Poison & Wine - Chapter XXVI

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I walked down the street of Portland, soaking in the sights.

Sure, it was crowded here, but it was amazing. I felt like I was on top of the world right now, and that was because I wasn't thinking about anything else except for where I was. No thoughts of Mystic Falls or Anastasia crossed my mind.

After that girl had told me that Klaus was "allowing" me to explore Portland while he did his own thing, I immediately left - well, AFTER the girl gave me money. I knew that he had people following me, but at this point, I was grateful to be able to go out without him. I needed a break.

I had been to a couple different stores, nothing too interesting. I got a few books from a bookstore with a credit card I had been given, but I really didn't stay in the stores for long; I wanted to see all of the city that I could. Currently, it was hitting noon and I was going to go to a café, but spotted a record store so, naturally, I gravitate to it.

It smelled perfectly, just like any record store with legitimate old records would smell like. Rows upon rows was the first sight I was greeted with.

I started down the first row and instantly saw Duran Duran's third album, Arena, and picked it up. I looked it over and smiled to myself; 'Rio' and 'Hungry Like the Wolf' were my favorites by them. Even though 'Hungry Like the Wolf' is only one of those two on Arena, the album is still good nonetheless.

Walking around in here reminded me of my father, not John but my adopted one. He had been the one to really introduce me to this music of the eighties. He had tried to get Elena into as well, but she never cared for it much. I, however, got deeply into it; Queen had been our all-time favorite.

I recalled the day I'd first heard "Bohemian Rhapsody."

"Mama, just killed a man… Put a gun against his head pulled my trigger now he's dead…"

I looked with confusion over at my dad in the driver's seat. We were on our way to go to Caroline's twelfth birthday party. "Dad, what the heck are we listening to?"

Elena nodded in agreement. "This is different from what we listen to, Dad."

"I get that you girls idolize Britney Spears and performers like her, but this right here is what I used to idolize and still do. This is Bohemian Rhapsody by Queen. Andy, don't you remember this from that movie your aunt Jenna showed you? 'Wayne's World'?"

"Oh," I said, and then listened intently to the rest of the song. After it ended, I looked over at my dad with wide eyes. "That. Was. Awesome!"

"Eh," Elena shrugged.

But my dad smiled over at me, and ruffled my hair. "You're just more open-minded, huh?"

I smiled to myself at the memory. My adopted mother had been the one to introduce me to the Jane Austen novels and Shakespeare. Jenna and John had both contributed to my love of films. They all tried to get Elena and Jeremy into these things, but they were too busy with school and guys/girls. I had Tyler, but managed to put those things in my schedule.

I contemplated how much I missed my old life. It was perfect back then when I didn't even care that everyone chose Elena over me then. I was satisfied with where I was; I even was an aspiring artist. That all changed when the accident happened.

As I walked down the rows, I wondered where I would be now if my parents were alive. They surely wouldn't have allowed me to be involved with Elijah, and sure as hell would've come looking for me here with Klaus unlike my siblings who were doing God knows what back home.

What would they have thought of Klaus? What would they have thought of Elena and I being doppelgangers? I knew my parents, but didn't even know what they would say to all of this.

"Excuse me, can I help you?"

I looked over to see a guy standing next to me; he appeared to be a worker here. He had shaggy brown hair that was long and looked smooth. He appeared to have hazel eyes that looked to be a mix of blue, green, and brown. He was definitely a handsome guy; he was very tall, 6'4" and had a muscular build with broad shoulders and chest.

"No, I'm just browsing right now," I said before looking back at the records.

"Arena is a good choice," He commented at seeing the record in my hands.

"Yeah," I nodded awkwardly. What was I supposed to say? It wasn't like this was someone in Mystic Falls, this was a complete stranger.

"I personally prefer Notorious."

"Really?" I looked over at him. "I've just always loved 'Hungry Like the Wolf.'"

"I think I like Notorious just because it was the first album I heard by them."

"That's fair," I looked back to the records. "So do you work here?"

"Yes."

"Could you perhaps point me in the direction of Queen?"

From the corner of my eyes, I saw he broke into a grin. "Yeah, follow me," He started leading me to the back of the store. "Everything is in alphabetical order, so they're near the back. Are you getting a present for someone?"

"No, it's for myself," I answered, glancing at the other records as we passed by them. "A girl can listen to records, can she not?"

"Well, of course. Especially with the shirt you have on."

"George Michael is amazing,"

"That he is," He nodded in agreement before stopping in the middle of the aisle. "So, here we are, Queen."

Instantly, I spotted their debut album which was self-titled and then saw their third album, 'A Night at the Opera.' I snatched those up pretty quickly. I looked to see that worker was still here.

