Her first introduction to Andie Star is a short one. They say hi, Damon explains that Eloise is an old family friend, and Eloise tries not to make disgusted faces at Damon as he smooches on Andie before compelling her into falling madly in love with him. She seems nice, a tad more welcoming then Eloise might have thought considering how Damon's manipulated her into thinking their a real item. Eloise grits her teeth as the pretty news anchor smiles as she tells Eloise they're going to be great friends, that it was great meeting her, and that she'd love to meet up sometime before Damon pulls her away. The brunette doesn't stick around long after that, instead slipping off with her mug of coffee to the library where Damon has some weapon he wants her to vet.
She's got her hands over the dagger when Damon strolls in with Alaric. Neither of them care that mumbled Latin is pouring out of her mouth, more interested in talking about how some dude name John gave him the dagger. A large hand plucks the dagger off of the table and Eloise turns a poisonous look on Damon, who doesn't even bother to care as he begins explaining the use of the dagger.
"Said you have to dip the dagger in the remains of an old white ash tree that dates back to the Originals... If there's any truth in that."
Alaric takes the dagger from Damon and asks, "So you think it's a set up?"
"Could be. The guy's a weasel. Wouldn't put anything past him." Damon turns to her, "What do you think?"
"I think that you're an impatient asshole who deserves whatever happens when you use that dagger." Eloise remarks, tone waspish.
If Damon isn't going to let her do what she does best then why is she even here? What's the point of her doing magic if Damon's just going to prance willy-nilly into situations that could get him killed? There isn't. Eloise frowns as she leans back in her chair, eyebrow rising as Damon turns to give her a confused sort of kicked-puppy look that Eloise doesn't really appreciate.
"What are you up to today Mr. Saltzman?" Damon asks when it becomes clear Eloise isn't going to elaborate anymore.
"Jenna and I were supposed to go to her family's lake house but somehow we both got roped into doing this Historical Society thing at the Lockwoods." The history teacher says, passing back the dagger with a faint air of disinterest.
"Where Elijah's guest of honor."
"Tell me you're not going to kill him at the tea party." Alaric says.
Damon's face scrunches up as he turns away with a disgruntled, "No! That would be stupid."
"Because you've never done anything stupid before," Eloise scoffs while Alaric just stares at Damon through dead eyes.
"I resent that," he says to her before addressing his drinking buddy, "I want to know his endgame before I kill him. But I do think it's time Elijah and I officially met."
Running a hand through her hair Eloise turns to pluck the dagger out of Damon's hand before he accidentally takes someone's eye out. He might be able to heal lickety-split but Eloise and Alaric are fragile, squishy humans. There are like two zillion ways Eloise could die without adding Damon's unintentional stabbing of her person to the list. When the dagger is safely in her grasp Eloise rolls it back up in the soft canvas it came in before tucking it into a desk drawer. No reason to leave something like that lying around now is there?
"You do realize Elijah is an original vampire right?" Eloise asks.
"Yeah? And?"
"Well, think of it like this; vampires get stronger the older they are, yeah? Who's the oldest vampire you know?" when both men simply stare at her Eloise rolls her eyes, "Rose. Rose is the oldest vampire you know. And where is Rose? Hiding in this fucking house because she's afraid of Elijah."
"Do you have a point?" Damon asks.
"My point, you dick, is that Rose is stronger and faster than you by quite a bit, but even she isn't on par with the thousand-plus-year-old vampire currently playing human at the Lockwoods. What the fuck is wrong with you, Damon? Why do you think stabbing someone with a sketchy ass knife- which was given to you by someone you clearly don't trust, by the way- is a good idea?"
Blue eyes narrow as Damon says, "John wouldn't let anything happen to Elena."
"But you're way less important to him than she is, Damon! Jesus Christ! Get your head out of your ass for a minute and think this through! You don't even know if this dagger is going to work and what happens when it doesn't and Elijah takes you out? Of if he gets pissy because you went back on the deal Elena made with him and he decides to just take her? You aren't thinking ten steps ahead, you're flying by the seat of your pants!"
