A/N: Hi, thank you for the suggestions and reviews.:) It has been a pleasure to read all the reviews. Good luck with trying to guess who my favourite is...;) Hint, it's not Elijah. In this chapter, something dangerous happens but is quickly overcome. But does it spell the end of danger or could it just be the beginning of something darker?;)
Katherine Pierce froze in his arms, her face turning chalky white with fear as they continued to waltz near the centre of the room, surrounded by partners who were dancing too to the slow beats of the melodious music.
"Katerina, you are very brave," said Elijah, his tone dripping with contempt. "But also very, very foolish."
They could not see each other's face but Katherine imagined the lethal shadows in the depth of his eyes. She could feel her heart pounding at the rapidity of a waterfall but her mind told her she had nothing to be afraid of for Elijah knew his mother's explicit rules.
"I heard you were back in town," Katherine merely said.
"The further you should stay away," said Elijah icily.
He felt a strange sensation as though millions of comets were swirling within him. He knew what he felt was rage. It had to be.
"You're still mad at me."
"Oh, I'm not mad at you anymore, Katerina," Elijah spoke in a clipped tone. "But Klaus is."
At the mention of the hybrid's name, Katherine backed away from him with enough force to knock someone off balance, if that someone had not been Elijah. He saw the fear that marred the brunette's face like spray paint over a confident mask and felt some form of pleasure at the sight.
"You were mad at me for running away. What did you expect me to do?" pointed out Katherine, her eyes demanding. "Trust you and walk into my death?"
There was a flash of anger in Elijah's eyes and Katherine knew that she had kept him distracted enough for her to make a move. He was silent for a while, as though searching for the right words. Opposite him, she was facing the rooms along the second floor, brightly lit with flaming golden lights. Other than an obviously drunk Finn with his girlfriend, no one else was on the second floor. Anyone could climb there without much notice.
"That was five hundred years ago, Katerina," said Elijah in a calm manner, although deep inside, a blast of fury was searing through him. "Why do we rake up the past? I no longer trust you and you never did."
He studied her face carefully but saw none that he had expected. There was no guilt. But there was also no amusement. Had he scrutinised more deeply, he thought he would have seen the hurt and pain in her eyes.
"Why are you back, Katerina?" spoke Elijah slowly, when Katherine still said nothing.
"I'm tired of running. I don't want to run anymore."
"You should have thought about that before you double-crossed us," said Elijah coldly. There was no sympathy in his ebony black eyes. "You should have known better."
"I knew well enough what I was doing," said Katherine fiercely, her eyes darkening with anger. "I was saving myself from monsters. I wasn't double-crossing, I was looking out for myself."
It was becoming more difficult for Elijah to keep his cool and refrain himself from tearing out her throat from her neck, but he knew better than to ruin his mother's night; he did not want to be the monster people would think he was too. Looking mesmerized and held by cold anger, Katherine could see that it was going to be easy to keep him at bay and make this night a blast, and she certainly meant it literally.
"You have hell to pay for, Katerina," he grinded out the words between clenched teeth. "You should watch your back."
"You don't get it, do you?" fumed Katherine. "I said I'm tired of running. I'm not going to run for my life anymore. I will fight for it - starting now. So maybe you should watch your back."
Just as she whispered those words, she took off in a split second. Elijah would have gone after her and was fast enough to reach her despite her split second of a head start but before he could move even a finger, there was a loud explosion, as though a bomb had been set off on the second floor, followed by an ear-piercing scream, carrying Finn's familiar voice.
Elijah zoomed like a bat to the second floor and saw, with utmost horror, that one of the rooms was covered in flames. Finn and Sage were inside, their bodies taut as they backed away from the flames that were rolling in all directions. Elijah's first instinct had been to run to the bathroom to fetch the large red pail of water, which would have doused any normal fire. But the tenacious flames did not falter one bit.
"ELIJAH! THE FLAMES AREN'T DYING OUT!" Finn screamed hysterically.
Klaus reached the doorway, carrying a large bright red hose pipe which he had connected to the crystal water fountain. He shouted at Kol and Rebekah below to start the hose pipe and aimed at the flames that were spreading and licking and peeling the walls of the room.
"What happened?" he hissed, glaring at Elijah.
"Katerina –,"
"THE FIRE! IT'S NOT DYING OUT!" Finn's scream cut Elijah's words.
Klaus frowned at the flames, stroking his chin, when he suddenly realised what was going on. He looked around, scanning for his mother.
"Where's mother?"
"I don't know, I haven't seen her," Elijah said, and thought of how strange that was.
"It's a witch, Elijah," Klaus hissed. "A witch started this, a witch can end this. I'm getting that Bonnie witch!"
"HURRY! I CAN'T… THE HEAT…," Finn panted in agony now, hugging Sage to protect her from the flames, both faces streaked with tears.
