A/N: Thank you SO MUCH for all the amazing reviews! :):):)
& In reply to a couple of recurring comments/questions: Well, I certainly hope Damon & Elena will get their memories back one day ;) As for Damon & Elena coming back to the "right" century... careful what you wish for! lol
Chapter 25
"Have you seen Elena?" Damon asked, running into Stefan half-way through the stairs.
"No," Stefan answered a little absently.
He kept glancing over his shoulder as if his thoughts were still elsewhere.
"Elena went to talk to Emily, but it's been an hour and now I can't find neither of them," Damon explained with a perplexed look on his face. He glanced around the staircase before returning his attention to Stefan who didn't seem to be listening to him. Tilting his head to the side, Damon put his hand on his brother's shoulder. "Stefan? Are you alright?"
"I talked to Katherine," Stefan replied after a pause, his frown deepening and Damon sighed, guessing that Katherine must have shared with Stefan her thoughts on the upcoming wedding.
"What did she say?" Damon asked, thinking that knowing the arguments in advance could perhaps help him prepare for the conversation.
"That's just the thing," Stefan said slowly, lifting his gaze from the floor to Damon's face. "I don't remember."
Damon blinked. "What do you mean you don't remember?"
"I know I talked to her," Stefan said, glancing over his shoulder again, as if looking into the corridor upstairs where the conversation had taken place could make him remember it. "But... I just can't remember anything of that conversation."
"There is something going on in here," Damon muttered with a worried grimace. "Elena and I don't remember how we found ourselves in the river. Now you. There is something going on in Mystic Falls that affects people's memories."
Stefan didn't look very convinced, but his own unpleasant experience with forgetting something that had happened minutes ago kept him from expressing his doubt over Damon's slightly too phantasmagorical for his taste theory. After all, he couldn't think of a more plausible or specific one anyway.
"I need to talk to Elena's sister too, but I need to find Elena first," Damon said, turning around. "If you see her-"
"I will tell her you are looking for her," Stefan finished for him with a brief smile. "It feels horrible not to remember something you know you should remember," he added as an afterthought, his expression becoming grim again.
Damon nodded. "Yes," he agreed. "We will get back to that later," he called out to Stefan before heading outside to continue his search for Elena.
xxxdelenaxxx
"There is a long way ahead of us, so if no one is going to speak, this trip is not going to be very successful," Jeremy said, taking a place across from Desmond, Lily, Stefan, John and Jenna who were all sitting in the same row at the airport, already near the gate, waiting for their flight that was still a couple of hours away.
They could've limited their transportation to cars and boats, but he thought that this could be a nice opportunity to familiarize Desmond with air travel.
"If you're interested, I can provide you with four reasons why I'm not very chatty," Jenna snapped, crossing her arms over her chest.
Jeremy looked to Bonnie, who was sitting next to him, for support, but she seemed too preoccupied with her phone to pay attention to the conversation.
Lily and Desmond were also not very talkative, but he could understand that and was also hoping it would change over time.
"First of all," Jenna started without waiting for Jeremy to prompt her to do so, "you didn't tell me he was going with us," she said, pointing to John who only inhaled and exhaled slowly, a resigned look on his face. "Secondly, you didn't tell me we were going to Nova Scotia!?"
"Technically, that island is two hundred miles off the Nova Scotia mainland," Stefan observed matter-of-factly in a low voice, earning a quick look from Jenna who carried on.
"Thirdly, Bonnie said you'd died there, so as your ex legal guardian, this choice of a destination for a fun excursion has me concerned. And lastly, I don't need to go on a bonding trip! I love you, I hate him, I like Bonnie and Stefan and I'm pretty sure I can get along with Damon's parents. As you can see, I have all of my emotions one-hundred percent figured out. And set in stone," she added stiffly.
"Right," Jeremy nodded.
"Why do you hate him so much anyway?" Bonnie suddenly asked and Jeremy gave her a mockingly surprised look over the fact that she finally decided to take part in the discussion.
