A/N: I apologize for my absence. I've been very stressed out and I had a strong case of writer's block! Please enjoy the newest chapter. I tried to add more drama, for those who thought it was necessary. Please review! I love reading them, and they help me grow as a writer. Thank you.
-Rachel.
My friend from school, Caroline, called me around ten to tell me she wanted to meet up for coffee before our class. I met her at a coffee house nearby, and ordered a large mocha with chocolate chips and sprinkles. Caroline had a black dress on, and her smoky eye shadow brought out the grey-blue color in her eyes. She smiled at me when she saw me. "Hey, Elena, what are you up to these days?"
I take a big gulp of the sweet coffee, and began to tell her about Damon and our month we've had together so far. I quietly told her about how great the sex was, and how I'd never been happier. It was nice to share details with someone who wasn't my gay brother or a coworker. She told me she was happy for me, and that she wanted to meet him eventually. She went on to tell me about a British guy, Klaus, who she had been dating for a week or so. We talked about our dreamboat men as we finished up our coffees. Life was beginning to feel too good to be true. After we finished up our coffees we drove to our class. Class was pretty boring, and I found myself zoning out and thinking about Damon and what I wanted to do with him once he came over. I managed to get down the important notes even though I was preoccupied.
Later on in the afternoon, I showed up for my shift at Hooters. I felt more confident than I had in a while. Being ravaged by a man like Damon must do that to your self-confidence. I took a few orders for my afternoon shift. The two men at one of my tables ordered a huge order of chicken wings and a pitcher of Bud. I felt something pinch my behind, so I quickly turned around. I was half-expecting it to be Damon because of how often he appeared when I was working, but I was wrong. The source of the unwanted pinching came from a young blonde man in a suit. I gasped. "Keep your hands to yourself, mister!"
He smiled at me suggestively, "My mistake," he apologized in a thick British accent. The way his eyes scrutinized me gave me the creeps. I nodded, and walked away, looking back at him a few more times. Something about him was off, and I couldn't seem to place what it was. I decided to get back to work and not give it any thought. I didn't feel like ruining my good mood by being paranoid about my customers. I didn't need to worry about him just because he creeped me out, right? In my line of work, being creeped out by customers was probably normal. I walked past him with a tray of food and noticed his eyes on me again. Something about him was setting off my internal alarm. He was seriously making me uncomfortable.
"Elena," the British man called to me.
I opened my mouth to demand how he knew my name, but closed my mouth once I realized I was wearing a pretty visible nametag. "How can I help you?" I ask.
"Straight vodka on ice," he demands snappily.
I widen my eyes slightly at his rudeness. I may work in a restaurant, but that didn't mean I deserved to be treated like a dog. I walk away without saying anything. I walk over to Jenna, and give her the British man's order. "He ordered straight vodka on the rocks. If the ice happens to land on the floor, that's fine with me," I suggest in a mischievous tone of voice. I sure didn't like being treated like dirt. Jenna put the glass to her mouth and spits into it. I widen my eyes. She quickly stirs her spit in the drink with a mini straw and I let out a giggle. "Jenna!"
"Oops," Jenna says, winking at me.
I take the drink from her and walk it over to the British man's table. He doesn't thank me, he merely looks at me. "Anything else for you this evening, sir?" I ask, trying to sound polite when I was seething inside.
"Yes, lovely," he says. "You could start by not spitting in my drink." He grips my wrist in his tight grip and forcefully brings me closer to him. "My name is Klaus, I'd very much like you to give your boyfriend a message from me."
I remember that Klaus was the name of Caroline's new boyfriend. Certainly there weren't several Klaus' in one city. I try to recoil from grip on my wrist, but fail. In a panicked voice I say, "I don't know who you are, or what you want with my boyfriend, but you can tell him yourself! I am not a messenger." He narrows his eyes at me. "Now, for the last time, you get your hands off of me!" I retort in an angrier voice.
His tourniquet grip tightens even further. I feel like I'm seconds away from him breaking bones in my wrist. I open my mouth to scream, but he covers my mouth with his other arm. Before I can shout, he grabs me in a bear-like embrace. One of his arms is tightly placed over both of my arms, restraining me and any actions to free myself. Before anyone can see him doing this, he throws me over his back and he speedily brings me outside. He runs just as quickly as Damon. This is when I realize that he is a vampire, and may kill me. I can't call for help, and I can't escape him. I've never felt completely helpless before, and my fear of death begins to consume. If I could speak, I'd beg for my life. If I could move, I'd look for the first wooden object and I'd use it as a stake. I struggle against him, desperately trying to flee. Even though I knew I couldn't outrun him, nor could I fight him, I'd rather die fighting than being completely defenseless.
He moves me to the woods behind the restaurant and he throws me down to the ground. I land directly on my knees in a thud. Sharp pain suddenly hits me. I glance down at my legs and realize that there was blood trickling down from where I hit the ground. I have enough sense to know that vampires are attracted to blood. I get up quickly, and make my escape. I take off running, hoping that I can be free of this psychopath. I feel the blood drip down to my ankles. I let out a scream, but feel a cold hand cover my mouth once again. I bite down on his fingers, and he releases his hand abruptly. "What do you want from me?!" I shout at him, turning around to face him.