"What pissed in your cheerios today?" Damon growls to which Eloise rises so that she's face to face with the vampire.
"You did! I don't want to die because your go-to when dealing with a problem is killing people! Not everything has to be handled by stabbing people in the back! Literally, this time!"
Damon softens as he reaches out to tug gently on some of the hair that's fallen over her shoulder. It's something he's been doing since she was a punk teenager he'd met in a dingy ass restaurant and it's sweet but it also boils Eloise's potatoes. She bats his hand away from her and glares.
"There's also the shit you're pulling with Andie Star! What's that about? I thought you liked Rose?"
"Rose and I have an understanding but we're hardly exclusive. We fuck. Sometimes I fuck Andie. There's really nothing to explain." Damon says with a shrug.
"First of all, the sex you're having with Andie isn't consensual when you're compelling her to be cool with you being a vampire and you know where I stand with that. End it. Now." Eloise takes a breath. "Secondly, I don't really care what you and Rose have figured out but I just performed some pretty fucking heavy magic to bring her back because I thought she was your friend and now you're putting her in danger by toying with Elijah. I'm ok with this Damon and you need to realize that you're way of handling things doesn't work all of the time!"
Alaric coughs awkwardly from where he's standing off to the side before silently making his way from the library. Clearly, he doesn't want to be part of this conversation and that's perfectly fine with Eloise. He's in just as much trouble as Damon is right now considering he probably knew about Damon compelling Andie and didn't do anything about it. Which is a seriously dick move. Eloise isn't afraid of ripping Damon a new one, though, so at least Andie has someone in her corner.
"Eloise, butt out."
"Damon, fuck yourself. You know I don't like compulsion-sex and you literally paraded Andie around in front of me despite knowing I wouldn't like it, which is really offensive because I have put my life, my physical well being, and my future on the line to help you protect a complete stranger! And the worst part is, you won't even listen to me when I try to help!"
Hands wrap around her throat, not tight enough to really be painful but they're there and Eloise can feel the tension in Damon's fingers. Well, sucks to be him. Eloise snaps her hand up so she can curl her fingers around his wrist and waits until he starts jerking at her wrist and hissing violently before letting go. The giant black scorch mark on his skin looks painful and it won't heal for quite some time. Eloise glares at Damon as she rips the drawer open to grab the dagger.
"Get your shit together Damon. I'm not Andie, and I'm not Elena. You can't threaten me and not expect me to do a hell of a lot worse in response." she grabs the jar of ash as well, "Get rid of Andie, now, and maybe think about this conversation while we're at it. I don't have to be here Damon, I could be in Chicago with Miranda and my shop but I'm here, because you're my friend not because I owe you anything."
With her piece said and the weapon within her possession Eloise storms out of the library. The dagger and jar of ash get stashed in her new work room where no one else will be able to get their hands on them before Eloise gives the OK. Another spell is layered over her barrier, a nasty one that will not only warn her to any attempted break-ins but will also render whoever tries to enter or undo the spell incapacitated for a handful of hours- how long really depends on how strong the person attempting to break in or take down her barrier is, but it's still going to be long enough for Eloise to return and raise hell. Eloise smiles darkly as she pulls the heavy metal door shut behind her as she leaves. Damon's waiting for her at the top of the stairs looking like he's been sucking on a lemon for the past ten minutes. She makes sure to scowl at him as he stomps by.
"Where are you going?" Damon demands.
"I have to make orders for the shop." Eloise coolly replies.
"Can't Miranda do that? I mean, she does work for you."
Eloise turns to level Damon with a scathing look and says, "No. Miranda is my roommate and is looking after the shop because she's my friend, but she has a life of her own and I'm going to make it as easy for her to manage my shop as possible. Besides, we don't get enough business to justify hiring copious amounts of people."
It's true. Dispel and That Spell is a great shop for witches, vampires, and werewolves to visit when they need something but they're not an overly large community and there's not enough push with the occult for people to come in out of genuine interest. Oh, she's got a decent human clientele but it's really not enough for Eloise to be comfortable hiring more people under her when her shop isn't open every day of the week and she's paying more in building rent than she honestly likes. It's shit. Eloise wishes she could hire more people, wishes there was more interest in her shop, but there's really not and so she's going to make this as easy on Miranda as she can.