Jenna clenched her jaw and for a few moments looked unsure if she should answer the question.
"Let's not-" John tried to sound reconciliatory, but his attempt seemed to actually only provoke Jenna to speak.
"We slept together, then he didn't call for two weeks and when one day he showed up back in town he was like 'Grayson said you found my reading glasses. I've been looking for them all week.'"
"You need reading glasses?" Jeremy gave John a questioning look.
Jenna narrowed her eyes at him. "This is not funny."
"And that's it?" Bonnie interjected, shifting her eyes between Jenna and the screen of her phone.
Blinking in indignation, Jenna glared at Bonnie while Jeremy was trying to keep a straight face.
"Sorry." Bonnie waved her hand in an apologetic gesture, grimacing a little. "Our sense of morality has forever been crippled by ubiquitous bloodshed and mayhem."
"If that will make you feel any better, I'm sorry if I hurt your feelings," John said flatly, glancing at Jenna who only snorted in response.
Jeremy opened his mouth to speak, but a sound of an incoming text message diverted his attention.
"Who are you texting with?" He finally asked the question that was bothering him for at least two hours now.
For a second it seemed that Bonnie didn't even hear him, but then she looked up.
"No one," she said automatically, straightening up. Jeremy gave her a no-nonsense look and she rolled her eyes. "Enzo."
Jeremy widened his eyes at her. "Enzo?! Why?"
"He's looking through Isobel's archive with her," Bonnie said at last in a low, defensive tone. "He's just sending me updates. They're trying to find something on that thread- Hey!" Bonnie exclaimed when Jeremy snatched the phone out of her hand.
"You mentioned the thread and that's breaking the rules," Jeremy replied, beginning to run away from Bonnie who started chasing him around the newspaper stand.
"Don't be ridiculous! Give it back!"
"It's a no magic allowed trip, remember?"'
"Oh really? You're such a hypocrite!" Bonnie shouted, stomping her foot. A few people passing by slowed down to look at her, but then hurried away when she shot them a glare. "You didn't mind magic very much when you had Stefan compel the security guards to ignore the fact that some people here don't have IDs," she added in an angry whisper.
"A death certificate is a form of an ID," John pointed out stoically.
"But it's not a photo ID," Bonnie deadpanned. "Give me back my phone!" She raised her voice again, glaring at Jeremy as seriously as she could.
"I'm confiscating it for now-" Jeremy started, but trailed off when the phone buzzed in his hand.
"Just read it and see if it's something important or... Enzo being Enzo," Bonnie said with an exasperated frown.
Jeremy rolled his eyes and reluctantly lifted the phone to read the message.
"What is it?" Bonnie asked, noticing Jeremy's eyebrows knitting in thought.
"He asks if you know what stamina vitae is," Jeremy said, glancing up at Bonnie.
Desmond's eyes darted to Lily who seemed to shudder at the expression.
"Stamina vitae?" Bonnie shook her head with a confused grimace. "Give me back my phone," she repeated after a pause, giving Jeremy a determined look. "I need to call Grams."
xxxdelenaxxx
Damon wasn't sure if it was a good or a bad sign, but he found Elena by the river where they had met. She was sitting on a rock near the water edge, her hair curtaining the side of her face in such a way that he only noticed her tear-stained cheeks the moment she looked up at him when he called her name.
"Elena," he repeated in an anxious gasp, reaching out for her when she rose to her feet. "What happened?"
Elena opened her mouth to speak but when Damon cupped her face in his hands she just closed her eyes and leaned into his touch.
For a brief second she considered not saying anything at all. For a moment it felt so tempting to just brush off the question and make the truth a secret that would always be gnawing at her, but at least it wouldn't ruin everything... But then of course it would. That's what secrets always did.
Reluctantly, she opened her eyes, the warmth of Damon's hands on her skin soothing the unpleasant cold chills surging through her.
Looking into his eyes, it wasn't even possible not to tell the truth. She felt that every moment of their short acquintance was truthful and real and she would never want to taint it with lying by omission or otherwise.
