The House Guest
Her alarm had gone off more than half an hour ago but she was so comfortable. She couldn't bring herself to crawl out of bed, even if it did mean missing first period. Damon's arm was still around her waist, just as it had been when they'd fallen asleep. Louise had drifted off into a rather calm state. Not asleep but not awake either. She could feel Damon stirring behind her and a few silent moments later she felt his hips grinding against her backside.
She hummed softly, a small smile creeping on her lips. "Damon..." she muttered, into a playfully cautioning tone. "If you don't stop that I'll end up missing second period too."
Louise pushed him back on to the mattress and climbed up on to his body, letting her legs part in a effort to stimulate the doll throb that had been pulsating between them since the moment she had woken up.
She used her index finger to hold his chin in place as she nibbled along his lips, down the side of his neck and to his chest. She made a trail of kiss from his sternum to the top of the bed sheet that was wrapped around his his, the deep v of his abdominal muscles disappearing beneath the thin material.
The brunette let out a tiny squeal when her boyfriend took her by surprise, he wrapped his hands under her armpits and pulled her up to him.
When their faces were level he sucked her bottom lip into his mouth and ran his tongue along it. He smiled when she opened her mouth wide against his, clearly trying to initiate a much deeper kiss. He opened his mouth to and sealed their lips together, using his tongue to prod around. When his tongue found hers, he sucked it into his mouth. Her moaning was becoming rhythmic and audible. He slid his hands up under the back shirt and held the arch of her back, grinding their pelvises together.
He grabbed her ass and flipped them over, crouching down between her spread thighs. He unbuttoned the old button left on his shirt that she wore then paused and let himself take in the moment. Her eyes were hooded and dark with lust. He ran his index fingers over her lips.
He kissed his way down her body, mirroring what she had done to him moments ago. Louise's mouth went slack. The lower Damon's lips got, the wider her mouth opened, anticipating what was to come. She stretched her arms up over her head, arching her body towards his mouth, desperate for satiation.
Damon nibbled the sensitive flesh below her belly button and then paused, looking down at the little pad of fat, which was expanding and contracting with each breath. He brushed his lips over the silky skin before he looked up at her, her hair fanned around her like a halo, her fingertips just barely brushing the mahogany headboard.
He had to have her.
He made his way back up her body and nestled his head in the crook of her neck, taking bites of the creamy skin and sucking them between his lips. He extended his arm out and groped over her breast. Louise took his hand in hers and ran it the length of her body, trying desperately to get his fingers where she wanted them.
When their hands reached the waistband of her lacy black panties, they pushed them down her legs and she kicked them from her feet. Damon braced his weigh on either side of her torso and wiggled his hips to get his length where he wanted it. He could feel the wetness seeping from her, making it easy to thrust into her.
Louise winced upon the initial intrusion. She bit her lip and her hands flattened on the headboard. Warmth radiated from the point where their bodies connected.
She relaxed her muscles and let her legs fall open as he continued to thrust into her, his lips still working across her throat. She allowed her eyes to opened and chose a spot on the ceiling to focus on, trying to postpone the orgasm that was building in her lions but it was losing battle.
She dug her fingers into his shoulder blades an let her eyes close as orgasm overtook her. Pin pricks of light exploded inside her eyelids. Her muscles clenched and her lips parted. She felt Damon releasing into her quivering body before he collapsed onto her, face falling to the pillow.
Their bodies stayed in a heap of sedated limbs, perspiration dampening the sheets under them. Damon lifted his head far enough for their cheeks to rest on each other, his morning stubble tickled across her skin. The sensation made her giggle and she pulled her head away.
"That tickles."
"You haven't exactly given me a chance to shave yet." he joked, kissing his way over her cheekbone and to her lips. He bit her protruding lip and growled playfully. Louise groaned.
"Don't you dare." she mumbled, bringing a finger to press into the skin of his shoulder. "I have to go to school."
"Right." Damon pecked her lips one last time before he removed his body from hers. "School." He pushed himself off the bed and stood up, leaving her alone in his massive bed with her legs splayed. "Go. Learn. Get smart."
She smiled up at him and brought her thighs back together, metaphorically ending their sexual encounter. Damon extended his hands to her and pulled her into a standing position. He enveloped her in his arms, kissing the snarled hair on the top of her head.
"Will you at least drive me to school?" Louise asked with a childlike glint in her eyes.
"Of course." He watched as she detangled herself from his arms and walked into his bathroom.
In the parlour of the boarding house, Damon lounging on the sofa reading the pages of Jonathan Gilbert's journal. His uncanny hearing captured his attention and turned his head to see the face of his girlfriend wandering towards him, already dressed and tugging her coat as she went.
"Are we ever that loud?" The familiar sultry voice cloaked with innocence asked, eyes flickering upstairs, hearing the lovey-dovey couple's laughter and flirtatious banter emanating from Stefan's bedroom.
Damon eyed her suspiciously before he was rushing over to her side and slamming her against the wall, his hand curled around her throat with a tight grip. "What are you doing here? I told you to leave!"
Brown eyes widened in shock, while her features contorted in confusion. "Damon? What the hell?!"
Damon reacted with a scoff, unaffected by her pitiful attempts at fraudulence. The woman was a natural when it came to identity thief and the Salvatore liked to believe he was immune to her conniving ways. His eyes took in her apparel. She either stole from her own doppelganger or she went all out and bought her own Louise style wardrobe. "You're wearing her clothes? Like that's going to work."