"Good choices," He smiled, and I noticed he had dimples, which instantly made me think of Klaus and his stupid roses.

"Sam!" A voice aisles away called. "We need assistance!"

This guy, who I now saw had a name tag that said Sam, scrunched his face up in annoyance. "I gotta go back up front, but if you need my help, then just come up and ask me or for me."

"Will do," I gave him one grateful nod before looking back at the records.

After I made sure there wasn't another Queen album I'd want, I looked up and down each aisle. I ended up getting Def Leppard, Skid Row, and Foreigner before deciding that was all wanted… for today.

I went up to the counter and Sam was the one standing at the cashier along with another dorky yet cute guy with mixed skin and a pair of black glasses on sitting on the counter. He was grinning over at Sam as I walked up.

"Ah, the George Michael girl," Sam smiled when he saw me. "Did you find everything you were looking for today?"

"Yup," I answered, handing the records over to him.

"Good," He nodded. I looked around the record store to see a mix of people here. The store was playing Journey and you could see a few people mouthing along with it.

"It's not anything like 'Empire Records,' huh?" I asked.

"It's fun working here, we just don't have Liv Tyler," The dorky guy answered; his nametag said Zak. "But, hey, we could use one if you're interested."

I rolled my eyes with a slight smile. "I am only visiting right now; I don't live here."

"What brings you hear around this time of year?" Zak asked. "It can't be the weather." He gestured outside to the pouring rain.

I looked back to them. "My 'friend' drug me here; you'd have to ask him why he brought me along. At least there's this place, though." I looked back out at the rain.

"What do you mean?" Sam asked.

"Oh, back in my hometown, we don't have a record store. We have a music store that consists of only instruments. So no vinyl records and everyone knows vinyl has better sound," I answered.

"An old soul," Zak nudged Sam. "How old are you exactly, stranger?"

"I'm a stranger, just as you said, but you're a stranger as well and I'm not supposed to hand out personal facts," I handed Sam the credit card. Once the purchase ran through and he handed me my things, I began to turn away. "Thanks for your help, Sam."

"Anytime," Sam responded.

I waved before walking away. I got halfway to the door when Zak called out, "Rush blows Queen out of the water, by the way!"

I stopped in tracks and slowly turned to them. "You're kidding me, right?"

Zak nudged Sam. "Nope, and Sammy agrees with me."

I walked back over to them. "Freddie Mercury's voice is so much better than Geddy Lee's. Don't get me wrong, Rush is pretty freakin' amazing, but they don't hold a candle to Queen."

"Sammy," Zak nudged him toward me.

"Well, Rush has musicianship, complex compositions, and eclectic lyrical motifs drawing heavily on science fiction, fantasy, and philosophy. That's pretty amazing," Sam said, slightly timid.

"Queen's earliest works were influenced by progressive rock, hard rock and heavy metal, but the band gradually ventured into more conventional and radio-friendly works, incorporating further diverse styles into their music. All of their music is amazing!" I folded my arms. "I'm still baffled by anyone thinking that, but whatever, it's your opinion and I'm not going to waste anymore of my time and try to change it. So... good day." I turned on my heel and matched out from that place. Instantly the rain soaked me.

I couldn't call Klaus or anyone else because I didn't have a phone, so I ran under shelter for a while as I considered my options. I could go get something to eat since that was my original plan about an hour ago, or I could go to another store. I opted for the café across the street; I took off in the pouring rain and ran into the café.

It was a very quiet place, and no one cared enough to spare me a glance as I walked in. I went up and ordered a mocha and a muffin; after receiving my order, I chose the seat by the window. As I started on the coffee and muffin, I pulled out a book I'd gotten called 'John Dies at the End.' The title gave what happens at the end, evidently, but I still interested to read it. However, it wasn't long until I was joined.

"Hey, I'm sorry for that back there."

I looked to see Sam standing there with a coffee cup in his hands. I gave him a grin. "Oh, it's fine; I rather enjoyed telling the both of you off."

"I could tell… Mind if I join you?"

I closed my book and shook my head. "Go ahead."

He sat down and took a sip of his drink before taking notice of my book. "Another good choice. Are you enjoying it?"

"I just bought it a bit ago," I admitted, sitting back in my chair and folding my arms. I carefully studied this guy, making sure I took every inch of him in; I wasn't exactly sure what to make of him yet. "And I just started reading it; I've not even finished the first page."

"Oh, I-I'm sorry."

"Don't sweat it," I took a sip of my drink. "So, tell me about yourself, Sam."

"What do you want to know?"

"Anything, we need something to talk about."

"Well, I work at a record store. I was named after Johnny Cash, my middle name, I mean. I'm from a small town in Louisiana not far from New Orleans. I am the youngest in my family, I have two older siblings Dean and Meg. My parents are happy back home in Louisiana. I am enrolled at Portland State University, otherwise known as PSU, it's my third year there, and I am studying law," He revealed in under a minute.