Elena covered Damon's hands with her palms and slowly slid them off her face. "We can't get married," she whispered with a grimace, her voice faltering despite her best efforts to keep it steady.
It didn't feel as if the ground was slipping from under his feet. It felt as if the entire world around him shifted and collapsed, leaving only flakes of ashes falling over his head from the darkest sky.
"What do you mean, Elena?" Damon asked in a low, hesitant voice, having difficulties in even formulating the question since the words he'd just heard made no sense to him. "Why?" He added breathlessly, grabbing her hand on an impulse when he noticed that she was about to take off the engagement ring he'd given her. "Is it about what your sister said?" He asked hastily.
Elena shook her head, trying to wiggle her hand out of Damon's grasp, but he only tightened his hold on her hand and Elena looked up at him prompted by the calm deliberateness of the gesture.
"Don't," he said with a grimace and a hint of hope in his tone, because the longer he looked at Elena's face the more certain he was that it wasn't her feelings that had changed.
"Damon-"
"Elena. Did you get your memories back?" He asked, struck by the thought and suddenly overcome by fear that perhaps there was some kind of a real obstacle standing in their way.
"No, no, I didn't." Elena stopped trying to snatch her hand free and used her other one to cup the side of Damon's face.
He inwardly exhaled with relief. "So what is it? Elena?" He gave her an encouraging smile that made tears glimmer in her eyes.
"I just found out something about my past... about... me and I don't know if... if we can still get married..." Elena said in a rushed whisper, thinking that perhaps she shouldn't be making it more difficult for either of them, but she couldn't help settling comfortably into Damon's embrace when he wrapped his arms around her.
"Why don't you let me decide," Damon offered tenderly, feeling hopeful again.
He couldn't imagine anything, anything at all that could ever tear them apart.
"I'm expecting a child."
The wind tossed Elena's hair into Damon's face and they both closed their eyes for a second, so Elena wasn't sure what was the first expression that appeared on Damon's face following her confession, but when she opened her eyes he was holding her cheeks in his hands again, his eyes wandering all over her face with anxious, affectionate intensity.
"Is that the only reason why you said we couldn't be together?" He asked carefully, every word quiet and even as if he was worried that any emphasis could negatively impact her answer.
"Yes," Elena confirmed tonelessly, trying not to overinterpret the look in his eyes.
But then there were also his hands on her face, his thumbs gently grazing her skin.
His lips on her forehead that remained there for a few more moments before he looked at her. Elena held her breath.
"I love you, Elena," Damon whispered earnestly and she still wasn't able to catch her breath trying to convince herself that she wasn't making up his words and merely hearing what she wanted to hear. "And I will love your child."
"Damon-"
"Our child," he corrected herself and Elena exhaled sharply, causing a few tears to roll down her cheeks.
Damon leaned down and kissed the tears off her face. "What did you think I would say?" He asked quietly against her skin, pressing a few feathery-light kisses to Elena's lips before looking up at her.
"I don't know," Elena whispered in a matching tone, smiling a little because he was smiling. "I just thought... What is your father going to say? What is everyone-"
"We don't have to tell him. We don't have to tell anyone. Later on, they will all probably think that that was why we got married so fast, so let's them think that."
Damon gave Elena another smile and then hugged her very tight, closing his arms around her and stroking her hair in a soothing gesture.
Looking onto the river sparkling below, Damon felt his heart clench at the thought what Elena might have gotten through. He only hoped it didn't cross her mind to consider that horrifying possibility.
As much as it hurt to think that there could have been someone else in her past, in her heart before, that pain was nothing compared to fearing that something horrible might have happened to her. Unfortunately, the circumstances under which they had met seemed to only validate the worst-case scenario. It was a blessing in disguise that she didn't remember anything, then. All he could do was to ensure that all the memories they would make together would be worth remembering and that nothing that would happen to her from now on would be ever better left forgotten.
