The More Things Change
by Aivaeh

Disclaimer: Familiar characters, plot elements, dialogue, and settings belong to L.J. Smith, Julie Plec, and the CW. The author of this work of fanfiction has made no money from it.
Summary:
I have no idea how it happened, but one morning I woke up in the world of The Vampire Diaries. Which, aside from the insanity of waking up inside a television show made real, might not be so bad—if I weren't stuck in the body of vampire magnet and doppelgänger herself, Elena Gilbert.
Pairing(s):
OFC x Damon, OFC x Stefan, OFC x Elijah, OFC x Klaus
Rating: M
Warning(s):
Graphic descriptions of violence on par with the show itself. References to sex and drug use. Mind control and all the issues of consent that go along with it. Character death.
Author's Notes: Wow. So, my hope of a chapter every week was clearly way too optimistic. Sorry. My classes this term have been especially demanding. Plus, this chapter was being difficult. But I kicked it a few times and finally got something to fall together. Hope y'all enjoy!

kimchi759 asked the age of the protagonist. She's around twenty-five.

Chapter Sixteen

Anna's car made it to Richmond in a little under two hours. By the time I reached the city's outer limits, dark clouds as big as the city itself hovered menacingly overhead. Besides the scent of exhaust and concrete, the promise of rain lay in heavy in the wind that blew through the window. Merging into the thickening traffic felt a bit like coming home. Except here I knew nothing and no one.

Smart phones weren't a thing. Not yet. Which meant no GPS app to guide me. I had to pull over at a gas station and ask the attendant for directions to the nearest inexpensive motel.

The place was called Eden, but the long, two story building looked as far from paradise as one could get. At fifty dollars a night, I couldn't say it surprised me. I paid with the cash I'd pulled from Stefan's bank card.

The room itself was a throwback to the seventies. A faded shag carpet that might've been tan once. Orange chairs and a table covered in scratches. Wallpaper with repetitive curved shapes that reminded me of a flower bud in an acid-inspired array of faded colors. The only thing that'd been updated was the television—sometime in the late nineties.

Texting the name of the motel and the room number, I collapsed back on the bed. With nothing more to do until nightfall, I went ahead and turned on the television. The local news lulled me off to sleep.


Rain drummed against the roof of the motel, so loud I almost slept through the knocking at the door. Smoothing my hair, I got out of bed and checked the peephole. The blonde on the other side had her jacket up over her head as sheets of slanted rain poured down.

I pulled the door open and stepped aside to make room. "Come in."

"Thanks." She hurried inside and the jacket dropped down.

Lexi Branson was as big a force of nature in person as she'd been on television. From a face made to smile easily and often to the self-confident way she carried herself, she was the kind of person it was easy to like on the spot.

Shaking off her jacket, she turned to set it on the back of the chair. "Hi I'm—oh my god." Mouth open and half-turned around, Lexi stilled and stared.

I left the obvious sarcastic reply of, 'Nope, Elena,' go unsaid. "Human and not Katherine."

Mouth closing, Lexi pulled herself back together. "Right." She took another long, assessing look. I could almost hear the crap she was going to give Stefan the next time they spoke.

But right now she was dripping all over the carpet. Not that the carpet hadn't seen much worse, but Lexi was soaked. "Want a towel?"

"That'd be great."

I went to the small bathroom and grabbed the thin, skin-scraping excuse for a towel the motel offered off its rack. "Sorry." I handed it over. "It's the only ones they have."

She lifted it and said, "Born in the sixteen hundreds. Trust me, I've used worse." After wiping off her face, she wrapped her hair up. "So. How does being in Richmond while Stefan's stuck in Mystic Falls help?"

After introducing myself as Stefan's friend on the phone, I had explained his situation. It was the reason Lexi agreed to drive out to Virginia to help someone she'd never met. "You've heard of the Originals?"