"Give your boyfriend a message from me," Klaus repeats, clearly irritated from my refusal, "or I will kill both of you." I nod. I understood that he was quite capable of killing me, and possibly getting to Damon. "Thank you, lovely, for not causing more ruckus. I hope you can forgive my actions, but I'm sure you understand it was necessary." He smiles lethally at me, and leans closer to me. "Now, for what I really want you for. I want you to tell Damon that he needs to procure Katherine Pierce for me. If he declines, I'll remove your heart, and his."
My eyes widen. I definitely wanted to keep my heart. "Why do you want Katherine?" I ask.
"She escaped me many years ago. The little rat has been running from me for the past five hundred years. I have reason to believe that Damon knows exactly where she is, and I want him to bring her to me."
"What are you going to do with her?" I question.
Klaus raises his brow at me, and the corner of his mouth curves into a vicious smirk. "I'm going to punish her, of course." I decide to let him leave it at that. I don't think I wanted to know the bloody details. I had no idea how Damon was going to get Katherine. I knew that I actually didn't want to know in the first place. This vampire shit was getting too confrontational. The world was getting too weird too quick. "Give him my message. If you fail, I'll have both of your hearts," The Britt says before disappearing into the woods.
"Fuck's sake," I grumble to myself, still trying to catch my breath. I clean off the blood and dirt from my knees using the sink of the bathroom. It stings like crazy, and I find myself wincing whenever soap goes near it. I hear a stall open, and my coworker, Rebekah, emerges. She glances at my leg like it's the nastiest thing she's ever seen. I send her a look that tells her not to worry about it. It was just a scrape.
"How the hell did that happen?" Rebekah, asks.
I glance at my knee that is still dripping blood. Various excuses flood my head, and the lamest one slips off of my tongue, "I ah, tripped," I mentally slap myself in the head.
She cackles. "How embarrassing. Hey, can you take the rest of my shift?"
"Can't. I've got a date tonight," I answer. I also had to tell my boyfriend that he had to capture his ex-girlfriend, or else some psycho would kill us.
She nods, and looks me up and down. I wait for her to leave before cleaning up the rest of my wound. My mind starts to drift to how I was going to tell Damon that he needed to procure Katherine. I imagined the conversation wasn't going to go too well. So much for having a casual evening without any fucking weird vampire crap! I started to worry for Damon, and thought about how he told me Katherine was stronger than him. Did he even stand a chance against his maker? I feel my stomach hit the ground in fear for his wellbeing. "Elena, you okay?" I hear my boss, John, yell from behind the bathroom door.
"I'm okay, just give me a second," I shout back. The bleeding eventually stops, so I exit the bathroom. I have about a half hour left of my shift, so I try my best to put on a smile and pretend like I'm not about to fall apart. My mask of happiness began to slip. I nearly went off on a guy that was looking at me wrong. I didn't feel like myself, I just wanted to tell Damon what happened and get it all over with. I end my shift, and get into my car. My eyes begin to tear up uncontrollably, and I have to pull over to get myself under control. In just a few hours, I'm going to have to break the news that will crush Damon. A choked cry escaped my mouth, and I begin to cry harder than I've ever remembered crying. I felt so defenseless, and so angry. I don't know who this Klaus asshole was, but what made him think he could walk all over us? I was facing a villain that I could never outrun, and never fight. I was getting angrier as the minutes passed. I felt pathetic for crying about it.
There was no way in hell I was going to let Klaus kill me or Damon. I'd help Damon track down that bitch Katherine myself. I'd tie her up; poison her, whatever was necessary. One thing was for sure; this waitress wasn't going to go down without a fight.
I wiped up the rogue mascara from my cheeks, and practiced narrowing my eyes to my rear-view mirror. I got back on the road, and drove to my apartment. I ended up putting on a tight red blouse with my nicest pair of jeans I had in my closet. I wore tall shoes, and a new attitude. Damon arrived at my door with a purple orchid. "Hey, beautiful," he greets. The man had on a dark grey suit with a black dress shirt and a white tie. His hair was gelled back perfectly. I could see myself in the shine of his patent leather shoes.
I smile when I see him, and he enters my apartment. He immediately goes in for a kiss, and I reject it. I slam the door behind us, and declare urgently, "We have a serious situation."
This takes him by surprise and he instantly is on edge. I tell him everything that happened today at the restaurant, and he is enraged. "That British bastard thinks he's entitled to harass my girlfriend?" he shouts. Damon shakes his head in disgust. "I can get Katherine easily, but I need to leave right now."
Easily? I raise my eyebrow. "What do you mean you can get her easily? I thought you said she was stronger than you," I point out.
"I can trick her into coming here. I'll lure her right into Klaus' hands. She won't see it coming," Damon says. He opens the door to my apartment, and leaves abruptly. He stops just outside of my door. "Sorry about what happened today," he says, his voice becoming increasingly more angry, "I'll make him pay for what he did."
"No, don't worry about it, Damon. Don't get yourself killed. Just, be careful, okay?" I ask him, leaning in for a small peck. He accepts the kiss graciously, and crushes his lips against mine quickly. His palm reaches out to my cheek and brings my face closer to his. His mouth parts with mine, and I pull away. "You sure I can't help?" I ask again.
Damon glances at his feet, "I wouldn't forgive myself if you got hurt because of something that's my fault. All of what's happening to you is my fault. She's my ex, and I'll be sure to deal with her. I know exactly how to get her to cooperate." I really didn't want to know.