He watched as the girl underneath his hand shifted for a moment. He expected her to give him and shove him off with her vampire strength but instead, he watched as the brunette's features fell and she gripped at his hand with human strength, managing to get a few words out from his tight grasp.
"You think I'm Vivienne?" she questioned. "Why would you think that? She's in the tomb! Isn't she?"
At that moment, the other doppelganger came barrelling down the stairs, flinging her school bag over her shoulder. "Damon, I'm-" She cut herself off when she saw her boyfriend pinning her vampire ancestor to the wall. She folded her arms, with a raised brow. "What the hell is she doing here?" she questioned through gritted teeth.
"What am I doing here? Why the hell are you here?" Vivienne continued with her charade.
"You're kidding me, right?" Louise asked in utter disbelief.
"You're suppose to be in the tomb." Vivienne said before she turned to Damon. She focused on putting on her best Louise impression, her eyes softened. "What's going on, Damon?" Damon released her as if he was burned, suddenly unsure about his previous confidence regarding her true identity.
"What? You're seriously going to pretend that you're me? I'm Louise."
Vivienne focused on Damon as she spoke. "Don't listen to her, she's lying. I'm Louise." Damon's electric blue eyes flickered between the identical faces. "Damon?"
"I-I-" Damon stuttered, unsure of what to say.
"You've got to be kidding me! That's Vivienne!" The anger in Louise's voice didn't go unmissed as she pointed to Vivienne. Before Vivienne could chime in, Louise spoke again. "If I was Vivienne, why would I be wearing my necklace."
"Damn it! That was really fun..." Vivienne pouted slightly, finally dropping the façade. A cat like smirk appeared on her face as she eyed her doppelganger. "A bit too easy, might I add."
Katherine pretending to be Elena came downstairs, flipping her hair from of her jacket collar. She faked gasped when she saw the two identical doppelgangers. "What the hell's going on here? Katherine and Vivienne are out the tomb?" Her voice borderline hysterical.
"What?" Stefan's voice came from behind her. His forest green eyes widening. In a flash, he was up the stairs in his room with everyone hot on his tail. Stefan mimic his his brother's previous actions by slamming the doppelganger against the wall by her throat. The more she pleaded, the tighter Stefan's grip became.
"Stefan, you're hurting me!"
"Stop it, Katherine!" Stefan roared.
"Stop what?" The real Katherine revealed herself, her tone victorious and smile sly. "It's getting really easy being you." She boasted at her doppelganger with a palpable glee. And once again mimicking his elder brother's reaction, Stefan released his girlfriend from his brutal grip as though he had been burned.
Rubbing her throat, Elena glared at her smugly smirking ancestor. "What is she doing here?"
"Excellent question," Louise agreed, swivelling around to give Katherine and Vivienne a menacing glare. "What are you both doing here? You're suppose to be locked away nice and tight in the tomb. How did you get out?"
"When we killed Elijah, it broke the compulsion and freed the bitches from the tomb." Damon answered.
"How's that possible?" Stefan chimed.
Vivienne played with all sorts of things in Stefan's room, and it was unbelievable frustrating. "He's an Original." she explained, picking up a feather pen and waved it about. "They have all sorts of special skills."
"I don't want them here." Elena mumbled throatily. "Get them out of here."
Louise raised her hand. "I second that."
"You need us, Elena. You all do." Katherine informed them silkily. Her eyes roaming over Stefan's form, narrowing ever so slightly upon seeing him standing in a protective stance in front of previously defenceless Elena. Stefan muttered something but Katherine continued to make a case to the tough crowd. "We all want the same thing...Klaus dead. Yet here you all are, running around like chickens with their heads cut off."
"I don't need your help and I don't want it." Elena stubbornly said, prompting both Vivienne and Katherine to roll their eyes.
"And that's incredibly stupid of you. Do you know where Klaus is? When he's coming, what he looks like?" Vivienne bombarded them with pertinent questions, snapping them back to reality of how utterly screwed they were.
"If you know something, say it or get out." Damon growled.
"Fine. Then we'll just go to the Grill and have some lunch..." A thought popped into her head and she turned to her sister with a smirk. "Maybe Aunt Jenna's free for a bite."
"Wanna cut class today?" Damon asked casually, as he drove his girlfriend to school. He looked over at her out the corner of his eye. "You look like someone in dire need of a distraction or a drink. Just say the word and I'll break rules with you, my personal preference being running from this town."
"Damon Salvatore running from the action instead of being in the middle of it - I never would have imagined it. Weren't you the troublemaker, once upon a time, whose only only goal was to bring misery to town?"
Damon shook his head and shrugged. "I didn't have anyone to keep safe back then, especially not someone constantly in mortal peril. I've been on the internet since last night to find the safest, read: most boring, place on this planet to keep you in."
"And what have you found?"
"That those pop ups are annoying and that I can buy practically anything I want online - we're talking every imaginable variation of a black shirt. But on the safest place - I think you're good where you are as long as I'm around."
"I can't run away, not today. I have a life to get back to and a bit of normalcy to hang on to through school. But ask me again in the summer?"
