My Doppelgänger

Chapter 37

Over the years I had become quite immune to the way Niklaus had come to control me. His possessiveness was his way of comforting himself that he was indeed protecting me, I knew that and I eventually accepted it, especially after the day I had gone back to being human. Yet, I could not stand the way he had started to hold on to Marcel.

From the day that he came to our mansion, Niklaus and I had numerous fights about Marcel eventually turning into a vampire. I was against immortality at all costs and my husband had not been so keen with my notion. In return, I was quite surprised that he had not yet turned him, but instead had been an adult about it and obeyed my wishes. I woke up every day for the past years fearing the worst, fearing that Niklaus had snapped and finally turned Marcel into a vampire.

After Elijah returned to us, he did his best to stay out of Niklaus' way when it came to Marcellus. He did not wish to take place in another quarrel with his brother and I understood him. He enjoyed his little time he had with his step-nephew, but that was it. He left all the big decisions to me and Klaus, parents of the year.

It had been 8 years since Marcel's eighteenth birthday celebration. Niklaus wanted immortality to be his step-son's eighteenth birthday gift, but Marcel had told me he did not want it, at least not yet. So Niklaus, for once agreed to wait until Marcel was ready. I secretly hoped he would never be, that maybe he would want to live out a normal life, marry a woman he loved, have a big family and live out his days surrounded by children and grandchildren, something he would never get to have if he decided to become immortal. But I knew that a happy ending like this was impossible for my family, we were truly cursed.

However, ever since Marcel voiced his opinions on the subject of immortality my husband had made it his mission to sway Marcellus. He got into his head and manipulated him, in attempt to try and make him choose the dark side. He did not use compulsion, of course, I saw to that, by adding vervain to his tea and coffee. But he got into his head nonetheless. He was controlling him, the same way he did me, the same way he did everyone; his siblings, his whores, his minions. I did not care of his control on me, he was my husband and I loved him still, but I could not bear seeing him get his hands on Marcel. However, I knew I was powerless against the all mighty Klaus and I knew that one day I would not be able to overcome him, not when it came to Marcel.

I remember waking up one early morning, in 1880. I squinted as my eyes made contact with the sun's rays, before I reached for Klaus in bed, only to find out he was not there. I sighed in exhaustion and slumped back in my pillow. I hated how he never seemed to be in bed around the time I woke up. He was always running around the French quarter. How I bloody hated it!

I stood up from bed and pulled a robe around my body, to cover the white shift I slept in. I opened my window's curtains with both my hands and smiled in delight when I saw the grey, cloudy skies and the thunder crackling in the distance. How I adored a stormy day. I pressed my palm against the window and I could feel the chill radiating from the panels. I decided to go downstairs for some breakfast, perhaps even read something if I had the chance.

I called for the servants, but I could not find anyone in sight. I looked around in annoyance. Where were they? I thought to myself as I searched around the room for someone. I heard some noises in the courtyard, I had no time to cover myself from the rain, so I stepped outside and let myself get drenched in the yard. Little I knew that the rain would be the less of my problems for that day.

I inhaled sharply as I took in the sight in front of me. All I could see was blood - pools of blood mixed with rain water. There were two figures hovering above the large pile of dead bodies. I shook my head in disgust and disapproval as I saw Niklaus emerging from somewhere within the bodies.

"Another massacre Nik? This is highly inappropriate, you know that…" I stated to him, crossing my arms, clearly showing my annoyance.

"What can I say sweetheart… I fancied some bloodshed, especially having found a new companion…" he told me as a devious smile appeared on his lovely face, he extended one of his arms and pointed towards the pile of the bodies. His companion's head rose, after having finished off a body. I knew him.

"No…" I whispered as I covered my mouth with my right-hand. I shook my forefinger in my husband's direction frantically.

"NO!" I shouted, before I closed my eyes and buried my face in my hands.

"I told you, not him! NOT Marcel!" I continued to shout, before I marched right in front of him. My husband did not care. He did not care that he had broken me as he turned Marcel into a vampire. He did not care that he had disobeyed my wishes. He simply did not care at all. I could clearly see it as I saw the amusement in his eyes.

"It was his decision darling… I had no say in the matter, of course…" he shot right back whilst he lifted his palms to his sides in a surrendering pose, all the while giving me another malevolent smirk. I closed my eyes and shook my head back and forth.

Then Marcel moved towards me. I winced at the sight of him; his face was still vamped-out and blood was dripping from his neck and mouth.