As Klaus dashed down the stairs, all heads turn to stare at him, still shocked by the explosion. Esther was trying to get everyone to calm down. Immediately, Klaus felt a strong surge of anger at his mother for not trying to save Finn.
"Mother, what are you doing?" he demanded with an ominous edge in his tone.
"Finn disobeyed me," she said stubbornly without looking at Klaus. "I told him not to bring that hideous girl here with him!"
The answer was like a slap to his face, except that it did not hurt but had a similar shocking quality to it. On her face, he saw nothing but brutal detachment and nonchalance and that in a strange way unnerved him. As much as he wanted to shove his mother roughly by the shoulders to a corner and demand for a more valid reason, he knew he had no time to waste so he turned away and carried on striding quickly. It was quite easy to spot Bonnie, a girl with dark long hair tied in a bun in a pretty white dress.
"Bonnie," Klaus called. "I need you right now, witch."
Before he had spoken to her, Bonnie had been staring at the room on the second floor, wide-eyed and shocked. She was alarmed enough to agree immediately to Klaus' request so that it surprised Elena, who was standing next to her. Klaus had stared at Elena as though unsure of whom he was really seeing, but Elena dismissed the weird look on his face, not really wanting to know what had been going through his mind.
On the second floor, Bonnie stood at the doorway with Elijah and Klaus, as Elena peered at them from afar. The flame size was increasing rapidly but Bonnie was determined to take charge of the situation.
"I can make the fire go away," Bonnie said firmly. "But on one condition."
Klaus did not look too happy with the witch.
"Don't play games with me, witch, or I'll rip your throat out," he snarled at her.
"The condition, Bonnie?" Elijah asked politely, ignoring Klaus.
"Stay away from my friends and family," Bonnie simply stated.
Elijah's face changed to have a somewhat incomprehensible look. He was a man of his words and would not want to make false promises even to his foes, but he did not think he could ever stay away from Elena unless he chose to leave Mystic Falls.
"Bonnie, do the spell," Klaus hissed threateningly. "Or everyone in this room dies."
"Niklaus –," Elijah started.
"DO THE SPELL, BONNIE, OR I KILL EVERYONE!" Klaus roared, causing Bonnie to cringe and regret her words.
Having no choice, Bonnie began to concentrate her mind on the flames and withdraw power from her surroundings to weaken the flame. The flames began to decrease as Bonnie continued to chant silently, and then finally they were completely extinguished. Klaus and Elijah let out a sigh of relief.
"Thank you, Bonnie," Klaus said politely, sincerity swirling in his eyes.
But Bonnie left in a huff, a look of revulsion on her face. Elena was staring at her friend, concern written all over her face, having seen everything that had gone down at the doorway from her spot.
"Everything is fine," Elijah spoke calmly from above to the guests. "To take a break from the waltzing and drama, maybe we should move on to dinner now."
The chefs and waiters began to file out into the grand living room and set up the dishes on all the dark silky green clothed tables. All the guests hurriedly went to grab seats and started feasting away. As Klaus and Elijah approached the dining area, Klaus furiously began to tell him about Mother.
Elijah merely shook his head, but he seemed rather astounded himself. He knew that his mother had a weakness: always allowing her hatred to get the better of her. She hated Sage, and hated Finn being in love with Sage, thus refusing to save even her favourite son. He knew that he would not tell Finn about it not only because he hardly told Finn anything now, but also secretly because it would result in a crestfallen Finn.
"So what happened?" Klaus demanded.
"She was there, right in front of my eyes," Elijah said colourlessly. "But she ran away, she warned us to watch our backs, brother."
"You could have killed her," Klaus looked at his brother suspiciously.
"If I could, I would have," Elijah simply said. "She ran and the explosion happened. I was off guard."
"You really think I'm going to buy that story?" Klaus fumed his face livid with fury now, shadows of distrust swimming in his sea-green eyes.
"Why would I not kill her?"
"You know, I've always trusted you, brother," spewed Klaus furiously.. "But Lady Katerina always tests that bond."
A brutal look crossed Elijah's face as he stared at his brother, loss for words that could possibly convince his brother of his loyalty, and angered also by his brother's distinct faithlessness in him. Klaus' eyes held his gaze, blue green boring into black, entertaining the thought of poisoning his brother with a Truth Potion. But he heard the soft sound of the front door opening and his sharp bat-like ears took in the familiar sounds of the Salvatore brothers. Instantly, he flew off his seat and speeded towards the main front door, greeted by what he had expected to see.
"Look who's here," he sneered at them. "Stefan and Damon Salvatore. That's funny, I don't recall you lot on the guest list."
"Listen, we just want to bring Elena home," Stefan said in a tired voice.
"No one is bringing Elena home," a cold, high voice (with the likes of Lord Voldermort) said from behind.
Klaus turned around, astonished to see Esther staring coldly behind him at the Salvatores, a deadly look on her face.