"Sorry, already have plans. See there's this girl and we sort of agreed to meet at this awesome beach at sunset..." Damon trailed off as Louise punched him in the arm. "Alright, I'll cancel." He rubbed his arm. "Jealous much.." He muttered under his breath.
"I heard that." Louise glared at him.
"I know. I wouldn't have said it out loud if I didn't want you to hear. Duh."
"Does every conversation with you have to impossible?"
"Such a complainer, Louise but I'll over look that since I love you and all."
"And I'm going to let that comment slide because I love you too."
A playful smile danced on his lips similar to Louise's. "Good to know we're still on the same page. I'll cross my fingers it doesn't change anytime soon."
Louise laughed aloud as she looked out the window. After a brief moment, she spoke again. "You really think after everything we'll change our minds...about us?"
"Not about loving each other, no." Damon responded honestly. "But deciding to stay is a different question altogether, Louise. Who knows when one of us will suddenly become stupid and feel like it's the brightest idea ever to end this relationship if it will save a life? If you haven't noticed that crossroad is one we often cross in fair Mystic Falls."
"I'd say we have a solid maybe to that question. First instinct to be heroic but somehow we'll always be drawn to each other, like a moth to a flame." Damon said eyes on the road as his hand found Louise's. "Look it's too early for us to channel Stefan and start brooding over things that might never even happen." He pulled to a stop in front of the school, switched off the engine and turned to face Louise. "Go to class, doodle my name in the margins of your notebook, pay attention to the teacher when you absolutely have to and laugh with your friends in between. We'll hold on to whatever you want to call 'normal' for as long as we can. Deal?"
"Deal." Louise said shaking his outstretched hand before surprising him with a quick kiss on the lips, leaving the car almost immediately after.
Damon shook his head, rolling his eyes as he watched her go, laughing to herself as she tried hard not to turn around to see his reaction.
Louise met the gaze of Caroline's from across the courtyard as she shortened the distance between the two. "Hey, Care, what's up?"
"Have you heard from Tyler?" Louise thought back to the couple of nights ago, when Tyler had tried to attack the Salvatore's not knowing Louise and Elena were apart of breaking the sun and moon curse. Elena had said he seemed shaken that night.
"No, why?"
"I think he's skipped town or something because nobody's seen him. It seems weird." Caroline explained, her voice full of worry.
"Why don't you ask Matt?" Louise gestured towards the human boy walking into the building with a pile of flyers in his hand. The brunette honestly had no idea what was going on with Caroline and Matt as of late. She knew that Caroline had become very close to Tyler and that this had caused increased problems between herself and Matt.
"I should..." Caroline trailed off a little anxiously. "I'll see you later. If you do see or heard from Tyler-"
"I'll let you know." Louise promised.
Louise wasn't the only one who was using the day for education. Damon headed own to the cellar - he was determined to find a way of destroying Elijah more permanently. There had to be some way of truly killing an original. He was just tackling the body with a flame gun that had belonged to one of the hardier Salvatore relative when Vivienne entered. He felt his teeth go on edge immediately at her presence - it was like a plague of his life, having her around.
"Mmm, burning flesh." she said, by way of greeting. "If you're trying to get the dagger back, you're wasting your time. He's indestructible."
"No kidding." Damon huffed. "How do you know so much about Original vampires?"
Vivienne shrugged. "Spent 500 years running from one."
"So when I told you my plan to kill Elijah, why didn't you warn me that I'd die if I used the dagger on him?" he demanded, though he already knew the answer: Vivienne was selfish.
"Oh, there's so many rules. It's all very confusing."
"Did you know I would die?"
"Did Elijah tell you his plan? Did he have a dagger to kill Klaus with?" Vivienne returned his question with her own. As usual, she was being evasive.
"Why are you still here?" he snapped for the millionth time since the previous night when she'd shown up in his shower.
"Because you haven't forcibly removed me." Vivienne teased, moving forward. Damon pointed the flame gun menacingly at her - burning a vampire was on sure fire way of forcibly removing them, permanently. "Damon." Her eyes were glued to the gun. "You wouldn't."
"Oh, I would." Damon promised.
"Damon, be smart. I want Klaus dead just as much as you do. More. If I wasn't be honest about helping, I'd be long gone by now, okay? You can hate me. But we want the same thing. And you know...I always get what I want." Damon refrained from rolling his eyes at her usual provocative way of speaking, but he lowered the flame gun. He knew only too well that Vivienne would be as far as away from Mystic Falls and Elijah's body unless there was an advantage to her staying - and as far he could tell, Vivienne would do anything to be free from Klaus.
"I wanted out of the tomb." she said smugly as she made to leave. "Didn't matter who paid the price. Of course I knew that you'd die."
He tried to be surprised that Vivienne valued his life so little, but after deceiving him for over a century, nothing shocked Damon anymore when it came to her and the levels of cruelty to which she would sink.
"Hey, Ric." Elena greeted, looking around his classroom to check it was empty before closing the door behind her sister. "I guess you've heard the news?"
"One of these days the news might be something normal." Alaric responded, shaking his head.
As Louise took a seat at one of the desk, she noted that up lose he looked tired and stressed. The girls and Alaric could never speak freely in front of Jenna so it was quite some time since they had caught up between them on everything that had been going on lately.
"Is everything okay, Ric?" Louise asked with some concern.