"Now we just need to compel your sister to believe I'm worthy of your hand," Damon said, pressing his cheek to the top of Elena's head.
"We will," Elena replied with a smile, burying her face in his chest.
xxxdelenaxxx
"What did your grandmother say?" Jenna asked, leaning over her seat and watching Bonnie struggle with her safety bell with more anger than the task required.
Bonnie was sitting next to Desmond in the row behind Jeremy and Jenna with Stefan and Lily next to them across the aisle and John sitting alone behind them.
"She said she didn't know what stamina vitae was and that there was nothing I could do about it," Bonnie replied, finally snapping the seatbelt closed.
"That there was nothing you could do about what?" Jenna asked with a frown, reaching down to pull up the plastic shutter covering the window next to Desmond who gave her a small smile before glancing out of the window and at the plane taxiing nearby.
"Exactly!" Bonnie said with a trace of bitter triumph in her voice. "I think Grams knows if not everything, then at least something about that thread and she just doesn't want to tell me."
"I think you're just overinterpreting her worrying about you worrying about that thread so much," Jeremy said, peering at Bonnie through the gap between the seats.
Bonnie grabbed a pillow from behind her head and stuck it right into Jeremy's face.
Jenna stifled a smile and then returned to her seat when a flight attendant passing by asked her to do so.
Leaning down, Bonnie opened the bag she'd placed under the seat in front of her and as soundlessly as possible, in order not to alert Jeremy to whom the seat in front belonged, she pulled a stash of papers out of it.
Desmond shifted his eyes from the window to Bonnie, quickly recognizing the pages from the Grimoire of Antecedents, only that these weren't tattered and yellowed, but white, each page printed on a separate sheet of paper.
"Your grandmother probably just doesn't want you to get your hopes up and then after some time discover there's nothing to be done," Desmond said quietly.
Bonnie's eyes darted to him. "I don't want to be rude, but if you're going to be yet another person-"
"Actually, I was going to ask if I could help," Desmond interrupted her with a trace of humor in his voice that she found comfortingly familiar.
With a smirk, Bonnie split the stash of papers in her hand in half and handed one half to Desmond.
"I think we'll get along just fine," she said with a wink and then hastily grabbed a blanket and three it over all the papers in their lap when Jeremy pulled out the pillow from between the seats and inched his face close to the gap.
"Is everything alright?" He asked, giving Bonnie a suspicious look.
"Awesome," Bonnie said, waving a duty-free brochure in front of his face. "We're going to get very drunk and buy a few watches. You?"
xxxdelenaxxx
"Elijah,
Ha, didn't think you'd get a letter, did you? But there are encounters that matter in ways that stretch through time and space and so we thought we should tell you that it was mostly a joyride to know you.
Your integrity is a gift. Carry it with you, as we will carry the certainty that in the end you can always trust someone who is willing to break all the rules to save those they love.
In an ideal world we'd invite you to visit our restaurant in New York and we'd be looking forward to being invited to Hope's vernissage in Paris, alas this is not an ideal world, so you're stuck helping Klaus trying to make New Orleans a number one (instead of a final haha) tourist destination. Best of luck with that.
We hope you'll find a way to free Hayley.
xoxo
Damon & Elena"
"They were in a good mood. A desirable state of mind before such a journey." Slowly, Elijah folded back the letter, a ghost of a wistful smile flickering across his face. "Thank you for that," he said, looking up at Liz while putting the letter into a pocket inside his suit.
Liz shrugged. "I was designated a keeper of remaining correspondence," she replied with a faint smile and then glanced over her shoulder toward the room entrance when she heard the front door open.
Freya and Elijah exchanged looks.
"I don't know of any other place on earth where a mayor would be asked to house sit," Caroline's voice resounded in the room before she walked inside, followed by Klaus. "Jeremy said they couldn't remember if they turned off the lights. Hilarious, right?" She added conversationally despite being a little caught off guard by seeing Elijah in her living room.
She wasn't sure what to think, but when she looked at Liz, the expression on her face reassured her that everything was alright.
