The trees swayed loudly from the high winds, leafs bombarded the bark and twirled like small tornados on the ground. Heavy clouds blocked out the light from the moon, leaving the forest in darkness. There was no sound besides the wind; all of the creatures in the forest had stilled, hidden away in their burrows or long gone from the area. There was no sign of life.
Elena stood motionless in a small clearing in the forest, leafs brushed roughly past her legs, and the wind cut through her light jacket and jeans. The clouds had parted ever so slightly, allowing the moonlight to beam through and bring some light into the clearing. Elena glanced around, seeing nothing but shadows and hearing nothing but the wind in her ears. Her heart rate picked up as she started to panic. Where was she? How did she get here? She felt eyes on her, from every direction; several pairs of eyes were watching her.
She couldn't move, every time she did, a pain shot through her body, leaving her paralyzed. Her breathing quickened when she heard movement from behind her, in front of her, everywhere. The eyes were moving closer. She couldn't see them, but she could feel their presence. Her surroundings started to blur, as if she were moving quickly but she was standing still. The eyes drew closer. She tried to move again, only to be held from behind. Someone was grabbing her, keeping her in place. She couldn't turn to see who it was, she couldn't scream, her voice was gone. She struggled but it was useless. The eyes were surrounding her; she saw how they were all crimson.
Her voice wouldn't come, her body wouldn't move. She stood as the bodies surrounded her, the trees still in a constant blur from a movement that wasn't happening. She felt a sharp pain in her head but she couldn't cry out. She felt a pain in her ribs; she felt a pain in her legs. Suddenly one of the eyes had lunged at her, fangs out.
Elena woke with a start, bolting awake. She was strapped into something, a car. A seatbelt was holding her in place and the window was open, allowing a breeze to pass through. The sun shone brightly in her eyes, causing her to squint. Her whole body was in pain, as if every muscle was bruised. She groaned as she tried to shift her position, bringing her more pain. Her head was throbbing and she was having trouble remembering what had occurred.
She was driving and then… she hit someone. The car tumbled and the person, the man, got up like it was nothing. Then... She turned her head abruptly and saw Katherine eyeing her curiously while driving. Katherine raised an eyebrow and turned back to the road, not saying anything. Elena remembered last night clearly. She was still looking at Katherine, remembering how she had pulled her out of the car and moved her away from the wreckage.
"You're staring," Katherine stated.
"You saved me."
"I did," she responded.
"Thank you." Elena was truly grateful. She wouldn't know what would have happened if someone hadn't been there.
Katherine glanced over at her blankly and turned back to the road, not saying anything further, which, from Elena's previous encounters with her, seemed a little off. That's when she fully realized that she was in a car with her, going somewhere far from where she was supposed to be. "Er, where are we?" Elena asked, looking out of the window of the sleek car and only seeing fields.
"Georgia."
"What? I have to get home, the car, I have to tell Jenna," she tried to sit up properly but winced and leaned back against the seat. "What are we doing here? Why are we here?" Elena felt around in her pockets, "where's my phone?" she was panicking. She shouldn't be here, not in Georgia and not with Katherine.
Katherine reached into her black leather jacket and pulled out Elena's phone, silently handing it to her while still looking ahead. Elena checked her phone, 6 missed calls and 2 voicemails from Stefan, 2 missed calls from Jenna, and numerous texts from Bonnie, Caroline, and Jeremy. Elena sighed and pocketed her phone. "So, why are we in Georgia?"
Katherine wasn't looking at her at all, hardly acknowledging that she was also in the car. "Got some business to take care of," she responded.
"And you had to take me with you?" Elena raised an eyebrow at her twin.
"You're right, I should have just left you in the street," Katherine responded bitterly.
Elena looked away. The comment stung but she wasn't going to let Katherine see that, "someone's in a mood," she mumbled under her breath, mostly to herself.
Suddenly, the car jerked to the right and skidded to a stop on the rough gravel. They were parked outside of a large open field where cows were grazing and eating grass. Katherine turned to Elena, "if you would rather get out and walk home, be my guest. I don't need you here, you can leave," she was glaring at the human intensely.
"If you don't need me here, then why am I here?"Elena shot back.
"For fuck sakes, Elena," Katherine replied angrily. Before Elena could respond, Katherine pumped the gear in drive and sped off, causing the wheels to skid slightly before they found traction on the road. "You were better company unconscious," the vampire mumbled.