"Wow, you're not very open, are you?" I asked him with a slight smile. He blushed which made my smile grow; he was a very cute guy.

"What about you? I don't even know your name,"

I slightly frowned at him. "If I told you, it would ruin the mystery of the George Michael girl, no?"

"I guess…" He had disappointment in his eyes as he looked away.

Sighing, I decided to give him 'some' information. "I'm eighteen, from a small town, and have two siblings."

"Parents?"

"Deceased."

"O-Oh, I'm so sorry—"

"If you apologize one more time, Sam, we're going to have a problem," I couldn't resist saying that; it was becoming a serious problem. "You weren't involved in it, so no need to apologize."

"O-Okay," He nodded and looked away for a moment. "If I guess your name and get it correct, will you tell me?"

"Sure, why not?"

"Emily," He said and I shook my head. "Christine. Heather. Kristen. Angie. Annie."

To all of those I shook my head; he was getting closer and closer to my name, though. "I highly doubt you'll guess it; just raise the white flag, buddy."

"Lilly?"

I laughed and shook my head. "No, sorry."

"If I give up, will you tell me?"

"I'll tell you the first letter."

"Fine…" He gave in. "I give up; I don't know your first name."

"It begins with 'A,'" I told him, to which he huffed as he pondered it again. I hit his arm, which was actually very muscular. "You gave up, Sam, you can't guess it any longer."

"Right," He sighed, running a hand through his shaggy brown hair. "So how long are you staying in Portland? Don't you have school?"

"To answer your second question, I do have school but I'm obviously not there. To answer your first question, I have no clue. It depends on how long my 'friend' wants to stay here."

"What kind of person is your friend that she has power over you?"

I frowned, staring out the window into the rain; I couldn't escape Klaus no matter where I went. "He's a possessive man with anger issues, but he is tolerable at times."

"How old is he?"

I wasn't able to answer because a random man walked up to us and handed me a cell phone. "Klaus wants to speak to you."

The man walked away before I could protest, so I told Sam to give me a moment before I took the phone call where no one else would be able to hear. "Hello?" I said into the phone.

"Andy! How are you enjoying your day off?" The stupid hybrid answered, laying his charisma on thick.

"Well, I made a new friend which, by the way, you interrupted our conversation with a phone call," I answered. "Where are you at, anyways?"

"Currently, Kansas."

I froze up. "What? How are you in Kansas?! You were just in Oregon last night! When did you go to Kansas?! Why are you not in Oregon, Klaus?!"

"I'm picking up some more hybrids; I left last night after you fell sleep."

"Then how the hell did my room get filled with roses?!"

"Oh, I left instructions to my hybrids before departing. I did hand write that note, though. What did you think?"

"I thought it was a cliché," I said without any emotion in my voice. "Sweet, but it was something you'd see in a cheesy-as-cheese-pizza movie. In your defense, however, I know your ways of seducing a girl is like that. I think I should state that I'm not seduce-able."

"No, you only think you're not, but that's why I like you."

I rolled my eyes. "Oh, whatever. I better go now, my friend Sam is waiting on me."

"Tell her I said hello."

"It's a him," I corrected. Klaus and Sam had both mistook each other as females. Klaus was silent for a long moment, and I thought he had hung up on me. "Klaus?"

"Go have fun with the human boy, Andy. I will see you soon enough," And with that, the dial tone greeted me. He had actually sounded angry… Was he jealous?

Shaking my head, I went back to find Sam looking through John Dies at the End. "Hey," I greeted him as I sat down.

"Oh, hi," He sat the book down and smiled at me. "Sorry about reading your book, I'd figured you'd be a while." I heard a strong Cajun accent in that sentence.

"Don't apologize, Sam. Are you Cajun?"

"Yes," He admitted reluctantly. I realized then I had heard the slight accent all along,

"That's cool," I said with a smile to which I earned another smile from him.

"A guy named Klaus called you?" He asked, changing the subject.

"Yeah, that's the friend I spoke of. He wanted to make sure I was okay."

"Well, those guys over there, one of them gave you that phone, have been watching you like a hawk… Is he – Klaus, I mean – in the mob or something?"

I laughed, but no humor was in it. "No, no, he isn't." Though it might be simpler if he were, I added in my thoughts. "How about we talk about something else? Like how much you enjoy PSU."

Sam and I spent a good bit of time talking in café about how much he enjoyed it here. Once it stopped raining, he offered to show me some highlights of Portland to which I gladly accepted (if it turned sour, I did know how to fight considering my months training with werewolves).