Lexi's lips thinned. "Heard of, sure. They're like a bedtime story for vampires. Big bad granddaddies." Head turning, she treated me to a skeptical side-eye. "I'm not going to like what comes next, am I?"

"Probably not." Grim, I sat on the edge of the room's single bed across from the room's chair. "I need to get into contact with one. Elijah."

"Uh huh." Lexi followed, sinking into the chair. "And this Elijah is in Richmond?"

"I don't know where he is." At her frown, I hurried to add, "But someone who knows how to contact him is here."

"Still not sure where I come in."

I ran my fingers through my hair. "I don't know his name. Or where he lives."

"And you think I do?" One of her eyebrows ticked upward. "I'm guessing this mysterious connection is a vampire. You realize we don't all know each other?"

"I think you'll know this one, or someone who does." I folded my legs underneath me. "He's a student here. Probably at the University. He was turned only a few decades ago and now spends his time earning degrees. He also researches other vampires. He hangs out at a café with tempered glass that allows him to be out during the day."

"Sounds like Slater," Lexi admitted after a moment.

That was it! I beamed. "That's him!" Hands braced on my knees, I leaned forward. "You know how to contact him?"

"Sure." Turning her head slightly, Lexi stared out the corner of her eyes. "You knew all that about him, but not his name?"

"I'm not good with names."

Lexi hummed before settling back in her chair, eyes squinted in thought. "How'd you hear about him?"

I wrung my hands together. "From someone else who was looking for Elijah." True enough that I wasn't lying. Not exactly.

Lexi's eyes flicked over my face. The corners of her mouth lifted into a smile that failed to crinkle her eyes. "Better get this show on the road." Leaning to the side, she dug in her jeans for her phone.


Driving in an unfamiliar city during a storm doing its best to imitate a hurricane at night was not my idea of fun. I spent the ride squinting through the water sluicing down the windshield, looking for street signs.

I was right about Slater attending Richmond University, but he lived closer to the heart of the city, near a bunch of high-end shops and restaurants. While a few high rises stood resolute against the driving wind and rain, we ended up in a more 'historic' center of downtown. Here brick was the building material of choice and the sidewalk had been paved around trees that must've been centuries old. On a clear day I was sure it would be lovely, but at night during a raging storm, the trees howled as their branches whipped to the side, shedding leaves like a dog with mange.

I kept waiting for the storm to relent, but the rain refused to let up. The small waterfall cascading down the windshield nearly made me miss the turn. "There," Lexi said, pointing to a narrow driveway that dipped into a parking garage. I had to break hard and fast to keep from cruising past, causing the tires to slide on the rain-slick street and a car behind me to honk. Grimacing, I guided Anna's car down the slight incline that led to a parking lot built beneath the building. I felt like I could finally breathe easy as soon as the wipers cleared away the last of the rain from the glass.

There were a handful of empty spots to park in. Once the car halted, Lexi was undoing her seatbelt. I hurried after.

The apartment building was what I would call 'Industrial Deconstructed Chic.' It played at looking like something condemned and abandoned but was so deliberate about it that it came off as artificial. Plaster had been partially laid down, but not fully and with several gaps, letting the underlying brickwork show. The stairs were concrete, and their steel railings were a glossy black. The air was fresh, no hint of mold or rot.

Lexi and I climbed the stairs to the top, to a set of double doors where the paint had been sanded off in spots. Lexi knocked.

Muffled footsteps approached. There was a rattle of metal and a door swung inward.

In a baggy t-shirt, loose jeans, and a hoodie, Slater was the most unvampiric of the vampires I'd met so far. His brown hair was trimmed, but I doubt a comb had touched it since he'd woken. He sported several days' worth of stubble. Yet, for all that, he had a pair of lovely blue eyes and the kind of face the Italians liked to carve into marble.

"Hey Slater." Lexi led me in as soon as he moved aside to let us pass.

"Lexi, hi." Slater shut the door, which jangled. Heavy chains dangled from the handles. I guessed that's what vampires resorted to when a human didn't own their dwelling.

