from her kisses.
She first stepped closer to the Salvatore, so much that their bodies were brushing against each other. The breathing of the man with the ice blue eyes accelerated, and they began to melt.
"Elena…" Damon's eyes flickered to her lips, so ripe for the taking. Should he kiss her?
Elena leaned forward and to the left, rising on her tiptoes to breath in Damon's ear. "So do I." She quickly reached over him and grabbed two tequila shots. Elena couldn't just kiss the man so easily…She wanted it to be fun!
Constantinova rocked back on her heels, offering Damon one of her shots in a silent gesture.
He simply rolled his eyes and downed the tequila shot the woman had given him, slamming the empty glass onto the counter with a grunt. She did the same, setting the shot neatly onto the table.
"C'mon, Damon," Elena said with a grin. "I can't just give you what you want. Be a man and take it."
Damon gave a start. Tilting his head back to study her, he observed her with an odd gaze. A few moments later, he replied, "I will when it's right. And it is right- just not right now."
Damon leaned back slightly with an expectant look in his eye. Elena supposed he wanted her to remember those words. She delved into his mind for the answer to his unspoken question.
She found the answer soon enough. So he's said this to me before, Elena thought. Wonderful. Elena allowed her lips to curve into a small, knowing smile.
Constantinova met the elder Salvatore's open stare. "You can kiss me now, Damon. I love you, and I know you love me too. There's nothing in our way anymore."
Damon's look turned to absolute love and devotion. "I know, Elena." His eyes crinkled at the corners.
"Then why don't you-" The First was cut off as Damon Salvatore pulled her into his arms, and kissed her with a searing intensity that left her breathless. An electric current ran from the tips of her fingers to the ends of her toes, Elena was so shocked.
The couple would have kept kissing for the rest of the night, had not a certain blonde Original interrupted their session.
"E-len-a," Rebekah said in a sing-song voice, tapping her Sire insistently on the shoulder. "I know you hear me. Could you stop locking lips with the young Salvatore for just a moment?"
Elena pulled her head away from Damon's with a light grimace and a look of annoyance. The leather clad bad boy put up more of a resistance, holding Elena tighter and closer. Hearing a low growl from Damon, Elena rested her head on his chest to placate him for the moment.
"What do you want, Rebekah?" Elena said this in a frighteningly light voice.
Damon was louder. "I know you don't have friends, or anything, but don't go bugging on the one you have when she's busy. A little Friendship 101 for you." A hard scowl had settled on his face.
Rebekah felt the stirrings of anger. "I could snap you like a twig. I would, if it wasn't for my Sire having a little- entanglement- with you right now." Her emerald-green eyes burned with the intensity of her resentment.
Damon gave a start. "Sire? Barbie Klaus, what are you smoking?" He looked down at the head resting on his chest. "Elena isn't your Sire."
Rebekah began with a grin on her face. "Well, you do know that-" She cut off with a blank look when her mind was invaded by Elena Constantinova. Her maker's eyes flashed black while set to muting Rebekah Mikaelson. Rebekah felt scared for the first time in a long time.
Because no matter how friendly she was with Elena, how close, Elena would kill her without a second glance if she lost control.
She looked down to the floor, her terrified eyes accompanying her stiff composure.
"Rebekah? What's wrong?" Elena went on asking this with the innocent behavior of the young Gilbert girl.
Damon released Elena from his grip, and stepped over to the Original Vampire. "Barbie Klaus? Bex? What's going on?" The older Salvatore asked this with slight apprehension.
Answer the man's question! Now!
Constantinova's voice resounded loudly in the Mikaelson's mind. Rebekah winced visibly.
Elena stepped closer to Damon, putting a hand on his shoulder. "Be careful, Damon." The man looked over his shoulder at Elena, and nodded imperceptibly.
If you do not answer Damon's question right now, this day will be getting a whole lot worse than it already is. Go back to being the Mikaelson we all know and loathe, and just maybe this day will return to its usual normalcy.
Rebekah thought of a plan, just then. And surely Elena would understand, right?
What are you thinking of-?