"No, not really." He admitted. "And you can thank your uncle for that." Louise felt the usual bristle of annoyance she always did whenever John was mentioned. Elena sighed, eyes flickering towards her sister as she ran a frustrated hand through her hair.
"What did he do?"
Alaric explained his argument with Jenna. Apparently, John had pointed out some of the shadier aspects of Alaric's behaviour which, too Jenna, looked like red flags given that she had no idea what was really going on.
"It was bad." The history teacher finished. "You know, John planted all these seeds about Isobel and now Jenna knows I'm lying about something."
Louise bit her lip; all the secretes they were keeping between them were catching up with them one way or another.
"John's going to end up dead on the kitchen floor if he's not careful." Elena said forebodingly.
"Yeah, well, easier said than done. I gave him back his ring so...Look, Jenna keeps asking about Isobel. You know, was she murdered? Why haven't they found the body?" His eyes flickered between the two brunettes. "I mean, how much longer can she stay in the dark?"
"You think we should tell her the truth?" Louise's eyes widened at the thought. Ever since Jeremy had discovered the truth about the strange occurrences around Mystic Falls, Louise had been in two minds. Most people were safer not knowing the truth but sometimes keeping them in the dark was even more dangerous. And if Jenna started digging up things about Isobel, it would only lead to trouble. "I just thought that we'd at least hold off until after we've dealt with Klaus."
Elena exhaled deeply and began to question herself out loud. "How do we tell someone what we know? How does someone hear that?"
Alaric looked at the girls seriously. "Look, I'm sorry to put this on you both. But I feel it's your decision to make. And whatever you decide to do, I'll respect it. I want to be honest with her. But until then, Jenna and I are done."
Damon was not enjoying being trapped in the house with the Pierce sisters. Their presence aggravated him and he didn't trust either of them.
Elena had brought back some of the Gilbert's journals from the lake house, with the idea they may be able to learn about the Originals with further study. Damon decided to peruse these and was just getting them organised when once again, Vivienne along with Katherine entered the room.
"What you up to?" Kathrine ask him.
"None of your business." The Salvatore responded, without even looking at her.
"We're pouting now?" Vivienne asked, then examined the books. "Are those the Gilbert journals?" Damon recalled Vivienne teasing Pearl about Johnathan Gilbert's obsessive need to write everything down a long time ago. He had often teased Stefan about the same thing. The memory, though, bothered him more than anything else. He had hung onto every word Vivienne said back then, and remembering it only made him angry. "How are we supposed to help you if you won't tell us what you're up to?"
Damon looked up at her. "Can you tell me where a bunch of witches were massacred in this town a couple centuries ago?"
"No." Vivienne pouted.
Damon's eyes flickered towards Katherine who bit her lip and responded: "Nope." Popping the p.
"Then you guys can't help." His static response merely led to Vivienne lunging for one of the journals. Carelessly, he slapped her hand away. Vivienne retaliated and Damon threw her down onto the chair, pinning her there. For a second their faces were inches away from each other und Damon snarled and let her go.
"If it's any consolation, I'm glad that you're not dead." Vivienne told him, getting up. "Emily Bennett told us about the massacre. It was a big deal in witch folklore." She sighed after a moment. "When a witch dies violently, they release a mystical energy marking the place of their death with power."
"Elijah wanted to know the site of the massacre." Damon returned her snippet of information with a hesitant bit of his own.
"What was he going to do when he found it?" Katherine wondered aloud with a frown.
"I don't know." Damon shrugged as Stefan entered the house, making his way into the living with them. "What did papa witch and baby witch have to say?"
The younger Salvatore looked between the twins with an automatic dirty look as greeting. "Aren't gone or dead yet?" he asked, making Damon chuckled.
Katherine tutted irritably. "For the last time, we're here to help. Can we skip the secrets, hmm?"
Damon and Stefan exchanged a look: it seemed that Katherine and Vivienne wasn't going to be shaken easily as they had hoped.
"Elijah had no weapon to kill Klaus but he believed that if a witch could channel enough power...They wouldn't need one." Stefan explained. Damon nodded; everything seemed to be starting to make sense now. It was also apparent that Vivienne hadn't been lying about the witch folklore, if it tallied with what the Martin witches were saying about Elijah's plan; the power would come from the spot of the witch massacre. The question now, though, was how they were going to find it.
"Chinese food or pizza?" Caroline asked with a grin as she hopped on the Gilbert's kitchen counter beside Louise, her blank tablet eagerly clutched in her hands. The blonde always seemed to know what was needed when she suggested another girl's night to get away from the drama.
Louise grinned. "Like you have to ask."
The blonde's already bright smile widened as she switched on the tablet but what happened next was practically like clockwork. Her background, a picture of her and Matt from Founder's Day, stared up at them almost instantly erased her smile.
Bonnie's eyes widened at the sight of the image and within seconds she snatched the device from the frozen vampire. "I'll do it."
"Do you believe that Jonas is being sincere?" Elena asked suddenly, her frown line prominent as she tore open a packet of pretzels before pour into the contents into a bowl.
"I don't know what to believe." Bonnie admitted with a shrug, looking up from the tablet. "I think he's at a loss. He's not sure who to trust."
Elena pursed her lips. "Join the club."
"Well, what are we going to do about this movie situation?" Caroline chimed in, changing the subject. She was back to cheerfulness which momentarily shocked Louise with house quickly she had recovered from her heartbreak moments ago. "What about "The Notebook"?"