"This is—"

Slater studied my face and smiled. "Katherine Pierce, originally Katerina Petrova, changed by Rose-Marie in fourteen ninety-two."

"Actually, I'm Elena," I corrected. Kind of. "Katherine's doppelgänger."

Those pretty eyes roamed Elena's features with renewed interest. "You look exactly like her picture."

"I know. It's creepy," Lexi said.

I glanced between them.

"Can you sense Katerina?" Slater leaned in. "Do you know what she's feeling or experiencing?"

"Oh. No. Nothing like that." Thank goodness. "We just look alike."

He studied me a moment more before turning his attention to Lexi. "You said you needed a favor?"

"My friend, Stefan—"

"Stefan Salvatore? Turned in eighteen-sixty-four by Katherine?" Apparently rambling off facts about vampires as soon as their names came up was a thing with him.

Lexi didn't seem put off by this odd tick. "That's him. He's stuck in a tomb beneath Mystic Falls and," she took a breath, "we need an Original vampire's help to break the spell. Elijah?"

Slater stepped back, blinking. "Okay." He headed down the hall, the end of which led to a large open space. In front of a giant window sat a computer station with eight monitors all crammed together on top. Computer science must have been one of those degrees he'd gotten.

"You know how to get in touch with him, right?" We settled in behind him as he sat down and flicked the mouse to drop his screensaver of a sunrise. "Through a source on Craigslist?"

"That's the rumor," Slater confirmed.

"We need to send a message."

"What message?"

I bit my lip. "About me. Being me. But—without alerting anyone else what I am." Slater had to swivel in his seat, but he and Lexi were both staring at me. I forced out a nervous, "Hah," and tried to explain. "There's others who'd be interested in finding me. That wouldn't help Stefan." It certainly wouldn't help me if a would-be Rose and Trevor turned up to deliver me to Klaus instead of Elijah.

"You want to communicate in code," Slater surmised.

Relieved, I nodded. "Exactly."

"It'll have to be obvious to him and innocent to everyone else," he said.

He was right. Frowning, I turned aside, wondering how to manage that trick. Several ideas sprung to mind, but I dismissed them as too obscure or obvious. Finally, I decided to include a few pieces of information he'd understand as important, but no one else should. "Tell your connection to pass on to Elijah that—I know it's been a while, but I was sorry to learn about his sister Freya's passing. That I'm told I've grown into the spitting image of Tatia. And that I'd like to meet with him to talk about Nik's special day." Slater typed as I spoke. Reading over his shoulder, I realized I had to take some safety measures. Not that anything would really protect me from Elijah, but it might save me from some other vampire. "Leave the where up to him, so long as it's public."

I could see the questions swimming behind his eyes, but Slater settled for asking, "Anything else?"

"No."

Lexi had wandered over to a nearby bookshelf. "Short and sweet."

"Does it sound weird? It probably sounds weird." I frowned.

Lexi cocked a brow. "It's a code sent through a personal ad. It's supposed to sound weird."

"It's sent," Slater reported.

Too late to change it now. "How long before your contact gets back to us?"

He shrugged. "Hours to days."

I frowned and looked to Lexi. "How long can a vampire go without feeding?"

"He'll weaken after a day. It'll take a few more before he starts to desiccate." Lexi moved back to me and, with earnest eyes, said, "Don't worry. It won't come to that. We'll have him out of there."

I forced a return smile and nodded. As Lexi turned to talk to Slater, I wandered towards the window that dominated the room. Rain cascaded down the glass as if a hose were pointed at it. The lights outside winked over the flowing water. I wondered if the same storm would hit Mystic Falls tonight. If the ceiling over the final chamber would collapse and let the water into the centuries' old tomb. I supposed it wouldn't bother the three conscious vampires, there were other chambers. But it couldn't be pleasant—all the wind and water over a giant hole in the ground.

Lexi's reflection moved up behind Elena's. "There's nothing we can do until we hear back from Slater's contact."