"Hello, Caroline," Elijah greeted her and then shifted his eyes to Klaus. "Niklaus," he said with a small sigh as if he was bracing himself for some kind of a nuisance.
"On the bright side, we managed to restock the supplies," Klaus said, indicating a bottle of bourbon in his hand. "And I can't help but notice that it seems to have been the right choice, seeing how we have an unannounced guest over," he added, smirking at Elijah.
"I assure you that I announced myself," Elijah replied flatly, glancing at Liz with a smile.
"Uncle Elijah!"
Klaus raised his eyebrows and to Caroline's amusement pouted a little when Hope dashed past them and run straight into Elijah's arms.
"I thought you were asleep," Elijah said, lifting Hope from the floor.
"I was. But I woke up," Hope explained, pushing her hair out of her eyes. "And uncle Elijah, do you know what happened? Damon and Elena traveled back in time!" Hope exclaimed, widening her eyes at Elijah.
"I know, I just heard," Elijah replied, smiling at Hope, who wrapped her arms around his neck and continued speaking so quickly she was running out of breath toward the end of each sentence.
"And guess what, I'm a witch! I can see the magical thread, just like Aunt Freya and Bonnie and her Grandma can! And I was on vacation with Damon and Elena! We were swimming in the ocean and we were building sand castles! And I had all the sand molds from the store, but we had to leave them behind, because Kai attacked us! He was pretending to be Damon, but Elena and I figured it all out and then he attacked us. And then Enzo knocked him out, but we couldn't take the sand molds, because we were in a hurry, so I just took the Bears. Elena's Bear looks like a doctor, because she wants to be a doctor. My Bear-"
"Sweetheart, I'm sure Uncle Elijah will be delighted to hear all about that tomorrow," Klaus cut in, clasping his hands behind his back.
Elijah glanced at him, stifling a smile. "Yes, this is actually a wonderful idea. Why don't you go back to sleep, since it's very late," Elijah said, glancing at the clock and causing Hope to do the same, "and then you can tell me everything tomorrow. Would that be alright?"
After a moment of consideration Hope nodded and after saying and waving good night to everyone while walking backwards across the room, she went upstairs with Liz, leaving Klaus, Caroline, Elijah and Freya alone in the living room.
"Well, I'll let you talk, then," Caroline said with a brief smile, about to excuse herself, but Elijah stopped her.
"No, Caroline, please, stay. This conversation may actually be of some interest to you as well."
Caroline glanced at Klaus, whose amused expression became instantly suspicious as he narrowed his eyes at Elijah.
"You have my attention," Klaus said, extending his arms. "What is it?"
"Could we sit down?" Freya proposed, shifting her eyes between everyone.
"I don't really like being ambushed while sitting down," Klaus replied with a mirthless smirk.
Freya tilted her head to the side with a small sigh.
"For our sister's sake, since it was her idea to talk to you," Elijah said, glancing at Freya. "Could you perhaps find it in yourself not to make dramatic assumptions before hearing a word of what we have to say?"
"Well, I assume you found a way to release Hayley from her curse, in which case, by all means, carry on," Klaus said with a smile that disappeared off his eyes when he lowered his voice. "But also bear in mind that should she try taking my daughter away from me, her fate will deteriorate very quickly."
"Niklaus, if it was merely about freeing Hayley I assure you I wouldn't think of devoting any time at all to asking for your thoughts on the subject," Elijah replied in a calm, toneless voice.
Klaus smiled. "Ah. So you want something from me?"
"As a matter of fact yes, your blood, however, that could be obtained without your consent," Elijah said flatly and the utter seriousness in his eyes made Klaus' expression grow serious as well. "The reason why we're having this conversation is because Freya believes that you're capable of making the right choice and I hope you won't disappoint her."
Caroline looked at Freya who was standing by the window with her arms crossed over her chest, a tense expression on her face.
"What's the cost of freeing Hayley?" Caroline asked, shifting her eyes between Freya and Elijah.