Elena chuckled with a shake of head. "Caroline, how many times have you seen that movie?"
"That is so not the point." Caroline gave the brunette a pointed look.
"Oh, how about 'P.S I Love You'." Louise suggested. She wiggled her eyebrows as she added. "Gerald Butler and his sexy Irish accent."
"That's a good idea." Bonnie agreed.
"But, 'The Notebook' rules." Caroline pouted.
Just then walked into the kitchen like a woman who had somewhere to be and in Jenna's case that usually meant the freezer where she kept her secret stash of Ben and Jerry's ice-cream. Her stride halted the moment her gaze fell on the teens crowding the kitchen. "What's going on?"
"Girls' night." Louise answered, throwing a pretzel in her mouth.
"Oh." Jenna smiled, but that didn't fool anyone.
Elena couldn't resist. She titled her head slightly as she asked: "How are you doing?"
"You heard about my fight with Ric." Jenna acknowledge.
"He feels terrible." Louise chimed in with an awkward smile.
Jenna squinted her eyes, looking at all four girls suspiciously. "Is this some kind of disguised attempt to cheer me up?"
"No." Elena shook her head. "No, this is about us girls hanging out and you know, we'll be here if you happen to want to talk, or..."
"Because I am a winner when it comes to successful relationships." Caroline muttered with an eye roll, her voice dripping with sarcasm.
Jenna shot her a sympathy look. "You, too?"
Caroline pursed her lips. "You have no idea."
"Okay, then." The older woman caved and moved to the isle to join them. Elena smiled triumphantly as Jenna moved to the fridge. She pulled out a bottle of water. "It's this whole Isobel thing. He's hiding something from me."
"To play devil's advocate," Caroline began. "Maybe there is a great reason why he's not telling you." Everyone at the table knew what that reason was except for Jenna. "Maybe he is just trying to protect you."
"Well, that's not his call to make." Jenna protested. "I mean, I deserve the truth. Everybody does."
"Sometimes it's harder than that."
"Not if it's somebody you care about, it isn't."
A wave of guilt washed over the teens as the kitchen fell into silence and already Louise and Elena were sending each other disgruntled looks. Not being able to take depressed energy that fell over the room, Caroline interrupted the silence by clapping her hands.
"You know what we need? Dancing. There is a band at the Grill." Caroline's clapped her hands once again but this was with delight when everyone agreed. Soon enough all the girls were rushing out the door and heading to the Grill.
Damon was still pondering a little while later when he got a call from Louise. "Hey," he said down the phone. "Isn't it suppose to be girl's night?"
"It is, we're at the Grill with Jenna..." He waited. "Do you think she should know?" The questioned surprised him a little, thought he had thought of Louise's aunt and her place in the secret supernatural dramas that went on in Mystic Falls. He was thinking about his answer when Vivienne looked over at him and pulled a face with the roll of her eyes.
"Do you think she can handle the truth?" Damon asked in return. He didn't know Jenna that well but he knew she was generally easy going and kept things that way. Being in the dark was bound to affect her.
"I don't feel like there's a straight forward answer, I just...I'm starting to think that if we don't tell her, she's going to find out in some horrible way...Look, I'm sorry, I have to go. I just wanted to speak to you." Louise finished, her voice warming up towards the end. Damon felt himself smiling as he bade her goodnight.
"I'm bored." Vivienne announced, almost as soon as he was off the phone, leaning over his shoulder to see what he was reading. "Emily Bennett was taken by the Council today. They kidnapped her from her home and took her to the same location her ancestors were burned a hundred years ago." The brunette read aloud. "So Emily died on the site of the massacre, too. Does it say where?" She tried to take the book from him but he kept it out of her reach, giving her nasty look.
"You know this whole friendly, cooperative thing? I don't buy it." He informed her bluntly.
"I have no reason to lie to you, Damon." Vivienne told him silkily. He ignored this.
"Lie." Damon accused, pointing at her.
"I'm hungry."
"You're the unwanted house guest. Go feed yourself."
With that blunt and disinterest statement, Vivienne huffed and walked out of the room, unhappy to be ignored and treated they way he was treating her. When Vivienne was gone to get herself some blood from the basement, Katherine spoke up.
"You do know I was sitting right here the entire time right?" she asked.
Without looking up from the journal, Damon responded. "Is there a reason to be extra aware of it?"
"You and might sister. I mean, I felt like I was watching the beginning of a very intense porno. It was disgusting." Katherine made a face. "Nobody would think you had a girlfriend after witnessing that."
Damon clinched his jaw, eyes flickering up to meet Katherine's. He opened his mouth to speak but paused. Not wanting to give her the satisfaction, he sighed and returned to the journal, where his eyes drifted across the page.
Katherine scowled, not liking being ignored. She tossed her hair over her shoulder and with a heavy exhale, she lifted herself from the couch and moved out of the room.
When she got down to the cellar and went to the fridge, she realised that Vivienne wasn't down at the cooler.
"Vivienne?" she called out, confused.
"In...here!" Vivienne gasped from further inside the cellar. Katherine walked past the cooler and towards the cage where they kept Elijah only to find her sister fighting to keep the dagger inside Elijah's chest. "Someone's trying to take this out!" She grunted.