"I know."

"Slater says we can stay the night."

Surprised, I turned about. Slater was still at his desk, staring at the screens and typing. "That's—really nice."

"He's a nice guy," Lexi said, grinning.

Guilt twisted my stomach into knots. I hadn't given Lexi and Slater much thought. Hadn't even mentioned their deaths to Stefan. Slater had been a disposable character on a single episode. Lexi, though? I should have said something to Stefan.

"I can see why Stefan likes you so much." My eyes widened, and Lexi's grin morphed into a smirk. "You brood as much as he does."

I mustered a weak smile. "It's been a rough week."

Her arm stretched across my shoulder and I was guided away from the storm-drenched window towards a kitchen straight out of Pinterest board. "Let's see what Slater has to drink."

"Is that a good idea? What if we hear back tonight?"

"You can watch me drink his booze, then." She guided me to seat and nudged me into it.

"Fun."

"What if I throw in some embarrassing Stefan stories?"

My smile grew more genuine. "Sold."

Lexi was as good as her word. While she nursed shots of whiskey, she told me about a Stefan I hadn't met yet. A wilder and playful Stefan.

The rain never stopped, but it did slow after midnight. I fell back asleep on Slater's couch around three.

Lexi shook me awake after nine. "Slater's contact messaged. Tonight. La Roi's. Seven o'clock." She frowned. "Alone."

The hairs all over my arms rose. I took a steadying breath and nodded.


Slater informed us that La Roi was on the higher end of the scale for eating out. Given I was meeting Elijah I wasn't surprised, but I was horrified. I was in the same dirty jeans, shirt, and jacket I'd been in since I'd hit Anna.

Lexi noticed. She needled Slater for directions to a nearby dress shop.

Richmond's streets were littered with fallen branches and tipped over trash cans. The radio reported several areas of the state were out of power. There was no news about Mystic Falls, which I supposed translated to good news.

The store Slater had recommended turned out to be a small boutique. Lexi immediately dragged me over to the cocktail dresses, hands flicking expertly through the hangers. "Any preferences?"

"Nothing too revealing." I shuffled through the first few and blanched at the price tags. I immediately set out to look for something at a more modest price and soon realized that was going to be an exercise in futility. "I think we need to try somewhere else," I said so quietly only a vampire would hear.

"Why?"

"I don't have any money, just Stefan's card."

"I doubt he'd care," Lexi replied as she slid another hanger to the side. "But if it bothers you that much, I'll pay for it."

"You don't—"

"Mind? Not at all, or I wouldn't have offered." Lexi's smile was final as she pulled out an off-the-shoulder mid-length red dress. "Try this one."

It wasn't what I would have picked, but since I wasn't buying, I wasn't about to decline. I took the dress and headed to the changing room as the slide of hangers sounded again behind me.

It felt good to get out of the mud-crusted clothes I'd been wearing way too long. Since I hadn't had the wits to clean up at my temporary motel room, I sighed before slipping into a way-too-expensive dress that I was afraid to touch, let alone put on.

It looked—well. As I'd already learned, nothing looked bad on Elena. The dress complimented her shape, but the color was a little much.

Still, I stepped back out of the room and would have ran into Lexi if not for her vampire reflexes. She looked me over and frowned. "You hate it."

"No. I just—"

"Hate it." Lexi pushed an armful of dresses at me. She grinned. "Don't worry. We'll find something."

I couldn't hold back the small, sarcastic, "Yay," that slipped out.

Lexi snorted before grabbing my shoulders and turning me around. "Shoo. Don't bother coming out if you don't like it." Her voice took on a playfully ominous tone as she added, "I'll know."

"Yes m'am," I replied before stepping back into the cubicle.

It was another four dresses before I found something that was more to my taste. It was a soft heather gray, classically cut as far as cocktail dresses went. Something I could picture on Audrey Hepburn. Elena wore it beautifully.

Lexi gave it a thumbs up. "You like that one."

