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November 5
I don't know Rebekah well enough to know if she was joking. It's entirely possible that she's just having me on and making me think there is more there when there's nothing, but…
She knows her brothers. She's had a thousand years, minus however long Klaus kept her in a box, to learn the nuances of their personalities.
I don't know what to think anymore.
If they do both like me then I've made a real mess of things, and I'm right back where I didn't want to be: between brothers.
There's always been this thing with Elijah, something unspoken between us. I know everyone thought I was crazy for trusting him and insane for forgiving him, but I did. I understood his reasoning. He betrayed me for family. I would have done the same thing, and I'd like to think he'd forgive me too. He forgave me for daggering him.
It's all about family for him; family is the one thing he values most.
And Kol… Kol can be incredibly inappropriate at times, but he's also funny and kind; though he tries to hide it behind a layer of sarcasm. There's something dark in him, something angry and bitter. The rumors and legends paint him as a monster, a psychopath but there's something good there too.
There's genuine excitement there in his eyes. He wants it, I can see it. He appeared in my room just to listen to their hearts beating.
I think there is a part of him that doesn't want to find the spell. There's a part of him that doesn't want to know; that doesn't want to be crushed beyond measure by learning their not his kids but his brothers.
I want to know, but I also don't. I don't want to hurt them, and I feel like one of them is going to get hurt when the paternity is discovered.
I don't think that's what Rebekah meant by, don't hurt them, but I know one of them will be.
Elena closed her journal and tipped her head back against the window to watch the clouds gathering. She could sense a storm brewing in the distance. The niggling sensation that something wasn't quite right prickled at the base of her skull.
The feeling wriggled and niggled, it twisted and squirmed, until her entire body crawled with a nervous anticipation. The thought that someone was breathing down her neck brought a cold sweat to her brow.
Slowly she turned her cheek toward her left shoulder with her eyes all but closed. Through her thick lashes she peered at the window in time to see a dark blur racing towards her.
She dove from the window seat with a shriek. Kneeling the floor and clutching her stomach she stared in increasing horror.
"Elena!" Jeremy rushed into the bedroom. He fell to his knees in front of Elena and wrapped his arms around her trembling shoulders. "What is it? What happened?"
She lifted a shaking finger to the window.
Jeremy slowly turned. A line appeared between his brows. There was a small smear of blood on the glass and behind it at least two dozen birds. Each one was the size of a blackbird with shorter tails, sharp yellow beaks, and a purplish-green iridescence to their bodies.
The birds were perched on every branch of the tree and poised to stare into the bedroom. Jeremy was not a bird enthusiast, but he was certain that was not normal behaviour; the feeling increased when more and more of the tiny creatures came to land in the branches.
A knock on the Gilbert's front door startled the birds into sudden flight.
Elena couldn't understand the relief that sagged through her shoulders when they were gone, but she embraced the feeling.
"That was weird," he murmured. Turning back to Elena he offered a hand to her feet. "Are you okay?"
Elena swallowed and nodded quickly, a little too quickly. She crossed her arms over her chest and shifted from foot to foot in her cozy socks.
"They just startled me," she worried her bottom lip, "one flew into the window." She paled when she thought of the bird lying below her bedroom.
Jeremy saw the fear enter her dark eyes. He didn't understand the reaction but he had a good idea of how to make her feel a little safer.
"I'll get rid of it," he took her shoulder and spun her to the hall, "and you can get the door."
Elena smiled gratefully and went to the front door while Jeremy turned away. She heard him opening the cupboard under the sink as she twisted the doorknob. She tilted her head upon spotting the Original vampire on her doorstep.
"You're late," Rebekah looked over the large box in her arms.
"I'm pretty sure I've stopped for a while," Elena patted her abdomen.
"Not what I meant," Rebekah rolled her eyes. "You're late for the decade dance, and I put a lot of effort into transforming the school's gymnasium into a perfect recreation of a Chicago speakeasy."
"Isn't it supposed to be the 70's?" She frowned. "And the dance doesn't even start for another hour."
"You should be ready by now," Rebekah heaved an exasperated sigh and shook her head.
"The 20s were full of class and elegance," she pressed the box into Elena's hands, "and the 70s were full of bad hair, and terrible fabrics. I did my research, and there is no way I was getting in one of those ridiculous outfits."