Katherine stepped forward and just as she did, Vivienne felt the pressure being relieved from the stake and she looked around with wild eyes.
Suddenly, from behind Vivienne, the wooden chair that had been situated in the corner of the room had come crashing down in bits and pieces. Both brunettes jumped and their attention immediately went to the scene. Vivienne stood from the floor and back away, towards the other side of Elijah's head.
"Damon!" Vivienne called out.
Before Damon could hear the vampire's exclamations, Katherine watched as the invisible being that was in their presence rushed forward and impaled Vivienne in the abdomen, causing her to stumble back, clutching the wooden stake in her hand. Katherine flashed over to her sister's side and moved her back to the mountain of door against the side of the cellar cage.
When Damon finally arrive he saw a chair leg through Vivienne's stomach. Katherine gripped the stake in Vivienne's abdomen and pulled it out.
Damon eyes flickered between the two girls. "What happened?"
"Damon! The dagger!" Katherine exclaimed, pointing.
He span around to see the dagger rising out of Elijah's heart apparently of it's own accord. Not understanding but not having time to figure it out, Damon seized the flame gun from earlier and shot flames at the dagger. By the time it was still again, his mind had pieced together the hows and whys.
"What are you doing?!" Stefan asked, arriving downstairs.
"Some kind of crazy ass psychic witch attack!" Damon said through gritted teeth. They should have known better than to trust witches. "Get over there and do something about it. Go!"
Stefan was out of there like a shot, leaving Damon, Vivienne and Katherine again. But this time, the trio were distracted from antagonising one another by the shock of what had just happened. Whatever else may come to be, they could not afford to have Elijah awake right now; he would easily kill them all.
"Maybe this wasn't the best idea." Louise muttered to Elena who was gazing around the Grill with a worried looked etched on her features. Did they all forget that Matt worked at the Grill or that Alaric frequently came to the bar. They had ran into both men and hadn't even been there for more than five minutes.
Jenna had stalked off towards the bar on arrival. As for Caroline, her brief encounter with Matt had left her down in the dumps. She explained to the girls what was going on between them.
"He said the ball's in your court." Bonnie reminded the blonde.
"Yeah, but I can't do anything about it." Caroline whined.
"Why not?" Bonnie challenged. "All you do is talk about how much you care about him."
The vampire frowned. "Yeah, but I am still keeping so many secrets."
"Alaric's in the same boat with Jenna and maybe that's our mistake. We're trying to protect the people that we love by keeping them out of it, but in the end, we're hurting them anyway." Elena noted when Caroline suddenly stood from the table, biting her lip nervously as she yanked off her jacket and threw at the brunette who caught it before it hit her in the face.
"What are you doing?" Louise questioned, looking between the jacket in her sister's arms and Caroline. "Where are you going?" she asked when the Caroline walked off. Her eyes widened when her friends went up on stage and took the microphone.
"Hey, everybody. Let's hear it for the band! Weren't they awesome?" Caroline clapped and everyone in the audience joined in.
"This isn't going to end well." Jenna joined the girls once again. She took another shot of tequila.
"So there's this guy. And, uh, he told me to tell him how I feel about him. Like it's so easy. Um, you know, just 'cause I talk a lot doesn't mean I always know what I'm actually talking about. Ah, like now, I'm feeling loopy and I don't really know how to express myself." The singer tried to gently take the microphone off Caroline but she resisted. "I can sing. Yeah! Yeah. You know what, I'm going to sing." Louise, Bonnie, Jenna, and Elena all look baffled.
"Sing?" Elena questioned dumbfounded, looking around the table wide eyed.
The singer obviously had enough of the perky blonde taking all the spotlight. "Come on, off the stage."
Caroline turned to him and her pupils began to expand as she compelled the man. "You are going to let me live out my rock star fantasies, and you are going to be my back-up." When the singer asked what she'll be singing, she whispered in his ear and he told the band the song.
"Close your eyes. Give me your hand, darlin'."
"She's good!" Jenna raved and everyone nodded in agreement. It was a good thing too. Had she been bad then it would have not ended well, just like Jenna commented.
"Yeah!" Elena breathed, quite surprised herself.
"Do you understand? Do you feel the same? Am I only dreaming? Is this burning an eternal flame? I believe it's meant to be, darlin'. I watch you when you are sleeping. You belong with me. Do you feel the same? Am I only dream? Is this burning an eternal flame? Say my name. Sun shines through the rain. A whole life, so lonely, you come and ease the pain."
Jenna caught Alaric's gaze. Out the corner of her eye, Louise caught Matt looking at Caroline longingly. When his face turned to hers, she gave him the nod, and signalled him to do what he wanted to do.
"I don't want to lose this feeling. Oh, no!"
Everyone watched in suspense as Matt hopped on stage and Caroline stopped singing. Matt leaned forward, his hands securing Caroline's face, and kissed her - right there, in front of everyone. Bonnie jumped around, pulling at Elena's arm while Louise applauded with a huge grin on her face.
"Elena, I think you can go to the bathroom alone." Louise whined as Elena dragged her towards the bathroom of the Grill. "Seriously, I know we're twins and all, but I think we can live through a brief separation." When Elena swung open the door, they were greeted with Caroline and Matt variously making out as if their lives depended on it.
"Ahh! Oh, sorry." Elena seemed loss for words as her eyes flickered between the blushing pair.