"Yeah."

"Want to try on a few more?"

I did like this one but knew better than to stop at the first thing to catch my eye. "A few more can't hurt."

"That'a girl." Lexi had another armful to pass over. "Let's see if we can do better."

The next dress I that caught my eye was a one shoulder A-Line midi dress in midnight blue. It was the single shoulder strap that drew me to it. Gathered to the side, Elena's hair fell wonderfully over the bare skin of the other.

Lexi smirked as soon as I stepped past the changing room door. "That one."

"The gray is—"

"Nice. This is amazing." Lexi folded her arms. "And you feel sexy in it."

My brows rose. "Thanks for letting me know."

Lexi's offered a crooked smile. "See? You're getting sassy. You must like it."

"I'm not sure if I'm going for sexy." I thought about Elijah. "Elijah's… classy." I glanced at the gray dress still hanging on the back of the door.

"You're going for what makes you feel best. It's clearly this one." Lexi shrugged. "But it's up to you."

"You like the blue."

"Yeah. Because you like the blue."

"You keep telling me what I like," I pointed out.

"Because you keep feeling guilty about it." Lexi set her hands on her hips. "You need to stop worrying about what other people think, Elena. Life's so much easier when you stop giving a damn."

I bristled. "Because it's that easy."

"No. It takes practice." Lexi walked past to reach over and grab the gray dress. "And the sooner you start," she said, holding up the more conservative choice, "the sooner you'll get better at it." She let the dress sway back and forth in her hand. "So? Which will it be?"

Well. That was practically a dare.


The power had been knocked out in the restaurant's district. When I heard the news, I thought the meeting would be cancelled or moved, but no one sent word. When I arrived at the restaurant, it was immediately apparent why.

Long strands of small silver lights had been strung up everywhere. As if they'd taken a cue from Caroline's decorative playbook but upped their game by a considerably bigger budget and a professional decorator's eye. It was like stars floated alongside the sidewalk, guiding patrons into the gently lit restaurant.

And, naturally, they used actual candlelight at all the tables.

Gripping the small clutch Lexi had purchased, along with a pair of obscenely expensive heels and a headband to help hold my hair off to the side, I stepped up to what looked like the greeter—or maître d', I supposed—dressed in a suit. He had the ready smile of a professional. "Good evening. Name?"

"Elena Gilbert. But," I added as he turned to the computer screen off on a small standing desk beside him, "the reservation is probably under Mikaelson."

After a moment, he nodded. "Mikaelson, Elijah. A table for two."

"Am I too early?" I knew I was. Nervous, I'd set off too soon. The clock in anna's car had said I was twenty minutes early.

I was ready to wait, but it turned out I wouldn't have to. "The table was reserved to be held at six thirty." He motioned towards the full dining room. "This way."

He led me to a table in the back, next to a wall where an oil painting of an impressionist's scene of an eighteenth-century park hung. Tall candles that smelt faintly of vanilla burned in polished brass holders while more lights glowed softly overhead from the rafters. He pulled out the chair and waited for me to sit before stepping back to the table's side.

"I'll have your waiter bring out water and some bread."

"Thank you."

He nodded before heading back towards the front of the restaurant.

I settled into my seat to wait. It was only a few minutes before a server came by with the promised water and bread, along with two sets of menus. Stomach flipping, I settled for a sip of water before pulling out Stefan's phone. Twelve minutes to seven.

I was setting the phone back into the clutch when a man lowered himself into the seat across from mine.

I glanced up and gasped. My heartrate sped up even as the rest of my body froze.

Klaus smirked. "Hello, luv."

I didn't understand how everyone else in the restaurant could sit there, eating and talking like the ultimate predator wasn't prowling among them. We should all be up, screaming and running like the herd animals we were to him. Klaus the Mad picked up the menu with hands that had spilled enough blood to fill a lake. And not a small one. Despite his designer clothes and relaxed posture, he exuded danger. Like nature was trying to give us humans fair warning.

