"Sir, she's on the move."
The golden lid snaps shut and the pocket watch is tucked back into its inner jacket pocket. "Follow her. I want to know what she's up to," he nods at the pixie-haired brunette who makes to get into the passenger's seat. He stops her just before she shuts the car door, "Under no circumstances, are you to reveal yourself this time round."
A younger, boyish voice joins in from the driver's seat. "And if she has the doppelganger?"
"You will do nothing but observe. It is imperative we remain out of sight. I cannot let my brother know of our plans."
"But the girl's mental state-"
"Is not of our concern. They need her alive for the spell to work," he replies calmly.
The vehicle's windows roll up as it follows the sedan. He turns his attention back to the wavy blonde tresses of the newborn vampire stepping out of the red Porsche. This is certainly a surprise he didn't foresee.
The blonde turns back to the brunette who is currently on the phone with someone else. The vehicle then drives off in another direction altogether.
He spots the witch with the older Salvatore in the distance, bickering from the looks of their body language. The blonde remains oblivious and continues walking back into the school. She pops out a few minutes later and begins heading for her car, keys in hand. He too, gets into his, nodding to the elder Martin. "Follow her."
"Caroline Forbes? She's the Sheriff's daughter. What business do we have with her?" Jonas Martin scratches his goatee as the other hand steers the wheel.
Unknown Location
The Gilbert girl is once again under the influence. Rose spots the trio exiting the vehicle walking towards one of the foreclosures. One of them tears down the 'For Sale' signage while the other has the doppelganger's arm in her grip. They disappear into the mansion without so much of a word.
Shifting uneasily in her seat, her fingers linger on the interior door latch, her ears hone onto the girl's too-calm heartbeats. Does she not wear vervain anymore? Has this been Katerina's plan all along? Seduce her doppelganger and deceive her friends into thinking she's a long lost twin, only to leave town whilst her faithful ally arrives to do the dirty work.
A hand is placed on her shoulder. She doesn't shrug it off.
"Lord Elijah says not to interfere."
Rose hears the low mutterings between the vampire duo and Elena's calm breathing. "We can't just do nothing. She's all alone and Isobel-"
She has heard of a protege that was rumored to be descended from the Petrova's line. Of stories about a girl with pale skin and long flowing black hair. A free spirit said to rival the great Katherine Pierce. A young girl who has devoted her entire existence to supernatural research. Rose has never seen her in person; she's heard of her, mostly from Slater and his friends.
"Made a deal with Klaus. If he knows we're here… he would definitely bump the schedule. And I much rather like my head and body intact."
A dark blue SUV careens down the empty street, tires screeching in protest as the rubber hits the curb. A blonde female, hair tied up in a ponytail - human with quick hammering beats - exits the car in a hurry. It's the Gilbert guardian. She's seen her in town, hanging around with the likes of the school teacher. The guardian, Sommers, pulls out her phone and Rose hears the faint beeping.
She turns around, eyebrows furrowed, eyes squinting, and she too heads towards the same foreclosure as the trio did.
"Wait here," Rose tells the young warlock. She's out of the car in a matter of seconds and tucked against the side of the mansion, one ear cocked to the sound of the guardian's movements.
The blonde is bold and dangerously reckless, and yet so ever protective for the girl. Rose keeps the side of her body planted and pressed against the concrete building, her eyes peeled at Gilbert's stiff posture. She's seated on a high back chair, clothed (thank god for small mercies), with her arms resting on the arm rests. There's not even a whimper or sound coming from her.
The guardian bursts through the front door, breaking the duo's concentration on the girl. Rose hears the heavy stomping, frantic footsteps ricocheting throughout the mansion's emptiness. She hears her shouting for the girl, "Elena?"
Isobel darts out of the guardian's sightline, just barely. Rose immediately maneuvers to another position to avoid being seen. The guardian must have seen her niece because she all but quickens her footsteps towards her.
The brunette, which Rose is going to assume to be one of Isobel's minions, confronts the blonde with an air of superiority. "Go home and forget this ever happened."
"The hell I will," Sommers growls and Rose hears the loud smack. She chances a glance and finds the brunette's head following through on the slap. This is interesting. The compulsion isn't working on her, which could mean two things. The guardian is aware of them or someone else must have slipped her vervain.
She pushes past the shocked vampire, reaching out to jerk Gilbert out of the trance. However, it is futile because the best remedy to cure compulsion is to kill the source or give the subject a hard knock to the head. Rose sees the brunette recover and she wants to scream or slam against the window to gain the blonde's attention. It goes against Elijah's order and maybe this time around, he wouldn't be so lenient as he previously was.
The guardian never sees it coming; her body drops to the ground in a lifeless heap, while the brunette looms over her. "Fine. Your loss."
Somewhere in Mystic Falls
Pick up.
Hands grip the wheel tightly and then loosening. The Porsche does a U-turn in the middle of the street, earning the driver a few agitated honks from behind. She ignores it in favor of re-dialing the same number for the past twelve minutes.
Pick up. Pick up pick up pick up.
"Damn," she mutters.
She finds the last message and re-read it again. Is there another property you bought without informing me? Because I've found her signal here. Insert Google Maps link. She pulls up the link and takes note of how the tiny red marker is quite close to the border of town.