Damon's fingers curl around her shoulder, Eloise shrugs them off.
"I'm mad at you right now, Damon." She says before turning and offering a tight smile, "I'll see you in a little while, yeah? We'll talk then."
Before Damon can say anything Eloise grabs the bag she'd tossed down by the door when she'd gone to the kitchen for coffee and makes for her car. Seeing as she's too angry with Damon to stay in his house while he goes off to some tea party Eloise decides to find a library of some sort, whatever she can find really, she doesn't care as long as there's free internet so that she can do her orders without having to stare at the same four walls of the Salvatore library. Her quest to find a safe, quiet place to work reveals a nice little coffee shop towards the end of the business district. It's cute. Kinda small. Eloise smiles as she gathers her things and makes for a table in the front near the windows after ordering herself a nice cup of sugared, caffeinated goodness.
A quick review of the email Miranda had sent her the other day gives Eloise a vague estimate of what they're going to need for the shop and she's pleased to note that Miranda has had decent business. Normally, Eloise wouldn't put Miranda in this situation but with Damon's call and Eloise's impromptu trip to Mystic Falls she'd just forgotten that she needed to do her orders. No time like the present she supposes. Thankfully it's mindless work and Eloise takes her time doing it because she doesn't want to go back to the boarding house before she absolutely has too and also because what else is she going to do today? Hunt down pissy hybrids? Yeah, she doesn't think so. With a roll of her eyes Eloise goes to take a sip of luke-warm coffee just as a shadow slips across the table, casting weird shapes on her computer screen as it does, and thinking it's someone coming to see if everything's alright Eloise turns to look at the person and damn near chokes on the remains of her coffee.
Because there's Elijah Mikaelson, bad hair and all, standing at her side with two coffee containers and a aloof smile. She ignores the rust colored speckling along the cuff of his dress shirt as that's totally none of her business, opting instead for a smile that's less chilly but no more friendly than his own either.
"Luka works fast, I see," Eloise says despite feeling vaguely like she's going to puke all over the table.
Elijah's eyes are cool as he takes a seat in the chair opposite her own.
"Yes, well, I was rather surprised to learn that another witch released Stefan Salvatore from the tomb. I've had the Martin's watching you for some time now." Elijah remarks rather blandly.
"Sounds like your witches were slacking. Might want to work on that... Wouldn't do for Elena to think you weren't holding up your end of the deal." Eloise is an idiot and she's going to die, but it's like word vomit, she just can't seem to stop herself.
Which isn't good because something shifts in Elijah's eyes and she knows that she's maybe done something irreparably stupid because Elijah's voice is icy when he asks, "Is that a threat?"
"No. If I wanted to threaten you I wouldn't use Elena to do it," Eloise powers down her laptop and shoves it back in it's bag, "I guess it's my poor way of making conversation with someone who could break every bone in my body before I could stop them. I'm a nervous talker. Sometimes my brain-to-mouth filter doesn't work like it should. Hi, I'm Eloise."
She offers her hand, ignores the faint shaking, and plasters a sunny smile on her face all the while thinking how bad an idea this was. She should have just stayed home and waited until someone was available to act as a buffer between her and the original. Oh well, too late now she supposes. If she's going to die at least she's going to die knowing she tried not to be completely offensive.
Warm fingers curl around her own as Elijah twists her hand so that her palm is facing the ceiling. He raises the upturned appendage to his lips so he can place a chaste kiss to her palm, his nose brushing the inside of her wrist. To anyone watching the encounter it might look like two lovers being a little too happy to see each other but Eloise knows that the only reason he's done it is so he can get a good sniff of her without any of the human patrons calling the cops on him for harassing the chipper girl in the front corner of the coffee shop. People don't tend to react all that well when strangers go about sniffing at young girl's necks. They think it's creepy. Eloise, on the other hand, finds it mildly amusing and allows Elijah his fill of her scent before pulling her hand away.