It was surreal, watching him do something as simple as reading a menu. Flipping it to the second page. His eyes gliding down the list of dishes. His lips settled into a slight purse as he read. He was reclining as much as one could in a mid-back chair. Most people would look indolent, but Klaus looked regal. A king relaxing after passing his judgements.

"Mm." he perused the menu briefly before dismissing it. He folded his hands, smiling behind his interlocked fists as calculating blue eyes met mine over their knuckles. "Haute cuisine has always been more to Elijah's tastes."

I stared like a mouse hypnotized by a dancing cobra, its hood spread wide and scales gleaming. He was mesmerizing.

His lips ticked higher. "You do know who I am." His hands fell back to the table, fingers dancing to the silverware. "I suppose you would. Knowing things you should not. Things no one outside the family should." He didn't say family like most would. Like some casual description a group of people you happened to have grown up with, heading off to a birthday party or spending thanksgiving together. No, Klaus turned it into something sacred. Some greater power that could save or damn.

My words were captured by the fear that gripped me tight and wouldn't let me do anything but breathe shallow, panicked breaths.

"This conversation is going to be quite dull if it's entirely one-sided," he mused, finger running over the tines of the smaller fork. "You showed such," he picked a tine and it sang, "boldness in your little advertisement. Not quite as devious as Katerina. Tatia," he hummed, pressing his lips together, "her assets lay elsewhere." His gaze became curious. "How about you? Hm?"

My mouth had turned dry as dust. I picked up the complimentary water and managed to take a sip despite my shaking hand. I even sat it back down without spilling. "I expected Elijah. Guess that makes me the dumb one."

Klaus' head tilted to the side, smile growing. "Don't be too hard on yourself. I've been manipulating kings and tricking tacticians for a very long time."

I couldn't think of anything to say, so I said nothing.

Klaus sat back. "I'm wildly curious as to what, exactly, you do know. And who told you, of course." The clink and clatter of silverware tapping and scraping against porcelain plates around me seemed obscenely loud. It was just a normal night out for all the other patrons. Their murmured conversations wouldn't determine whether they had a future. "Why don't we start there." I heard the command wrapped up in the suggestion, like a knife in silk.

I picked up my water, took another sip. It gave me time to think when he expected a response. I didn't think Klaus was a man who liked to wait. Not unless he had no other choice. "I know a lot."

Klaus waved a hand as he settled even further into his seat.

Granted leave by his majesty, I struggled to put the impossible into words. "I know you grew up in Mystic Falls. Only it wasn't Mystic Falls back then. It was wilderness. To call it a village probably gives it too much credit."

Klaus' expression didn't shift an iota. He merely listened.

"Your parents came from overseas." I clenched my hands into fists, laid them on my lap. "Your mother was Esther. A girl Mikael spotted during a raid and…" I struggled for a diplomatic word for kidnapped, "took? For a wife. They had a child in Europe. Freya."

Klaus leaned forward. "And how do you know of Freya?"

"It's going to sound insane."

"Then from one madman to another." He grinned as if we were sharing a joke.

My fists clenched. "I'm not from this world." His face remained impassive. "This," I pointed at myself, "isn't even my body."

That raised his brows. "No? Are you a witch catching a ride?"

I shook my head. "One pulled me from my world and stuck me in the latest doppelgänger."

Before he could reply, a formal attired waiter with a slight French accent stepped up to our table. "Are we ready to order?"

A flash of irritation that had me stiffening in my seat stole across Klaus' face before it was smoothed away as he turned to look up at the server. Klaus then transitioned into French as he answered. At least, I assumed it was French. I didn't speak it, so I couldn't be positive.

At one point he turned to me, brow lifted, "And you?"

"Oh. Um." In my terror, I'd forgotten to look over the menu. I picked it up… and saw nothing in the way of prices. Great. I should have figured it'd be one of those restaurants. "Just—a second…" I scanned the items as quick as I could. Didn't help. I didn't recognize any of the dishes that were listed.