The two sat in silence for almost an hour. Elena kept thinking about why Katherine was so moody and why she brought Elena. She hoped this 'business' in Georgia wouldn't last long because she had to get home. She couldn't be out with Katherine at all, she felt like it was incredibly unsafe and very stupid.
Elena looked around the car. It looked very new, it was completely clean and there was nothing lying around. You'd think someone would have personal effects in their car or anything that proved that the car had an owner. Elena began to think that the car wasn't Katherine's and that she stole it. She shoved the thought away.
Elena glanced over at the vampire. She looked like she wasn't entirely here, like her mind was elsewhere. Her brown curls cascaded down softly, her left arm propped up by her elbow on the window, her hand lazily resting on her cheek while she drove with her other hand. Her black leather jacket hung tightly against her frame, her eyes were unfocused on the road in front of her and then- they were looking back at her. Elena blushed, embarrassed to be caught staring for the second time and turned to look out the window to try and avoid the casual glance from the vampire.
A phone rang, startling Elena and she fumbled for her phone out of her pocket. She looked at the caller ID, 'Stefan Salvatore'. She groaned and was about to put the phone back in her pocket when Katherine's hand stretched over, palm up. Elena was skeptical but placed the phone in her hand. Katherine eyed the ID briefly before bringing the phone up to her ear.
"Stefan?" Katherine answered, in a perfect impersonation of Elena.
Elena could hear Stefan on the other line, "Elena? Where are you? I've been calling and you never picked up. I was worried."
Katherine sighed, "I know, I'm sorry." Elena was impressed by Katherine's impersonation, but it also worried her about how well she can pretend to be her.
"Let me just explain, where are you?"
"I just need some time to think, Stefan. I'll call you back later." Katherine hung up and tossed the phone back to Elena. Elena eyed her quizzically. "What? You're a horrible liar and if you ignored him, he'd keep calling," Katherine stated matter-of-factly.
Elena nodded slightly in agreement and turned back to look out the window; she didn't have much to say to the vampire. The silence between the two started to grow again before Katherine spoke up, "so, why did you bail in such a hurry from the Salvatores'?"
Elena turned to her, "you saw that?" Elena cocked an eyebrow, "you follow me." She stated.
Katherine let out a humourless laugh. "Please. I'm keeping tabs on the boys," she responded simply, "so, why'd you leave?"
"I saw a picture he kept of you." Elena saw a smirk spread on the vampire's lips. She narrowed her eyes at Katherine.
Katherine looked over and let out another humourless chuckle, "well, it's not my fault he keeps it. It's not surprising though, he'll always love me, whether he'll admit it or not." Katherine smirked, a mocking smile, in the direction of Elena. "Besides, you are clearly well aware that we look exactly alike. It shouldn't have been a surprise."
"Well, no. But he doesn't know that I know. What did you say a few days ago? 'Play along'? Well, I am," Elena looked away, "besides, it still gets to me," she whispered. She glanced back over at Katherine and noticed her smirk was gone and her face was expressionless once again, staring blankly ahead.
Elena didn't want to sit in silence again, so she steered the conversation elsewhere. "Who do you think the man was? The one that I hit?"
"Are you sure you actually hit someone, and it wasn't just your horrible driving skills?" Katherine's lip twitched.
Elena glared at her, "yes, it was someone, actually. He was wearing a black hoodie."
"Oh, how specific." Katherine responded with sarcasm.
Elena shot her a look. Katherine was one of the least helpful people she has come across. "I'm being serious," Elena sighed and glanced around at nothing in particular. "When I hit him, his limbs were all disjointed but he placed them back in easily and he started walking towards me," Elena paused, "and then you showed up."
"Well, if I ever come across him, I'll be sure to rip his heart out," the vampire responded with intensity. Elena turned sharply towards her and saw how the vampire's features were tense and hard but relaxed subtly and a dark smirk emerged on her face.
"You can't just-"
"Oh, but I can," Katherine interrupted. "I can do as I please." Elena was about to protest when Katherine added, "we're here."
Elena looked out and saw that they had parked outside of an old looking bar with nothing to really make it stand out. Katherine turned the engine off, and got out of the car, leaving Elena inside the vehicle. Katherine glanced back inside the car, "coming?" she cocked an eyebrow at her young twin. "Or am I going to have to lock you in here like some child?" Elena groaned as she moved, still in pain from the accident the night before, and followed Katherine into the bar.