"It's not exactly a cost," Freya said after a pause, glancing at Elijah.
Klaus snorted humorlessly. "It's hardly time for riddles," he said, pointing to the clock. "So if you could be more specific," he added with a grimace, a hint of impatience flashing in his eyes.
"There's no remedy for the spell Hayley's under. I have searched everywhere," Elijah said quietly, looking away, as if he was at once recalling all of his failed attempts during the last several years. "It's not possible to reverse that spell. No counter spell exists."
"Well, I'm sorry to hear that," Klaus said flippantly, earning a narrowed-eyed look from Freya. "I really am," he reassured her, putting a mildly offended look on his face.
"Then you should be glad to know that there is a way to free her," Elijah said, his eyes fixed on Klaus who shook his head in exaggerated confusion.
"I'm sorry, but didn't you just say-"
"I said there is no way to reverse that particular spell," Elijah interrupted him in a low, firm voice, glancing at Caroline who was listening to the exchange with a deepening frown on her face. "But there is a way to reverse all the spells, including this one."
Klaus blinked and then laughed briefly under his breath. "I'm sorry, Elijah, but I'm afraid you lost me," he said, looking to Caroline who also seemed baffled by Elijah's words.
"Tabula rasa. I'm sure you're familiar with the term. That's the name of the spell. Think of it... as a master spell," Freya cut in and Caroline felt shivers run up her spine, whether more at Freya's words or the solemn tone of her voice, she didn't know.
"It will lift all the curses, erase all the spells," Elijah continued in a suddenly earnest voice.
"It will get rid of all magic," Freya said quietly, holding Klaus' gaze.
"No more magic. No more curses and spells. Blood-lust and immortality will no longer exist. The world will be free of all things supernatural. All the vampires, hybrids, werewolves, witches become human. Hayley will be free and so will everyone else. The world will be cured of all evil that our family brought into it. Niklaus." Elijah took a few steps toward Klaus and stopped right in front of him. "Not only will your daughter get her mother back. But she'll also get to live in a world as it should be, before our parents wrecked the natural order of life and death. Now we have a chance to make it right."
Elijah fell silent, watching the unreadable expression on Klaus' face, hoping to see a flicker of understanding in his eyes. Caroline was also watching him from the side. Freya held her breath.
Klaus' mouth quirked into the slightest smile. "You're both mad," he whispered at last, glancing at Freya.
Elijah hastily turned around. "Are you really that keen on Hope inheriting all of your enemies?" He exclaimed with a flourish of his hand. "We're on the brink of a war between sirelines. You know that. Stricts are on their way to New Orleans. Everything is falling apart. Universal hatred and a vicious circle of revenge, great inheritance indeed!"
"Do you suppose our enemies are going to be rendered harmless just because you turn them human?" Klaus exclaimed with an incredulous huff. "The absurdity of your naivety would've been amusing if it wasn't so dangerously foolish! Did you really think, even for a second, that I'd condemn my daughter to complete defenselessness in exchange for your aimless illusions of an ordinary existence?"
"Hope's defenselessness or yours?" Elijah retorted sternly, but then added in a voice lacking all sharpness. "What are you afraid of? Losing the people who stand by you out of fear? Because these are the only people you might lose. Whatever power you think we possess, these are just stones, roped to our necks, dragging us down. We didn't want that, Niklaus. Don't you remember? We didn't want any of that. It happened to us. But it doesn't need to happen to anyone else, ever. Isn't that worth something? Isn't that worth everything? Wouldn't you want your daughter to be proud of you?"
Klaus held Elijah's gaze without blinking, his jaw clenched. "You're talking to someone who doesn't exist, brother." The words seemed to clink as if they were made of glass and Caroline felt a twinge of sorrow at the words rolling off Klaus' tongue with practiced ease, each syllable drenched in casual self-loathing. "There's nothing in me, nothing among the things that I have done that would make my daughter proud." He paused. "I can't make her proud," he said in a raspy whisper that turned menacing in a split second. "But I can keep her safe. And I don't advise you to ever try interfering with that."