"Allow me?" Klaus offered after the moment stretched. I nodded. "How do you feel about lamb?"

"Oh, um. I like it?"

His brow raised.

My face heated. "I like it."

Klaus tilted up towards the waiter, and more French rolled off his tongue. "And to drink?" He held up another menu.

I blew out a breath. "I suppose a tequila is too much to hope for, huh?"

The waiter's mouth pursed.

Klaus' smile transformed into a grin. "Mm. 'Fraid so." He set the menu down. "Shall I?"

Well, it wasn't like they'd have blood on the menu so… "Sure."

It didn't surprise me that I didn't recognize anything that he said again. The only wine I had experience with were wine coolers. I seriously doubted anything with a paper label was going to be carried out in one of those fancy silver buckets.

"The lamb. It's good?"

One of his shoulders shifted slightly upwards before dropping. "If prepared well." He rested his chin in the palm of his hand. "So. Plucked from another world, put into my doppelgänger." Klaus' eyes widened as his brows lifted. "None of which explains how you know so much about my family."

"In my world, your lives are, um," I paused. How did I keep ending up having to tell somebody with an explosively violent temper they're a character in a television show?

His brows arched even higher. "Yes?" he prompted.

I blew out a breath. "You're—there's a series of books they turned into a television show. A few shows, actually. You're in them."

Klaus straightened back up and studied me. "You're right." His head tilted. "That is mad."

I grimaced.

Klaus' attention wandered off to the side, glaring off at nothing, before turning back. "And this program is how you learned about my family?"

A cold breeze touched the back of my neck as I began to sweat. I nodded.

Klaus' stare grew increasingly uncomfortable. "What do you know of the ritual?"

"Everything," I whispered.

"Specifics, luv."

"You need the moonstone, a full moon, a vampire, a werewolf, and me. The doppelgänger. Killing us releases whatever binding Esther put on your wolf."

Klaus' eyes seemed to burn a bright, almost ethereal blue. "Then you know you have to die."

I gave a single, short nod.

"Explains why you tried to contact my brother."

"No. That's not—you can't let me stay dead."

"I can't?" Klaus mused, as if charmed by the idea that there might be something he couldn't do.

I winced. "Your mother arranged it so that, if you want to make more hybrids like you, they need to feed on doppelgänger blood to complete the transition."

His stare darkened, and my heart redoubled its efforts to break free of my ribcage. "The doppelgänger that must die to release the curse." His lips curled into a frighteningly blasé smile. "That does sound like something she would do." His eyes roamed the ceiling. I glanced up to see what he was studying now. Nothing but more lights crisscrossing the exposed rafters.

By the time I looked back down, Klaus' surprisingly emotive blue eyes were back on me. He was studying me again, as if he could see the truth written within Elena's own dark brown gaze. "Say I believe this… tale of yours. Why tell me? I haven't had to threaten you once." Cynicism sharpened in his stare. "I assume you want something."

"Yes, but that's not the only reason. Not even the most important." I released a breath. "When I was put inside this body, its original occupant was forced out to the Other Side." I grabbed my bicep and squeezed before adding, "Esther found her. She's—changed her from what she should be. Made her hate vampires." My voice turned apologetic as I hurried to say, "She's convinced her to help kill you and your siblings once she has her body back."

Klaus' brows pinched. "How could such a thing be possible?" Distrust shone from his narrowing gaze and the slight frown his mouth fell into. "And why should you care?"

I swallowed. "Doppelgänger blood made you all what you are. It can be turned against you. And if one of you dies, every vampire sired of that line dies with them." I squeezed my arm again. "We're talking about wiping out vampires as a whole."

"Something I'd think you should be happy to be party to, being human."

"Not all vampires are homicidal."

Klaus' grin widened until his canines bit into his lower lip. "No?" Amusement sparkled from his brightening gaze. "Who am I to argue?"