He showed me a few interesting places before he actually took me to PSU and gave me a tour of the campus. I didn't even have to step on the campus before I knew was in love with this place. It was absolutely amazing, and I broke out in a goofy grin.

"You like what you see?" He asked and a slight blush came on his cheeks after he said it.

"Yeah, it's beautiful," I breathed out.

"Come on, it's hitting six and we want to finish the tour before dark," He gestured me forward.

Everything I saw about PSU made me want to move here more and more. It was just too amazing not to want to live and study here. We finished the tour just as the sun set, and we now were walking across campus talking. "So you're a high school senior, aren't you?"

I exhaled. "Yes, what gave me away?"

"Well, other than your age, your excitement walking around here."

"Right," I laughed.

"So, are you considering applying here?"

"Oh, definitely. As soon as I get back I'm going to apply here, though out of state tuition will suck. I've got a good chance of a scholarship, though I do have a college fund," I shrugged then playfully nudged him. "Maybe I'll get to come here and work at that record store with Zak and you."

He smiled down at me. "I'm sure Zak would enjoy it."

"Would you?"

"Of course." We smiled at one another as we continued toward his car. Unfortunately, we were interrupted. The two men who had been shadowing us all day walked up to us. They both glared at Sam, but one spoke to me.

"It's time to go," He said in a thick, country accent.

"Give me a minute, will you?" I asked them and they stood there for a moment before backing away and turning their backs to us. I sighed, and turned toward Sam. "I'm sorry about that. Thanks for making this day fun; maybe I'll see you around before I leave?"

"Maybe, A," He smiled down at me.

"Goodbye, Sam."

"Goodbye."

I started walking away but turned back toward him to see him watching me. "It's Andy, by the way."

"Andy... I like it. Goodbye, Andy.

I waved to him before walking over to the two goons. "Come on, what are we waiting for?"

They led me to a black SUV and I climbed in. They drove for about ten minutes before it begun raining; we arrived back at the hotel fifteen minutes later. I didn't really think of anything, I just had a clear mind. I was led by the goons back to the hotel room where, once I got into the room, I was locked up in. I tried to keep my calm as I sat my bags down in my room, where the roses filled the room with a wonderful scent. I grabbed a red rose before going back into the living room.

I pulled out the phone that was given to me earlier and looked through the contacts. I almost hit Klaus's name, but stopped when I saw the only other two names, Stefan and Rebekah. I instantly hit call Stefan.

It rung a few times before he picked up. "Stefan speaking."

"Stefan," I breathed it in relief. "You have no clue how much I'm glad to hear your voice."

"And I should care why?"

"Well, you don't have to sound so rude, douche."

"Don't you like that kind of thing?"

"Yeah, screw you," I spat at him. "Is Elena around?"

"I know I'm supposed to be protecting Klaus's blood bag, which is your sister, but that doesn't mean I have to always be around her."

"You do know that Klaus would totally kill you if I asked, right?" I didn't actually know that myself, but I could still use it as a threat.

Evidently, Stefan did as well, because he didn't respond to it but my question before about Elena. "I just left Alaric and her in front of the Grill. They're trying to get the Bambi killing Stefan back."

Everything suddenly made sense; Stefan wasn't his usual self, he was the ripper. "Well, I expect, as long as you are under Klaus's control, you won't become that Stefan again, if even then."

"Finally, someone who has SOME sense!"

"Well, what choice do I have? Klaus kidnapped me and I'm stuck all by my lonesome with Klaus. I don't want to scare you off, or I'm stuck talking to Rebekah."

"Yikes, that will make you go crazy. Trust me, it did that to me and I only knew her for a couple months."

"Yeah," I exhaled and walked over to the balcony. I walked out on it and went to the edge. I stared down at the street and looked at the passing people. "Klaus told me this was part of my birthday present."

"Tell me, have you already figured out that he daggered Elijah?"

"I guessed as much," I murmured.

"Was it before or after you slept with him?"

"I did not sleep with him, Stefan Salvatore! And screw you if you believe so!" I hung up on him and scowled at the people below me. I did that for a while before I saw a girl that looked exactly like me. I'm not talking about one or two similarities, I'm talking about it was like I was looking in a mirror.

I rubbed my eyes and looked back to the spot, but the person was gone. I exhaled and turned around, suddenly face to face with the girl. The only difference was she had straight hair instead of my curls, and a small smile was on her face.

"Andrea Gilbert, right?" She asked and my eyes widened. She had the same voice as me; this couldn't be possible. Wasn't she dead?

"Anastasia," I breathed out, and stepped back. My back hit the balcony railing.

"No, not quite," She shook her head.

My hands shook and my heart beat began beating erratically. "Emmeline."

"Correct."

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The End of Chapter XXVI