Louise covered her eyes with her hands dramatically. "The back alley behind the kitchen doesn't have a lot of visitors, you know."
The bathroom door closer and Elena recovered from her momentary shock, removing her sister's hands from her eyes. She raised a brow. "And how would you know that?"
Louise opened her mouth to answer but she was saved when Bonnie came rushing towards them or more specifically towards the bathroom door behind them. "I wouldn't if I was you." The younger twin sang out as the witch tried to manoeuvre past them. "Caroline and Matt are..."
Bonnie looked past the sisters and straight at the bathroom door. "In the bathroom?!"
Elena shrugged with a smile. "If they're happy, I'm happy."
Bonnie nodded her head slowly, a hesitant look appearing on her features. She bit her lip nervously. "Um, hey, speaking of happy, would it freak you out if I started dating your brother?"
"You're into our brother?" Elena asked with slightly wide eyes, exchanging the same look with Louise.
"I know it's weird," Bonnie admitted. "But he's been so good and strong. He makes me happy and I really can't tell what you're thinking...Right now."
Another moment of silence passed by as Louise and Elena exchanged looked and what seemed to be a silent conversation. Louise turned away from her sister to give the nervous witch a response. "If he makes you happy and you make him happy; honestly, I couldn't have picked a better girl for him."
Elena nodded in agreement and added. "Our brother has had more pain in his life than a hundred people's worth of pain, and...He deserves to be with someone as amazing as you."
"Really?" Bonnie asked slightly surprised, now with a slight grin on her face.
Louise and Elena nodded and said in union: "Really."
Bonnie's grin grew wider if that was possible and she launched herself forward, wrapping her arms around the twins in utter delight. The witch couldn't have released the girls at a better time because as soon as she stepped away, Elena's phone blared to life.
"Hey, Stefan, I'm at the Grill." Elena answered. "I can't hear you. Hold...yeah."
Katherine sat across from her sister on the couch, who was still recovering over Damon's blow that he delivered earlier for something Katherine was unaware of but had a pretty good idea of what it was about. Vivienne sipped at the blood bag in her hand.
The silence in the room was interrupted by Damon's footsteps as he headed straight to the front door. He looked like a man on a mission. The vampire didn't make it far before a voice halted him.
"Where are you going?" Katherine asked.
"Louise isn't answering her phone." he muttered, hardly sparing them a glance. "Luka Martin's dead. His father's going after Louise and Elena."
"We're coming with you." Vivienne told him.
"No, you're not." Damon snapped, and moved to leave once again but Vivienne appeared in front of him, pushing him back by the chest. He shoved her hands away from him and glared at her. "I don't need your help. I don't want it. Same goes to Katherine." This time he glared at Katherine who glared right back.
"I know what we can do, Damon." Vivienne said, bringing back his attention to her. "You have to let me do it." He would've ignored he were there not a disturbingly frank sincerity in her eyes that Damon had never seen before. He was intrigued.
If there was one thing the Pierce sisters did well, it was plotting against others. Lucky for the gang, it was used in their favour this time by Vivienne pretending to be Louise. Another thing she had recently become surprisingly good at. All of which had been used to mislead Jonas until the last moments of his life where Stefan had been forced to kill him.
Louise leaned into her boyfriend as she bit her lips nervously. She seemed quite put off that her vampire ancestor had yet again managed to fool someone into believing she was her.
"How did you guys convince her to do this?" Elena asked Damon with a frown as her eyes travelled of the stairs of the Gilbert's home where Stefan and Vivienne had yet to return.
"We didn't." Damon muttered, not sounding pleased either. "It was actually her idea."
Elena's eyes widened. "Wow. That's...not good."
"No." Damon shook his head. He gently rubbed Louise's arm. "No, that's not good at all."
It had been a long, stressful night and Louise just wanted it to be over. She raised her head quickly when she heard Vivienne and Stefan coming down the stairs. As Vivienne made her way to the bottom, she let her eyes roam over her doppelganger's figure. "I'm guessing you're going to want this back." she said, forcefully ripping Louise's necklace off of her neck and staring at the girl in front of her. "But your pretty little outfit is going to need a good dry clean." she added, wrinkling her nose in disgust.
Louise made a face of her own. "Keep it." She walked right to her and grabbed her locket back, their hands grazing for just a moment. She looked at her boyfriend. "You're going to have to get her out of here before Jenna gets home."
Vivienne raised an eyebrow. "Is that all you have to say to me?"
"This doesn't change the way I feel about you."
Vivienne was surprised by Louise's boldness.
"I don't much like you, either." Vivienne said matter-of-factly. "If we're going to be open and frankly, I'd be happy to see you dead. Louise slightly flinched at Vivienne's words, but the vampire continued. "But if we're going to try to take on Klaus, we kinda need you to be alive. So I'm not a threat to you, Louise." Her eyes flickered towards the older brunette. "Or you, Elena. Katherine is not a threat to you." Vivienne turned away from Elena to look at Stefan and Elena. "If any of you are going to believe anything, believe that." she said effectively ending the conversation.
Silence filled the boarding house. Damon was sitting on his bed, comfortably leaning against the massive headboard, naked feet stretched before him, reading Johnathan Gilbert's journal. Suddenly, his vampire senses are piqued by a creak in the floorboards and a bittersweet smell combined with something uniquely spicy. He looked up from the journal to see his guest, almost expectantly.