This was… almost too good to be true. I was still alive. He seemed amused instead of wrathful. I dared to ask, "You believe me?"

"What I believe is irrelevant. What matters is you're here. Now," he said, settling back into his seat. "I'm a bit hurt you tried to contact my brother before me. But I'm willing to hear what it is you want, since you're going to grant me what I've waited centuries to have."

"I've got friends stuck behind a barrier spell back in Mystic Falls. They need to be freed. It'll take a powerful witch or two."

"Easy enough to arrange." Klaus shrugged.

"You don't harm anyone."

Klaus cocked an eyebrow. "Why, you say that as if that's all I do with my day." He picked up a fork, spinning it on its handle atop the table before adding, "I'll have to decline that condition. But I am not without reason, despite what some would have you believe." His eyes lifted back to meet mine. "As long as your friends stay out of my way."

I settled my hands on my lap before curling them into fists. "They don't interfere, and you won't hurt them?"

"Why would I bother?" Klaus wondered. "Anything else?"

It would have to do. "After your wolf is released, you promise to help with Esther. And some others who'll come after us."

"You'd have me on leash like a dog to do your bidding?" Klaus asked pleasantly enough, but his words had me flinching.

"They'll stand against you, too."

"We'll see. I have my own business to see to," Klaus said. I thought about Mikael, and the Originals still in their coffins.

"One last request." At Klaus' pursed lips, I clenched my hands over my lap and forced myself to add, "Katerina goes free."

"Why would I ever agree to that?"

"I promised to arrange it." Klaus looked unimpressed, so I tried, "And it's necessary. To avoid future problems." Frankly, I wasn't sure if Katherine would keep her word. In fact, I was almost sure she wouldn't. But on the slim chance she did… "Please. You murdered her family and chased her for centuries. Isn't that enough?"

Klaus' eyes flashed with that inner fire. "It is not just the matter of her defiance, though that is no small part of it." Klaus words became sharper, enough to slice the air between us and push me back into my seat. "It is for the years I've lived with a curse that could have been undone. A lifetime for which I've waited for you."

He was leaning over the table, eyes boring into mine, stealing my ability to breathe. I'd even begun to grow lightheaded when the waiter reappeared, hands laden with a fancy silver tray covered in steaming plates of food. Klaus blinked and settled back into his seat, the mien of disinterest fallen like a curtain over his face as the food and wine was laid out before us.

With a brief exchange of French between them, the waiter turned away and left Klaus and I to the meal.

"Now. Here is what will happen. Since I'm feeling generous, I will send a few witches to your entombed friends. You will provide me the location of the moonstone while I arrange for a vampire and a werewolf. Then, on the first the full moon, I break the curse." His sights narrowed. "I will do what I can to resurrect you, but the sacrifice happens whether a solution presents itself or not. If you try to escape, I will find your friends and your family, and I will rip the entrails out of each and every one of them inch by bloody inch. If I resurrect you and your blood does not create my hybrids, I will find your friends and family, and—well. You seem like a smart girl." His eyes seemed to gleam in the soft light. "I'm sure you get the point."

My heartrate shot up again, and I had to set my silverware down as my hands started to shake. "Elijah has some kind of potion that was supposed to bring Elena back to life. Maybe."

Suspicion narrowed his eyes to slivers. "How convenient."

"It's true. He meant to give it to Katherine. Katerina."

"Hm." Klaus sliced into a thick cut of steak. "If he was able to procure it, I should be able to."

I watched as he brought the small piece of meat up and into his mouth. "What are you going to do with me until then?" I dared to ask.

Klaus chewed through a dark chuckle. Glancing at me, he made certain to swallow before saying, "My little doppelgänger. I don't intend to let you out of my sight."

Turning back to my plate, I forced myself to take up the knife and fork again. My ears buzzed as I cut off a piece of lamb so succulent that it just about fell apart as soon as the knife touched it. Klaus was now watching me as I took a bite.

All I could taste was ash.