"I ran into your friend earlier. Damon, was it? I'm pleased to note that at least one of Elena's protectors knows how to show the proper respect."
A quick glance at the speckling at his cuff.
Damon always knows how to piss people off. It's like some sort of sixth sense. Eloise has told him that it'll get him killed one day, thankfully today doesn't appear to be the day she buries her best friend. Taking a sip of her coffee allows Eloise a moment to compose herself before she begins talking again.
"Is that what Damon did? Disrespect you?" Eloise asks.
Elijah's eyes gleam as he speaks, "Why am I here?"
"I just want to talk."
"And what would a young witch such as yourself wish to discuss with me?"
Sitting across from her now Elijah doesn't look all that terrible. His hair's still terrible but it's soft looking and obviously well kept, his eyes are a sort of roasted coffee-bean brown and framed by a dark curtain of lashes, and his jawline seems to go on for days. Attractive but not all that dangerous in appearance. Maybe it's a shock. She's seen his face in the little mirror connecting her to Elena's home but she hadn't been really looking at him then, had only taken the opportunity to put herself one step ahead of Elijah and his witch(es) so that they'd notice her. Come looking for her. Eloise drums her fingertips against the top of her thighs as she ponders over what to tell the man sitting across from her... Sometimes honesty is the best policy but what if that gets her killed? Sighing, Eloise goes to tuck wayward hair behind her ear and begins talking.
"News travels quick in our circles. How long do you think it's going to be before Klaus hears about Elena and comes after her? A month? A year? Sure, you're keeping Elena's existence pretty quiet at the moment but you can't honestly expect that to work in the long run. So what are you really doing?" Eloise asks to which Elijah raises an eyebrow at her in question? Warning? Eloise glances off to the side before shaking her head.
"if I didn't know better I would say you were threatening me." Elijah hums, all danger and quiet rage.
"No," Eloise shakes her head, "if I was threatening you I'd have mentioned the silver dagger coated in white oak ash currently hidden in my work space. I'm not threatening anybody. I'm just trying to figure out if I should wipe all of Damon's memories and bale before things get really bad."
Several emotions dance across Elijah's features; confusion, realization, rage, and then a grudging sort of curiosity. Eloise hadn't expected him to take the news of the Salvatores having a dagger lightly. If the weapon really can kill him he'd have been crazy not to be enraged at the fact that someone is planning on attempting to murder him.
"Did Elena agree to this?" Elijah demands lowly to which Eloise shrugs.
"No idea," She says, "all I know is someone named John gave Damon the dagger and a jar of ash. I was supposed to make sure everything checked out but I'm not overly fond of their plan to possibly kill you... not when you might be the only person who can handle Klaus."
Elijah is eyeing her suspiciously, like he can't decide whether or not she's trying to manipulate him into doing something that would benefit her. Eloise doesn't blame him. Having lived as long as he has there's bound to be some trust issues among the plethora of complexities that make up the Original Vampire, she's just glad he hasn't tried to rip her tongue out or attempted to compel her. Neither would work but it's nice to be able to say they started their professional relationship without resorting to violence.
"What is it you want?"
"The truth. I'm not dying for Elena, ok? Unfortunately, I can't keep myself from getting hurt if I don't know what's going on."
"And you think that by telling me about the dagger I would tell you all of my secrets?" Elijah's amusement is genuine and it makes Eloise smirk.
"Just one; what are you planning on doing once Klaus gets here?"
Silence settles around them for several moments as Elijah and Eloise stare one another down. Around them, customers of the coffee shop go about their business and none of them pay a lick of attention to the vampire and witch sitting near the windows. Either they've been compelled or the tension between the two of them isn't nearly as thick as Eloise thinks it is because no one's come over to try and rescue her. A sharp beep comes from her phone but Eloise doesn't look down. Whoever it is can wait. Eloise has more important things to do at the moment than entertain Damon's idiocy.
"I plan on killing him."