"Is this what you really want Marcellus?" I simply asked him.

"It is… mother," he told me back. My eyes widened at his choice of words. He blinked a couple of times as he realized what he had called me, then he quickly looked away. He had never called me that, not in the fifteen years I had acted the role he had finally found the will to state. Then again he was definitely having to go through the roller coaster of emotions the transition brought.

"Mother?" I snorted in his direction. I could not see his face as it was lowered to the ground, but I heard him inhale sharply. It was insensitive for me to say, I knew that, but I truly could not believe how after all I had done to protect him from that curse, after all the times I had fought Klaus over the matter, he had finally turned.

"I'm hardly your mother Marcellus… If I were I would have surely done a better job at it… I should have known better than to have you live under the same roof as… this man…" I uttered the last two words with such disgust all the while staring at my husband, who in turn narrowed his eyes in my direction, his lips slightly curled up in amusement - a look he usually gave me when I overreacted or over dramatized things, a sympathetic look he gave me when I was acting crazy or mad.

My eyes darted back to Marcel, who seemed to be a shedding a tear. It was quite a queer sight, seeing someone who had massacred a whole lot of servants to be crying.

"I'm leaving… I hope you two have the decency to clean up the mess you made…" I muttered one last time, before I went back inside. I realized I was shaking badly. I did not know whether it was due to the fact that I was completely soaked from the rain or from what I had just witnessed. It was not the bloodbath. I had seen my fair share of bloodshed and I sadly had to say that it did not have an effect on me any longer. But seeing Marcel giving into the bloodlust was painful. I had tried to keep him from that life for a long time, the same life Klaus had also forced on me, but I had ultimately failed.

"Sweetheart…" I heard him whisper. I blinked a couple of times, before I shot up in bed. I looked out the window in an instant, it was night. I had slept throughout the whole afternoon and from the looks of it, even night.

I did not respond, so I crawled back under my covers and hoped he would close the door and leave me in peace.

"Why must you remain sore at me?" he whispered again. I heard him sigh. I closed my eyes shut further more as if it meant to shield me from him. It probably made my heart beat even faster. I knew he probably had me.

He started to walk into our room. My heart picked up its speed once more.

"You know I can hear your heartbeat, of course?" he chuckled as he continued to walk even closer to the bed. I buried my head even further in my pillow and hoped he would only lie in bed beside me and perhaps stop talking.

"Great… now my wife is a living corpse…" I heard him mumble to himself, while he undressed on his side of the bed.

After he had slowly finished undressing, he slipped into bed beside me. He moved closer to me and started to wriggle around to find the right spot. I hated how he did that, every damn time.

"For the love of God Nik stop squirming around…" I hissed sharply. I bit my lip in defeat as I realized I had given in to the silent treatment I had previously started. At least I had lasted perhaps a few seconds more than I had the last time I was using the silent treatment tactic.

"I knew you could not resist to speak up…" he chuckled to himself once more. He had stopped moving around and was pinned to my back. I sighed in frustration. I could not believe he was finding everything amusing after what he had done.

"I cannot believe you turned him…" I whispered angrily to him as I moved away from him and closer to my edge of the bed. I heard him sigh from behind me.

"Not with this again Lena…" he groaned in a tiresome voice as he moved back to the spooning position he had positioned himself into. He probably just wanted to get the argument over with and sleep, but now that I had started to state my claim I was nowhere close to finishing.

"I hate that you do not give a bloody damn Nik!" I hissed at him, as I moved further away. I had certainly reached the edge of the bed and I had nowhere to go.

"I do not care what you think sweetheart… Now sleep," he shot back, a little harsher this time. I was pushing his buttons and he was getting impatient. I sighed, I did not want to deal with him any more, perhaps in the morning.

"Maybe I should leave you…" I muttered in a rather bored tone.

"It will be pointless… I will find you…" he whispered back in an uninterested tone himself before he stifled a yawn. I could tell he was as tired of his own aimless threats just as I was of mine. It was quite amusing when you think about it. I would have laughed had it been under different circumstances.

"Not with the pointless threats again Nik. I meant maybe I should retire to the guest room you arse…" I hissed in his direction as I stood up from my bed. I could see my husband perfectly clear due to the moon's light coming in from the window. I could see him sitting up in bed and extending his arm to my side of the bed, as he slowly stroked my former spot on the bed.

"Oh come on sweetheart you know how I hate sleeping alone…" he grumbled with a pout. I had to say he was very irresistible at that moment. His blonde hair was slightly messed up, his cheekbones perfectly sculptured in the faint moon's light, and his usual pale torso hinting from beneath the covers.