"I figured you wouldn't have anything fitting for the decade, at least not something that came out of a second rate costume shop, so I brought you a little something," Rebekah stepped back from the door and smirked.
"You didn't have to do that," Elena tried to pass the box back only to be waved away.
"I know I didn't," she crossed her arms, "but I did some pretty rude things to you after the dagger, and they were only mildly called for, so I…" She pressed her lips together and sighed. "Just take the dress Elena."
Her dark eyes dropped to the box in her hands. She imagined after a thousand years the Originals wasn't used to apologizing; assuming she was anything like Klaus then she didn't apologize for anything.
Was this Rebekah's way of apologizing?
"Can I ask you a favour?" Elena met her blue eyes and bit her lip when Rebekah nodded. "Can you show me how to do that with my hair?" She pointed to the Original's blonde curls; the long locks had been manipulated into a short bob, and her bangs held a perfect wave.
Rebekah stepped up to the threshold and eyed Elena's glossy curls; in the week since she had last spoken to her Elena's hair had grown thicker. Rebekah tilted her head and hummed.
"I suppose your hair isn't completely hopeless."
Elena tempered her smirk and swallowed her smart remark. She was trying to cross a bridge and there was bound to be a little animosity along the way. Stepping back she took a deep breath and smiled.
Every journey had a first step. She had taken it when she apologized, and Rebekah had furthered their path.
"Would you like to come inside?"
Jeremy knelt on the cold grass and scrutinized the bird. It's wings were spread wide, it's beak broken and smeared with blood. Up close the bird was roughly the size of a robin.
He thought he might have seen birds like it around town, but for the life of him he couldn't remember the name.
Extracting his phone he snapped a quick picture and vowed to look it up later. He used the small garbage bag like a glove to pick up the bird and wrapped it tightly before slipping it into another bag and tying it off.
He placed it in the outside garbage and moved back towards the house in time to see Rebekah Mikaelson walking up the stairs.
November 28
She draped the dress bag over her arm and held in her sigh while plucking her high heels from the floor of the car. Aiding in the Miss Mystic Falls pageant was the last thing she wanted to do, but she hadn't been able to say no. As the previous year's runner up she had an obligation to fulfill.
She loathed the thought of donning the high heels though.
The dressing rooms were just as she remembered, but what surprised her was the occupant of one of them.
"Bekah?" Her brows rose slowly. "What are you doing here?"
"She's entering, darling," Kol rolled his eyes. "Although why she would want to enter such a silly show of pageantry is beyond my comprehension. They're full of stupid, selfish girls."
"Stupid, selfish girls?" Her shriek surprised even her; they were standard misconceptions held by almost everyone but even knowing that Elena felt sudden, and unbidden tears, well in her eyes.
"Well done, Kol," Rebekah scoffed.
"What?" He looked up from his phone in time to see the first tears fall. "What did I do?" He stood from his seat and moved towards the brunette.
Elena pushed his hand away and moved into the bathroom. Slamming the door, she slid down the wood and proceeded to sob.
Caroline paused in the hall and peered into the dressing room where Rebekah and Kol Mikaelson were calling through a door. Tilting her head she heard the unmistakable sound of a girl sobbing.
She stepped into the room and crossed her arms. It wasn't unusual to find one of the contestants crying. The girls tended to put a lot of stress on themselves before the gala; she would know better than most. She'd been one of the ones to succumb to her stress and sob. Nobody had been the wiser when she walked down the stairs though.
"Who's having a breakdown?" Caroline's eyes grew round when the siblings turned to face her. "Oh no… don't tell me one of you killed someone and traumatized one of the contestants."
"Do you really think so little of us?" Kol scoffed.
"I don't really know anything about you," Caroline huffed, "other than the fact that you're related to Klaus and likely slept with Elena."
"Likely?" Kol frowned.
"She never told me for sure, and I never asked," Caroline shrugged, "but you did leave the party with her, and she was out all night."
"And now she's crying on the other side of this door," Rebekah twisted the handle of the door. "Elena open up please."
Caroline pushed passed Kol and pressed her palms to the wood.
"Elena," she called softly, "what's wrong?"