After glaring at Elijah for a few more seconds, Klaus abruptly turned around and stormed out of the room.
xxxdelenaxxx
The door was left ajar, but Damon tried not to look inside before announcing himself by knocking on the door.
"Please, come in," Katherine called out in a silvery voice, glancing into the mirror in front of her before gliding up from her chair. "I was hoping we would have a chance to talk."
Damon was about to start by asking whether Katherine remembered what she and Stefan had talked about, but the question escaped him when his attention was drawn to Katherine closing the door behind him and stepping right in front of him.
"First of all..." She trailed off, stifling a giggle when Damon took an instinctive step back, putting some distance between them. "Do I frighten you, Mr. Salvatore?"
"No, I just-" Damon frowned, confused by Katherine's behavior when she started advancing toward him, apparently amused by him walking backwards away from her.
"What now?" She simpered, looking pleased with herself when she backed him against the wall.
Perplexed and caught off guard by the strangeness of the situation, Damon decided to resort to the only thing that seemed reasonable at the moment: explaining why he came to talk to Elena's sister in the first place.
"I came to say that I love Elena and that while our engagement may seem rushed, our feelings are genuine and our marriage is going to be happy and strong," he said a little awkwardly, too flustered by Katherine's behavior to carefully choose every word.
He was hoping to express himself more eloquently, but what was even more disappointing, it was the fact that it seemed he'd have to worry about Katherine listening to him at all.
He wasn't sure if it was anything he'd said, although it obviously must've been, but for some reason a coquettish glimpse in Katherine's eyes was suddenly replaced by boredom.
"How dull," Katherine sighed, pursing her lips and Damon blinked, quite sure he must've heard her wrong. Then her tone changed steely. "Tell me why you really want to marry her," she said and Damon frowned at how strange Katherine suddenly looked like, as if something was happening with her eyes.
"I love her," Damon repeated.
Katherine wrinkled her nose. "Tilt your head to the right. Now left."
Damon did just that and Katherine clapped her hands.
"Why did I do that?" Damon murmured, a nauseatous feeling coming over him.
He didn't even think about Katherine's bizarre request to tilt his head and yet he followed her words all the same.
"At least that!" Katherine said with a smile. "I was worried there was something going on with everyone in this town, but it seems that only my sheep-headed doppelgänger is for some reason immune to compulsion."
"Doppelgänger?" Damon echoed, becoming more and more confused with every passing second.
"Oh, before we begin, you are not going to remember any of this, not a word I say until you leave this room," Katherine said, her pupils dilating. "And now, you'll be telling me the truth in answer to my every question."
"What is happening?" Damon asked, sensing that something was wrong, but his mind was becoming simultaneously hazy and frozen, his thoughts dragging as if they were made of sticky threads clinging to each other, making it impossible to think.
"Nothing much. Right now I just need information. Maybe there will be time for other things after I solve a few problems of mine," Katherine said with a playful smirk, lifting her hand to Damon's face and compelling him to remain still when he recoiled at her touch. "You are handsome." She smacked her lips and grimaced. "But so dull. She's dull too, so I can see why you like each other. Unfortunately, you won't be living happily ever after." She made a mockingly sympathetic face. "I'm hoping to trade her for my freedom. If I give Klaus a human doppelgänger, maybe he'll at last leave me alone," she said, more to herself than to Damon, looking away from him and squinting into the distance.
After a moment Katherine seemed to shake herself out of her reverie.
"So you can see how I don't need anyone to care about her enough to ask questions when she... disappears," Katherine said with a glint of amusement returning to her eyes. "She's as good as dead. But I can't compel her to break off your engagement and if I compelled you to do that she might start suspecting something. So I'm just going to make sure that after tomorrow marrying you will be the last thing she would ever want." Katherine drew a breath and then smiled cheerfully, intensifying her gaze. "Listen carefully. This is what you are going to say and do tomorrow."