The Original knew of only one person who'd give her the motive to act abnormally.
I'm warning you…
The doppelgänger.
"Young Gilbert," Rebekah began, an undercurrent of rage in her tone. "The plan was to get you drunk, and then bring you to Klaus. Seeing as how that idea has been obliterated, I suggest we leave before I tear off the delicious Salvatore's head. Now."
Damon's stance turned from tentative to belligerent in less than a second. "No chance in hell you're taking Elena. She's a vampire now; why would Klaus need her if her blood can't be used anymore?"
Rebekah huffed in impatience. "I'll answer that question with a simple answer: Niklaus. He's shady enough to keep his plans to himself, for once. And now- look at the time."
Elena 'Gilbert' took two small steps forward, standing slightly in front of her current Salvatore. She assumed this position for mere seconds; Damon grabbed her left arm and turned her to face him.
"What are you doing, Elena? You can't just go with her!" Damon furrowed his brows. He was tired of everyone trying to steal his love from him. Why couldn't everything be normal? Why couldn't Elena just stop being a martyr?
Well, his mind corrected him. Elena wouldn't be the Elena you love if she wasn't a martyr.
Rebekah was oblivious of Damon's inner monologue, and grasped Elena's other arm with a tight grip. She tugged harshly.
Elena Constantinova didn't know Rebekah had taken hold of her arm, as her attention was focused on the intensity of the blue-eyed gaze holding hers. His thumb absent mindedly drew circles on the flesh of her forearm.
So when Rebekah fiercely jerked her arm, it really hurt. Really, really hurt.
Elena yelled in anger and pain. Her arm had been dislocated out of its socket, and now lay crookedly against her chest.
Elena's eyes kept flashing between black and the usual chocolate-brown as her emotions ranged out of control. Her eyes darted back and forth across the room, confused and enraged. She had already turned towards Rebekah, and so the Original noticed her mistake.
Rebekah's face lost its pallor. She turned to the distraught Salvatore. He was trying to turn Elena towards him.
"I advise against that, Salvatore," She said quickly. Rebekah drew close to the Salvatore, and began to compel him. "You will let go of the girl, and leave this establishment. But before you leave, you will remember a fun bar night with Elena, whom you brought home when she had consumed too much alcohol for your liking."
Damon Salvatore dully repeated the blonde's words, nodding in understanding. He turned, and strode purposefully out of The Mystic Grill.
Rebekah refocused her attention on the unruly First. She felt a use of vampire speed.
Now Elena had a steel grip on Rebekah's arm.
Looking into her Sire's eyes, she saw a hint of the true Elena. With her, she saw regret. For only a second, Elena remained. Then, she and her warm brown eyes vanished. A centuries' old monster with black tar for eyes was in her place.
The monster- Rebekah couldn't call what she saw 'light'- began her torture by ripping her first arm out of its socket. Then, the thing switched arms and repeated the process.
Rebekah now held true fear, as she held both crooked arms against her body. The being just used her free arm to pop the damaged one back in place. Rebekah couldn't do the same, with two destroyed arms.
Rebekah knew of only one foolproof action that could tame the beast inside Elena: Sex. And, to be frank, Rebekah was straight. So was Elena.
She had to lure Elena back to her home so she could get one of her willing brothers to help control Elena's dark side.
The problem was- would Elena follow?
A/N: And there it is! I had no idea how this chapter was going to end. I still don't know if I like it or not. But it doesn't matter what I think. What do you think? Read and review, please!
I know that I still have to bring in a lot of the characters. But the one thing I do have is time, so….Yeah! I will probably bring in as many characters as a chapter worth 2,000 some words can fit.
IAN SOMERHALDER IS 35 TODAY! I EXTEND THE BIGGEST BIRTHDAY WISHES TO YOU, DAMON SALVATORE! HAPPY TVDCAST DAY! HOPING THAT THE IAN SOMERHALDER FOUNDATION PROSPERS AND THRIVES, JUST AS YOU HAVE, IAN! #IanSomerhalder35 #TVDCastBirthday #DamonSalvatore-35! #December8