I rolled my eyes. I was very exhausted, even though I had just slept for a long time and I only wanted to sleep.

"My point exactly…" I told him as I flashed him a false smile, before I picked up my pillow.

"Could you keep it down up there, some of us are actually trying to rest here!" I heard Elijah groan from below us.

"Good to see you're around for the evening Elijah, now sod off…" Niklaus muttered back to his older brother. Elijah said nothing in return. He knew better than to bicker around with Niklaus, who always needed to have the last word.

Niklaus sighed in defeat as he saw me carrying my pillow out of the room and stomping to one of the guest rooms.

I had spent the better half of a month giving the cold shoulder to Niklaus. The night he had turned Marcel was the only interaction we shared in a while. He would always come up to me, hoping I was ready to speak up, but I never obliged. In return, he would of course storm off in a rage, breaking a piece of furniture on the way. I was not about to let him off easy.

Marcel, in turn, was ashamed whenever he was in my presence, but not ashamed of who he was. Our relationship was never the same since that morning, but we had exchanged a few words to each other. Him and Niklaus were tighter than ever, as one would expect.

One day, I decided to leave the house and Klaus to go for stroll around the French quarter. I had never been to visit in my 15 years in New Orleans. I had heard so much about it during the events and banquets Niklaus, Elijah and I had attended over the years, but I never really went to the explore it for myself, at least not without Elijah, Marcel or Niklaus's supervision.

It was not the first time I tried to wander off around the French Quarter all by myself and in return Niklaus would have come to look for me and make sure I had not escaped him. It would also lead to a fight and him dragging me back home, which was why I ended up wondering why he had not done so after I spent the whole morning exploring that day. I was quite puzzled, but I decided to ignore it and enjoy my day for once.

When the start had started to set, I decided to head home.

I got out of my carriage and walked up to my home. I sighed at the sight of it, it was beautiful, but it had also become my prison for the last decade or so. I was sure it was my prison, which did not explain the fact why Niklaus had let me leave the house. I simply shook my head and entered the mansion.

There was no one in sight. Niklaus and Elijah were either out on some curse business, or in the study conjuring up plans together. I sighed once more and decided to retire to my chambers. I would take a bath and sleep. I was walking up to my room, when I heard noises coming from one of the rooms. I stopped dead in my tracks. I recognized the sound, I knew it very well. I opened the door with a loud bang and stormed inside furiously.

"Really, Niklaus?" I screamed in his direction, my hands balled up into fists. I was so angry I could hardly see. The woman who had been previously riding on top of my husband, turned around to face me, a smug smile on her face, before she slumped back into her pillows quite gloriously, her dark hair cascading down her chest all the while not bothering to hide her nakedness.

"Elena! Sweetheart!" Niklaus tried to say, but I managed to cut him off.

"And you whore!" I hissed from between my teeth as I turned away from Niklaus and onto the green eyed and black haired goddess in bed with my husband.

"Get the bloody hell out of my house, harlot!" I fumed once more as I waited for her to leave, only she did not. I pursed my lips in pure fury before I moved to handle the woman with my own bare hands, that's when I felt a sharp pain in my skull. My eyes widened in pain and I clutched both my palms to my head, desperately trying to ease my pain. I closed my eyes shut and dropped to my knees while doing so.

"Enough!" my husband frantically shouted and I felt the pain lifting from my head. I sighed in both relief and anger. It was obvious. The woman was a witch and a powerful one indeed.

"Leave us!" Niklaus yelled, his voice echoing throughout the whole mansion. Her green eyes darted anxiously to Niklaus, then to me, before she wrapped a sheet around her and left the room. I closed my eyes in relief as she departed, her beauty and power were both overwhelming and intimidating.

I turned around, giving him my back as I faced the door and watched her leave. I closed my eyes, and took a few ragged breaths after the little, but very exhausting encounter with the witch. Then I heard him scrambling for his clothes and his footsteps as he approached me from behind.

"Don't!" I suddenly yelled, breaking the silence that was engulfing the room. He stopped walking, I could tell, even if I could not see him.

"You know how much I bloody hate witches!" I screamed as I spun around to face him. Of course, Emily was the only one I ever considered a friend.

At that moment I gritted my teeth as I saw him still shirtless, following his previous endeavours which made his treachery even more painful.