The strangled assurances that she was perfectly fine did nothing to assuage the worries of the three vampires on the other side of the door, but they didn't get a chance to reply before a voice called the contestants to the stairs.
"You go," Kol waved them off, "I'll try and get her to open the door."
The blondes reluctantly left to take their places while Kol stepped in front of the door. He could hear the gala beginning and the telltale sound of three hearts beating on the opposite side of the smooth wood.
"I'm sorry for whatever I said, darling," he reached for the knob, "I can assure you I was only trying to get a rise out of Bex. It's incredibly amusing riling her up."
"You called me stupid and selfish," Elena propped her chin on her folded arms. Her watery eyes found the high window and stared at the branch of an oak tree. A small bird landed on the window sill.
"I did not call you stupid," Kol tried the handle, "or selfish. I called the contestants that."
"I was a contestant," her voice cracked on the last syllable. Outside the bird began to chirp as it was joined by more. Elena was suddenly reminded of the scene in her bedroom a few weeks before. A bead of sweat slid down her spine.
"And again, I did not mean it," Kol frowned. He could hear her heart accelerating and the smell of fear drifted under the door. "Elena," his voice took on a new sense of urgency.
Her eyes locked on the bird as her breath caught in her throat. A niggling sensation of dread started low in her abdomen. Through the door she could hear Kol's voice growing more and more frantic, and somewhere in the back of her mind she recognized the threat in his voice; he would rip the door from its hinges if she didn't open it by the time he counted to three, but she couldn't move her legs.
"One," he tightened his grip on the doorknob, "Two… I mean it Elena I'll…"
Kol trailed off and made a strangled sound in the back of his throat. Ice raced through his veins at lightning speeds and from the corner of his eye he saw his hand turn grey. In the span of a moment his skin lost the colour of health and his eyes slid shut; he didn't see the person who stepped over his body.
Elena got to her feet and swiped at her eyes. She had easily heard the thump of a heavy body hitting the floor. Crossing her fingers that Damon had shown up and provoked Kol with a look she reached for the doorknob.
Her eyes narrowed when she stepped out to find Kol unconscious and a middle aged woman standing in front of him. It became clear the woman was a witch when she waved her hand and sent Kol sliding across the floor below the window.
"So you're the latest doppelganger," she turned towards the bathroom. "If my sources are correct your name is Elena."
"Who are you?" Elena swallowed down her rising nausea and met the woman's gaze.
"I think you already know."
Elijah found Elena twenty minutes after the start of the pageant kneeling on the floor of a dressing room over his brother. Her mascara was smudged and her cheeks blotchy but the tears had long since stopped.
"What happened?" He knelt next to her and listened to his brother's heart. It was slow but steady. He turned his attention to Elena and placed a hand on her elbow. "Elena, what happened?"
Elena blinked slowly and tore her eyes from Kol's face as the colour began to return. Her arm warmed beneath his fingers.
"A witch…"
"Are you hurt?" Elijah took her shoulders and turned her to face him. One of his hands fell to her stomach. He wasn't too worried about his brother; Kol was an Original and there was only one thing in the world that could kill him. Kol would be fine, but Elena was shaking.
"No," she shook her head.
"But you've been crying."
"Hormones," Elena's breath caught in her throat when his hand cupped her cheek. She met his worried eyes when he swiped a single tear from her cheek.
"Rebekah mentioned Kol said something moronic," Elijah frowned. It was like Rebekah to stir up trouble at times, but he was giving his brother the benefit of the doubt; assuming he had been responsible for Elena's tears he would break his neck the moment he was healthy again.
"I blew it out of proportion," she brought her hand up slowly and curled her fingers around his wrist. "I'm okay…" she managed a small smile, "… every book I've read says it's normal to burst into hysterical tears for no reason."
Elijah searched her shifting eyes. Elena was not the deceitful type, and unlike Katerina, and even Tatia, she had never lied to him, but he spotted something she was trying to hide.
"The witch didn't hurt you?"
Elena jolted when Kol sat up with a groan. Instinctively her grip tightened around Elijah's wrist; when she caught Kol's pointed look she released his brother and sat back on her heels.
"Did you happen to see who it was?" Elijah's jaw ticked as he turned to Kol.
"No," Kol shuddered, "I was out before I knew what was going on. I don't know who it was, or what they wanted. I do want to know if you're alright," he took Elena's arm. "Did you see who it was?"