The conviction, the rage, in Elijah's tone is startling. He'd been so collected throughout their conversation that even the revelation of the Salvatores having the dagger hadn't really ruffled hi feathers. But he's mad now, madder than he's ever been in his life. Furious even. Eloise has to look away before she can get caught up in the emotion clouding his eyes.
"Alright." She says in response, gathering her items as she does.
"Is that all you wanted to discuss? My plans for Klaus?" Elijah asks.
"I'd like to get together sometime in the next few days and talk but family squabbles are none of my business. Whatever's got you so mad at your brother that you'd willingly try to kill him isn't something I feel comfortable discussing." Eloise offers a polite smile and tries to ignore the look he's giving her. "I'm off. It was nice meeting you, Elijah."
"And you as well."
Eloise bobs a quick nod before beating a hasty retreat. The original doesn't follow her but Eloise thinks she can feel his eyes drilling holes into the back of her head as she opens the driver's door, without looking at the coffee shop she manages to slide in behind the wheel and guide the car out of it's slot before taking off back in the direction of the boarding house. With the sun beginning to set it's safe to assume Damon will be waiting for her at the house so they can discuss plans over dinner. Eloise tightens her grip on the steering wheel, wonder about how she's going to get Andie Star out of the picture. The sooner the cute little reporter is out of the picture the better off she'll be. Because people end up dead when they get involved in the supernatural community. It's just easier for vampires to bounce back from whatever moral wound failed to put them down permanently. Too bad for Andie, she isn't a vampire nor is she any other type of durable supernatural being.
Sighing, Eloise turns out of town and onto the road that leads up to the Boarding House as the sun begins to sink a little closer to the horizon.
Maybe the best option is to somehow get another vampire to compel Andie to forget all about Damon, pump her full of vervain, and somehow get her out of Mystic Falls. The farther she is from this place the better of she'll be int he long run. Damon won't like it but Eloise doesn't enjoy pulling innocent people into the danger fest that is the supernatural community. The less humans know the better off they are. It doesn't make them any safer really, but at least they don't know about immortality and witches and therefore can't go sticking their noses in places they shouldn't belong. Eloise would rather be the crazy twenty-two year old occult fanatic in the eyes of clueless humans than the answer to all of their problems.
She guides the car to her normal spot and kills the engine before taking a moment to gather her thoughts along with her items. With her bags in hand Eloise makes for the front door and enters without so much as a word of greeting to the men she passes in the hall as she heads toward the workspace. Damon asks where she's been all day but Eloise doesn't bother answering him. Because screw him, that's why. He's not her guardian and she doesn't owe him an explanation. She's twenty-two goddamn years old, far from a defenseless child. Far from being defenseless Elena.
Soft candlelight greets her as Eloise allows her magic to flare as she opens up the door to her workspace. A quick look around tells her nothing's been disturbed or taken without her knowledge so either her barrier worked or no one realizes where she's put the ash and dagger. Without much thought Eloise snags a grimoire off the pile and takes a seat in the circle of candles currently burning away off to the side of the room. She flips through the yellowed pages of the grimoire for what feels like hours, pressing slips of paper in between pages when she finds spells that look particularly entertaining. Some of them look pretty nasty but Eloise has already dabbled in enough of what most witches consider to be dark magic that those spells don't seem all that daunting. They'd take quite a bit of energy out of her but none of them seem impossible for her to do on her own. Still, it wouldn't be good for her to do them all on her own without any sort of emergency backup.
As she goes to set the book aside a sharp series of thuds has Eloise glancing up at the ceiling and the silence that follows those thumps seems ominous. Carefully, silently, Eloise rises from her seat position on the floor and makes for the heavy door protecting her from whatever might be happening on the main level of the house. She doubts Damon and Alaric were horsing around as they seem to be a little too mature for all that but Eloise doesn't doubt that they might have started fighting someone who isn't allowed in the house. Wherever Rose ran off to Eloise hopes she hasn't gotten back yet because it wouldn't sit well if Eloise saved the girl only for her to turn around and stab them all in the back. The stairs leading up are dark but Eloise has no trouble navigating them and when she gets to the thick wooden door the witch presses her ear against the door in the hopes of hearing something.