"Vivienne."
There she was, the almighty Vivienne Pierce, smirking like the devil with a couple chocolate curly strands hanging on both sides of her face and wearing nothing but a sexy black lingerie barely concealed by a silk bathrobe.
"Hello, roomie."
"Don't call me that. As you can see, I'm busy, so if you could let yourself out..."
"Johnathan's journal? Please, Damon, we both know I am far more interesting than any book you've ever read, or reread more times than you can count."
"And yet, I'd rather be reading a worn out book than be anywhere near you." Damon told her without looking up from the journal. Not taking the hint, Vivienne joined the blue eyed vampire on the bed. After a moment, Damon spoke again. "You know what I can't figure out?"
"What's that?" Vivienne purred.
"How the town knew Emily Bennett was a witch. I mean, because according to Johnathan Gilbert, he was the only one who knew. I know he didn't turn her in." When she doesn't answer, Damon knew the answer as she looked up at her and she shrugged her shoulders. "Mmm, I should have figured as much."
"She was a loose end. I like mine tied up." Her eyes roamed over his body. "You know what I can't figure out?"
"Do I care?" Damon muttered.
"Why you won't tell me where to find the site of the witch massacre."
"Because I have no clue."
"You knew that Emily Bennett was the key to getting me out of that tomb and something tells me that you did everything in your power to make sure that she was safe, yet you have no idea where she was killed. Who's the liar now?" Damon flicked her a glance. Vivienne dropped her shoulder to let the robe drop seductively. "You hurt me today."
Damon shrugged. "Tit for tat."
"You were mean and very rough and monstrous."
"You deserved it."
She crawled closer to him with a smirk, running her hand up his leg and moved closer to his face. "I like this, Damon."
"Vivienne." he whispered, low and suggestive against the shell of her, his hands cradled her face, a lover's embrace with a strong and confident grip so different from the shaky, nervous hand of her formerly human love. "There are six other bedrooms in this house; go find one."
She fell against the silk sheets, a scoff on her lips as Damon idly flipped another page in the journal. With a dark grimace and langured roll of shoulders, she propped herself back up against the headboard. Her composure returning effortlessly, a sly smirk curved into her lips. "You feel nothing for me anymore, is that the story you're going with?"
Damon didn't respond immediately, but his grip on the leather tightened. "You said it yourself - I'm not the same naïve human I once was, Vivienne. You don't know me, you don't own me and you certainly don't know what I feel for anyone anymore. Now take a hint, Vivienne."
Vivienne frowned and stood up, moving towards the door. She threw one more look over her shoulder at him. She shrugged her satin robe back over her silky skin before leaving the room after scoffing once or twice.
Jenna and Louise were in the kitchen, digging into a huge tub of ice cream after Jenna disclosed her encounter with the history teacher earlier. Clearly Jenna's relationship with Alaric hadn't been repaired yet and probably wouldn't until Louise and Elena could find the right time to tell her about the supernatural beings of Mystic Falls.
Elena sauntered by, walking toward the fridge to retrieve a bottle of water.
"Are John and Jeremy asleep?" Jenna inquired.
Elena nodded and shrugged. "I think so."
The doorbell rang, cutting any further remarks.
"Who's that?" Jenna frowned as she hopped down from the kitchen counter before making her way toward the front door.
"Maybe it's Alaric!" Louise called after her. Just in case it was her history teacher, the brunette decided to stick close to her aunt and shadowed her as she opened the front door, which was immediately followed by a sharp intake of breath.
"Hi. You must be Jenna." The dark-haired woman serenely smiled, her gaze never wandering from Jenna's narrowed gaze. "I'm-" Behind Jenna and Louise, Elena stopped dead in her tracks, eyes widening at the unexpected and unwelcomed visitor. "Elena and Louise's mother."
"Isobel." Elena whispered.
The exposure of Isobel standing so nonchalantly on their doorstep created and eerie silence. Elena and Jenna stood in shock with their mouths slightly parted while Louise glared daggered at the woman standing behind the threshold. She never thought she would ever see Isobel again after her last visit in Mystic Falls where she made it blatantly clear she couldn't care less about her daughters.
"Hello, Elena." Isobel smiled, genuinely creeping Louise out with her affable demeanour. "Louise." She nodded her head in acknowledgement to the younger twin. "It's nice to see you again."
Jenna's head immediately snapped towards the two brunette, her eyes accusing. "Again?"
It was clear as day that Elena didn't know what to say as she looked towards Louise for help but unfortunately, she was in the same situation. Louise's mouth opened and closed like a fish, unable to come up with a sentence or even a word.
"So," Isobel broke the silence, her eyes roaming up and down Jenna's body as if she was sizing her up which proved to be true by her next statement: "You're the woman who's dating my husband. I need to speak to Elena and Louise. May I come in?"
Those seemed to be the magic words for Elena to recover her vocal cords. "N-n-no. Don't! Don't invite her in."
"I need to talk to you, Elena." Her eyes flickered towards Louise. "Both of you.
"No!" And with that the front door was slammed in Isobel's face.
A/N: Here's another chapter. Thank you for reading. Drop a review if you want.
AB0918: Yes, it is getting very close to to the sacrifice and also meeting Klaus himself. Glad you're enjoying it!