Elena's eyes darted between the brothers who were looking at her with concern; concern for her and the children that might or might not have been theirs. It was touching and sweet and it brought her heart into her throat as she nodded, but words failed her.
"Who was it, Elena?" Elijah's thumb pressed to the sensitive skin of her inner arm. He hadn't realized he was still holding her until she glanced down at the movement. "What did they want?"
"She…" her throat thickened with sobs. She didn't know how to tell them who the woman was; she wasn't even sure if she believed her. "She wanted my… my…" her voice rose to a pitch that only dogs and vampires could hear, "… my blood."
The response was immediate. Both brothers instantly began checking her over for potential injuries, and Elena burst into tears because here were two of the oldest vampires on the planet that could smell blood looking to find blood that only existed in her veins. Their concern was so great that they had forgotten their senses; the moment was so human and so incredibly sweet that she broke.
"Bloody hell," Kol swore, "you're crying again. Why are you crying now, darling? Did I say something stupid again?"
Elena squeezed her eyes shut and buried her face in her hands. Shaking her head she released a series of unintelligible squeaks and rocked forward. Because of their positions on the floor her head managed to land on both of their shoulders. The strong hands that slid over her back and into her hand only made her cry harder.
You're better than this, Elena. She mentally berated herself, never in her life had she been one prone to break down in tears. She had grieved for her lost loved ones, but tears had rarely been part of the equation. Her family was gone and she hadn't cried, but the thought of telling them who had actually attacked Kol and asked for her blood brought gut-wrenching sadness to her body.
It was a good ten minutes before she calmed down enough to tell them that 'no she did not take my blood' and 'yes, I'm okay and the babies are okay'.
But try as she might she couldn't form the words that they needed to hear. How did you tell someone their deceased mother had attacked them?
November 29
"I still think one of us should be there; at all times until that witch is caught."
"I'll be fine Elijah," Elena sighed into the phone. Her teeth sank into her bottom lip. "It's girl's night; I can't have an Original vampire crashing girl's night."
"Rebekah then."
She could hear the desperation in his voice, the pressing need to know that someone was there to keep her safe. If she were to be completely honest she wanted one of them there, but she needed to talk to her friends first.
"I'm telling Caroline tonight," she pulled a bottle of water from the fridge, "about the babies, and once Caroline knows it's a matter of time before everyone else finds out as well…"
"She can't keep your secrets?"
"It's not that," Elena sighed, "It's just that… she means well. She always means well, but sometimes, accidentally, she lets something slip. People are going to find out anyway when I start to show, and she will never forgive me if growing belly is the one to tell her I'm pregnant."
"Are you sure you can trust her, Elena? My family has amassed many enemies over the centuries."
"Caroline wouldn't say something that would put me in danger," Elena's eyes narrowed, "she might blab about me being pregnant, and rag on me for it, but she'll never endanger me, not even accidentally."
She set the bottle of water on the counter and reached into the freezer. Pulling out the tray of ice she dumped the cubes into her glass until they were at the rim and popped another one between her lips to chew on.
"Are you eating ice?"
"It's delicious," she mumbled. "Anyway, I'm telling Caroline tonight, and as much as I'm starting to like Rebekah, Caroline and Bonnie do not. I'd rather not start the evening with animosity."
"I don't like you being unprotected."
"I'll have Bonnie and Caroline," Elena protested.
"Miss Bennett may be from a powerful bloodline, but she is still new to the craft, and Miss Forbes is little more than an infant in vampire years."
"How about I make you a deal?"
"We're negotiating now?"
"When are we not?" Elena could hear the teasing tone in his voice and could practically see the smile lifting his lips. "I don't want one of you showing up in my bedroom again like you did last night."
"We were just keeping an eye on you…"
"I know," she cut off his protest, "but that's a way to start a fight tonight."
"What did you have in mind?"
"You and this applies to Kol as well, stay far away from my house tonight…"
"I don't like this plan."
"And you give me two hours," she carried on as if he hadn't interrupted, "the girls arrive at seven. Give me two hours to talk to Caroline and Bonnie, and then you can send Rebekah over."
"Elena…"
"If my slumber party is going to be crashed it's going to be by a girl, got it?"