"I do not know why I even bother any more Nik..." I whispered half-heartedly. It was the plain truth. His eyes clenched shut and he looked down to the floor for a moment or two.

"Can you even call this a marriage Niklaus?" I started to say again, as I took a step in his direction.

"We love each other Elena..." he whispered back, his eyes glimmering, I knew tears were about to follow. Tears that only held meaning for that specific moment, a few minutes later his emotional reaction would have meant nothing.

"Then why do you do this to me? Over and over again!" I shouted at him, raising my voice. I had kept my silence when his affairs where secret and out of reach. I was secretly in denial, secretly hoping he would not be with a whore, but perhaps discussing his curse with Elijah or informants, but seeing his betrayal right under my nose made everything so real and it hurt. Worse than when I had burnt to death in Mystic Falls that night.

"You had your affairs too, you know... with the Salvatore brothers..." he hissed at me as his eyes flashed between fury and betrayal a couple of times and his lips were pursed into his usual angry pout.

"Yours have been going for a far longer time Niklaus!" I yelled in return. I sighed loudly, feeling breathless and drained after having to argue my husband.

"I am never emotional with these women Elena! Not the way you had been with those two and you are very well aware of that..." this time he whispered. I was taken aback, it was the truth, but I did not know he was about to wave it in my face. He was right, but him being right did not make his affairs any less painful.

"You should have let me burn in the church... it would have been far less cruel," I whispered one more time, before I moved to sit on the edge of bed, the very same bed my husband had shared with another women a few moments before.

"She is a powerful witch Elena, I need her to help me find a way to break my curse," he told me as he kneeled down in front of me. I looked down to him while his eyes stared into mine desperately.

"You really want to break this curse, don't you?" I merely whispered.

"I do... I really do sweetheart..." he whispered to me, his pale blue eyes blinking a few times before they returned to look into mine. I could almost find myself drowning in them. It had been almost four centuries since I laid eyes on them the first time and they still had that effect on me.

"Maybe you should have her Nik..." I whispered to him, my eyes leaving his pale ones as I turned to stare at the wall in front of me. I closed my eyes and exhaled loudly.

"Elen-" he started to say, before I cut him off with my own words.

"She is a rather perfect match for you if you think about it darling... She's beautiful and powerful... quite the companion..." I continued to ramble quietly in a slow manner, my eyes still fixated on the wall. I blinked a couple of times as I felt Niklaus suddenly clasping one of my palms and interlocking it with both of his.

"You're truly mad Lena... but you know there is no else I would rather spend eternity with... I belong to you sweetheart... Only you..." he continued to say, before he joined me and sat on the edge of the bed beside me. I felt a smile form on my lips, before I turned my head sideways to look at his face.

After that awful night, Niklaus had retired to one of the guest rooms on my request. I was surprised that he obliged and did not argue with me on it. While, I slept in our room. It felt empty without him, of course, but I could not sleep next to him, at least not while I still held images of the witch and my husband going at it.

I heard a faint knock on my door in the dawn of the morning, I immediately shot up and the door opened. It was him, of course. My chambermaids were not ones to visit me in the early morning, they knew I liked to sleep in for a while, but my husband surely did not care about my lie in's.

"Sweetheart..." he whispered as he emerged from behind the door. I could not look at him, I could not really stand to see his face, so I sat on the edge of the bed and gave him my back.

"Why must you remain sore at me?" he sighed, as he neared me. I turned my head further away so he was out of my sight. He exhaled once more at my reaction to his words.

"She was a means of breaking the curse Lena..." he explained, trying to make me understand his twisted logic. I did not respond, I simply did not feel like throwing a tantrum. I knew it would be for nothing. So I remained giving him my back.

I heard him step closer as he always did whenever I gave him my back and the cold shoulder. Also, just like every time for the last 400 years he wrapped his arms around me and in turn I felt myself drowning in his embrace. I never could resist his hold, neither did I want to.

"It's alright my love…" he cooed in my ear, and I closed my eyes, hoping his words would reassure me, and in that moment they actually calmed me down. The anger I felt towards him slipped away and all I could see, think or feel in those seconds were only him.

"We will be together for all time… You and me and…" he started to whisper.

"And Marcel…" I whispered back slowly as a slow faint smile crept on my face, finishing off his sentence.

"Yes, my love... yes..." he whispered back to me.

A/N: It's my birthday, and decided to make some effort in updating. Also, I tried adding some humor around the bed scene with Klaus and Elena, figured it was a little needed. I hope it was not too OOC. Some reviews would be a great birthday gift :)