Gears shift and the engine thrums to life; the speedometer arrow cranks upward to 160. She spies the blue SUV parked nearby but there is no sign of the feisty blonde. The street is deserted, save for another telltale heartbeat, two three beats quicker, waiting in the driver's seat. Just down the opposite lane. The teenager, Hispanic male, isn't looking at her.
She gets out of the car, checks her phone and the signal stays strong. The front door is ajar. She hears voices talking lowly in the background. A heart beats calmly, too steady. It's the smell that attracts her and she's inside the room in less than a second.
Sitting on the lone chaise is her doppelganger with glazed eyes and an expressionless mask. The guardian lies just a few feet away, unmoving and eyes open wide. Dead. No, not dead. The Gilbert ring sits on her ring finger. It explains the absence and unanswered calls.
Still, it was stupid and careless to walk into a room full of vampires. The kinds that aren't the Salvatores. The transactional kinds. She knows because she's one of them. She snaps the wavy brunette's neck, throwing her aside like a ragdoll. She hears a crash a second later. Hope it hurts.
Her protege responds to her presence a second too late. She's slow and hates it when there's a sudden change in plans. Katherine knows and uses that to her advantage. She grabs Isobel by her long glossy locks, viciously yanking her away from Elena.
"She's your daughter."
I had a daughter. They took her away from me. What did you do with yours?
Her descendant only laughs in her face. She yanks harder. Isobel lets her, her lip curling, "You've gone soft, Katherine darling."
She spins away, escaping her grasp. Katherine doesn't know why she bothers reasoning. It becomes clear in the recent centuries that Isobel had no interest in meeting her daughter. Had never once cared about her since her turning.
Her hands curl into fists, fingernails biting into her palms. Isobel caresses the contour of Elena's face with a lone finger. She wants to crush that finger into dust. She doesn't; forces herself to stand there. Isobel leans devastatingly close into the girl's personal space with an enigmatic smile. "Do you remember what you said to me back then when it was just us?"
Katherine remembers it word for word. They've been at a high. Spent decades moving and then at a turning point, Klaus simply stopped his quest. They spent two and a quarter years in Barcelona. The longest they spent in the heart of the city. "So long as you're by my side, the rest of the world can go fuck themselves," Katherine recalls.
Isobel smiles and rises behind Elena as if she needs a buffer. "I already made the deal with Klaus. He's coming, and soon, we can be together."
"Why have you abducted her? Bring her out here. You never expressed a desire in her before." She inches closer, hears the telltale faint beating coming back to life. The guardian's close to waking up. She'd want answers, for sure. She'd be more annoying if she finds she's in cahoots with Isobel all along. Katherine can't have the blonde questioning where her loyalties lie.
"I saw how attentive you were to her and you gave me the same look you did with her," Isobel shrugs. "I got jealous. I admit it. I want you back. I've missed you. Don't you miss me?"
She doesn't. It's a relief not to be the responsible one. Whenever they're together, she ends up having to clean up her mess, doctoring memories of any unfortunate souls. Sometimes, she misses traveling alone.
It must have been her hesitance that gave her true self away because Isobel moves away from Elena and walks to the unconscious vampire. She picks her up so gently, cradling her head, not before leaving with a parting remark. "You and I both know she was born to die."
Katherine waits eerily still until she's almost certain that there's no one else, before reaching her doppelganger in three strides. She kneels in front of Elena; her hands run down her arms until they reach her hands.
She squeezes them tightly. "What did they do to you? Talk to me, Elena." A pause. An idea comes to her; it's far-fetched but it's all she has. "I'll be back," Katherine mutters and runs out of the mansion, towards her car. She rummages the glove compartment until she finds the slim black case Lucy had given her.
Inside the case lies a simple silver bracelet chain spelled with vervain. She smiles and disappears back into the mansion. She wraps the chain around Elena's wrist and clasps the tiny hook onto the end. It may or may not work, having the spelled vervain counteract against the compulsion, neutralizing the subject.
She counts the beats, hears the frantic skips in the beat, and a smile breaks out. "Hey, hey. It's me. Just me." and Sommers taking a nap.
Her hands hover above Elena's, not quite touching. There's no telling what Isobel might have done to her. Physically, she looked fine but Isobel has always been particularly good at digging.
"Katherine?" She lurches forward. "W-where where are we? Is this our- I don't recognize this room." Katherine steadies her, turning her body slightly to block the younger girl's view of Sommers. No need to send her into a panic attack.
"It's a long story. What do you last remember?"
Elena scrunches her face, one hand gripping hers. "I don't know. School. Did I come from there? Ohh…" She trails off, her face turns pale and ashen. Her mouth forms an 'O'. She turns to her in panic. "I- she-"
"Isobel," Elena manages, "she… she was with me… in school, I think. I don't know. It's all in pieces." She looks down and sees the chain coiled around her wrist. "What's this?"
"Don't take it off. Not even for me."
Elena looks at her. "I don't understand. Why can't I?"
She holds her face in her hands. "Because this will keep you safe. It's spelled with vervain. No one else can compel you or remove it from you by force. I should have given it to you earlier."
Elena nods and smiles down at her. "Okay."
"Come on, I'll give you a ride home." She can come back for Sommers later. Get her doppelganger back to the safe confines of her home, and then deal with the fallout. She's about to scoop her out of the chair and into her arms when Elena turns to her with furrowed expression.
"What did she mean I was born to die?"