She waited with baited breath for his answer. He and Kol both had invitations into her home so it wasn't like she could stop them, but she was hoping he would accept her terms. She needed a chance to talk to her friends, and she were being honest she wanted to talk to Rebekah as well. Maybe she'd be able to tell the blonde what had actually happened the previous day without bursting into tears. She had tried telling Kol and Elijah but every time they would look at her with so many emotions swimming in their eyes that she couldn't get the words out.
"Do we have a deal?" Her lips lifted in a smirk. For a brief moment she felt like none of it had happened, like she had never slept with Kol and set off the chain of events that led to her current situation, and that they were back in their old routine.
"You have a deal, Elena."
Seven o'clock, on the dot, her front door was opened by her two best friends. She flashed a small smile which fell the moment Caroline backed her into the living room and pushed her into a chair.
"Did she find you?"
Elena gripped the arms of the chair and tilted her head. A line appeared between her brows as her eyes clouded with confusion.
"The witch," Caroline clarified.
Elena's brows shot up suddenly as she allowed her eyes to dart from Caroline to Bonnie and back again. She straightened her spine as best she could and did her best not to break down in hysterics again.
"What witch?" She was already dreading the answer. "What have you done?"
"Esther," Caroline ignored Bonnie's harsh cry that she should stop. "She's the Originals mother."
Elena turned her attention to Bonnie who had crossed her arms. There was a stubborn set to her jaw that worried Elena.
"Their mother died a thousand years ago," her voice was a whisper. She hadn't wanted to believe the witch, but here were her friends asking after the event. Her friends, who were clearly a part of the encounter.
"Bonnie got the last coffin open…"
"Caroline," Bonnie snapped.
"What?" Caroline frowned. "Elena needs to know. The whole point of all of this is to take out Klaus." Caroline resisted the urge to shudder; a small part of her had always hated the plan.
"You're still on that?" Elena shivered. The thought of hurting anyone made her stomach clench.
"Of course we are," Bonnie scoffed. "He's a psychopath, Elena. Even his mother agrees."
"She wants to help kill him," Caroline murmured. "She said she would need the blood of a doppelganger and we told her where to find you."
"Why didn't you tell me about any of this?" Elena crossed her arms.
"That's a really good question," Caroline fell to sit on the sofa and mirrored Elena's stance. Her eyes swivelled around to Bonnie. "I wanted to tell you right away, even Stefan and Damon wanted to tell you, but Bonnie said we had to wait."
"Why?" Elena bit her bottom lip.
"Because your loyalties have changed," Bonnie's eyes narrowed, "your sympathies have shifted."
"Is this just because she slept with Kol?" Caroline tilted her head.
"And Elijah," Bonnie's heart skipped a beat, "and now she's carrying their unborn babies. I couldn't be sure she wouldn't tell them about their mother's intentions."
Caroline spun to the brunette in a blur of motion. Her voice rose to a shriek.
"You're pregnant!"
Before Elena could answer or even have a chance to feel betrayed by Bonnie's slip her attention was pulled to the door by twin expletives from Stefan and Damon who had somehow slipped into her house.
"You're pregnant?"
Elena swallowed and looked from one face to the next. She could tell at a glance that every vampire was listening to her beating heart and the hearts of her babies. Slowly she nodded and flattened her hand over her abdomen.
She was starting to regret requesting two hours.
She spoke in the clearest voice she could muster to explain her situation as best she could. She hadn't finished talking before Damon began yelling at her, Stefan began yelling at Damon for yelling at her, and Caroline was telling the both of them to shut up.
"How stupid can you be?" Damon gripped the back of the couch; she heard it fracture beneath his palm.
"Leave her alone Damon!"
"She slept with the enemy; two of them and now she's pregnant with kids that shouldn't exist. Little monsters are growing in her as we speak."
"Damon," Caroline glared at him, "leave her alone." She flashed in front of Elena when she saw the glint in the elder brother's eyes.
"I'm willing to bet she didn't even give the blood to Esther," he went on in a loud voice.
Damon flashed into the kitchen and returned with a knife.
Elena jumped to her feet. The light glinted off the cold steel and sent shivers down her spine.
"What are you doing with that?"
"Those kids can't exist," Damon pointed the tip of the blade at her abdomen. "You're obviously still early so we just stab you a few times so you miscarry and then heal you up."
Elena backed into the brick fireplace and snatched up the fire poker. She brandished the makeshift weapon in her hand and pointed it in Damon's direction.
"You're not hurting my babies."
"They've clearly compelled you," Damon sighed. "Are you sure their even theirs? It would be just like Klaus to make you think that to keep you from terminating the pregnancy on your own so he ensures you have kids and he gets another doppelganger."
"The babies aren't completely human Damon," Bonnie rolled her eyes.
"Then they've definitely gotta go," he advanced with the knife.
Caroline snatched the fire poker from Elena and threw all of her weight behind it. It was immensely satisfying pinning Damon to the living room wall and hearing his pained groan. She bent the iron at an angle to make it harder to remove and turned on Stefan.
He held his hands up and backed away a step.
"I'm not going to hurt her."
Bonnie raked her hands through her hair and turned to her shaking friend. She didn't want to hurt the brunette; Elena had been through enough the last few years, but she had to say it.
"I actually agree with Damon," her lips twisted in a sneer. They were words she never thought she would say. "About the babies. They're not natural Elena; they're like Klaus was: half and half. They shouldn't exist."
"Bonnie," Stefan shot her a look.
"What," Bonnie held up her hands, "you know I'm write. They shouldn't exist. The conception should have been impossible. I don't agree with Damon's method of abortion but he's right."
Bonnie's eyes darted to Elena. The spirits had told her the children would upset the balance of nature. She had feared what Esther would do, that she might turn around and side with her children for the sake of their children, so she hadn't told the Original witch about the babies.
"If this is how you feel," tears welled in Elena's eyes, "why didn't you say something sooner?"
"You've been surrounded by Originals at every turn," Bonnie sighed, "I couldn't exactly bring this up around them."
Elena swiped at her cheeks. She wasn't sad. She was angry, but apparently her emotions were being switched around by her hormones. She swiped again and stormed out of the room. Snatching the car keys from her entry way she walked out into the cold.
A slim hand on her elbow made her jump before she yanked her arm away, but the grip was too great to break.
"Give me the keys."
Elena blinked through a haze of tears.
"Give me the keys 'Lena," Caroline held out her hand, "you're in no condition to drive right now."
"I'm not going back in," her voice sounded strangled with unshed tears.
"I know," Caroline nodded, "I'm gonna drive you wherever you want to go."
He was halfway through the entry when a loud knock sounded on the front door. He approached with a furrowed brow while wondering if he had been expecting company.
"Elena," his brows shot up in surprise, "Caroline. I was under the impression you were having a girls night love."
"It took a nasty turn," Caroline managed a small smile.
"Such events usually do," Klaus smirked. "What are you doing here?"
"I didn't feel safe in my own home," Elena swallowed.
"You feel safe in mine?" Klaus tilted his head.
"I feel like Damon will hesitate before crossing this threshold," Elena's thumb rubbed her stomach. "I have to tell you something."
"Come on in," he took a step back to allow them entry.
Elena followed Klaus through the halls and into a study furnished in dark wood and supple leather. He crossed to a drinks cart and poured himself a glass and one for Caroline.
She could feel the energy swirling in the corner of the room; it was a familiar feeling of power that sent a thrill down her spine.
"Elena?"
"Elijah," she managed a small smile. She could feel the weight threatening to settle over her heart but she couldn't let it again; it was time to tell him and it came out in a rush. "ThewitchwhoattackedKolwasyourmother."
She heard glass shatter and turned to see the tumbler of amber liquid broken against the carpet. She soldiered on before either of them could interrupt to keep from losing her nerve; she needed to tell them and she could only hope they believed her.
"She wanted my blood to kill you all, and when I wouldn't give it she left. I didn't actually believe her until Bonnie admitted to opening the last coffin Stefan stole from Klaus."
Bonnie woke Esther a few hours before Kol showed up on her doorstep. She was going to tell Elena but then she found out about the babies and worries that the babies have altered her sympathies; she didn't want her friend warning the Originals that their mother was back and planning a way to kill them all.
Thank you all for your reviews so far. Each and every one has brought a huge smile to my face and given me ideas for the direction the story should take.
As always I look forward for any reviews you might leave me.