Gibberish. That's all she can make out through the wood, muffled voices that don't make sense but the sudden rustling and clanging tells her that whoever broke in has taken Damon out and is currently going through their things. What they're after, Eloise doesn't know but it sounds like there's more than two and they've somehow managed to take Damon. Eloise swears violently in her mind as she pulls out her phone.
Get Elijah to the Boarding house. Now.
The message is quickly sent off to the doppleganger and the phone slipped back into her pocket just as the doorknob above her head rattles. Terrified, Eloise presses a finger to the brass, channels her magic, and hopes to god this silent- and untested- spell does what she's expecting it do.
"What are you doing?" A woman's voice manages to slip under the door.
"Checking the basement." Says a man.
"Come on, help us get him into the library. This house is old and it's probably not even here to begin with."
"But what if it is?"
A pause. Then, "Are you seriously passing up the opportunity to get information out of a vampire?"
Eloise doesn't hear anymore conversation aside from a soft exhale before the pair wander off and then it's the sound of bodies dragging that can only just be heard through the door. She waits until another door slams shut before slipping out into the hall on silent feet. Carefully avoiding intruders while darting through an old house turns out to be a lot easier than Eloise thought it would be, which is nice because she makes it to the backdoor in no time and slips out without anyone noticing. Weapons are scattered all over the Salvatore house but none of them are going to be easy enough for Eloise to take down without being spotted so the garage is the best place to go as Damon has a nice little stash of emergency weapons stashed there. Eloise peaks around the side of the house to make sure no one's lurking around keeping a perimeter before she makes a mad dash for the garage only to be stopped dead as an arm snakes around her waits.
Something rich and heady invades Eloise's nose as she struggles briefly against whoever's holding her but it only takes a moment for her to realize that the cologne she's smelling is the same one Elijah had been wearing in the coffee shop. She hadn't thought much about it then as she'd been more concerned with keeping her head attached to her neck but she can admit it's a good scent for him. Too bad it would probably cost at least three months worth of Eloise's paycheck to buy as a Christmas gift. Elijah's grip on her disappears once Eloise has stopped fighting against him, allowing her to whip around and face the original vampire who probably saved her life.
"Elena said something happened." Elijah remarks blandly, like he hadn't just witnessed Eloise's pathetic attempt at non-magical self defense.
"There are people in the house, they took out Damon and Ric."
"Why?"
Eloise gives him a look as she says, "I don't know! They're looking for something."
Coffee-bean eyes narrow as they turn to the house.
"Wait by the car."
"I'm sorry?"
"The car, wait by it while I attend to Damon."
And then he's gone and Eloise is left contemplating her choices in the space between the garage and the house. Seeing as Elijah isn't going to let anyone walk out of that house alive Eloise stomps over to her car so she can lean against the hood without feeling guilty about possibly scratching Elijah's car. It's a sleek little thing. Very shiny.
Hours seem to pass and nothing happens. Eloise remains by her car, fiddling with her necklace and muttering about stupid Salvatores when the front door bursts open to reveal a terrified looking blonde. The two stare at each other for a long moment before the other woman turns to make for the trees. Eloise is much faster. She knows that there was only one woman in the house with the intruders and who wouldn't be terrified of Elijah? If Eloise were in the woman's shoes she'd try to abandon ship too... But Eloise is this woman and she seems to be the leader of the group. Which means she's the reason Damon and Ric were hurt.
A pained cry is ripped from the woman as Eloise's magic rips her feet out from under her, pinning her to the ground when she lands sprawled on the pavement. Eloise doesn't pity her, nor does she offer the smallest bit of sympathy as she curls her fingers in toward her chest to pull her magic- and the woman- toward her. Once the blonde is pinned at Eloise's feet the young witch kneels down and frowns.
"You're a werewolf." Eloise says to which the woman's eyes go wide.
"Please! Please, I just want the moonstone!"
Cocking her head to the side Eloise asks, "Are you the alpha of the pack that went after Damon?"
Her lack of an answer is all Eloise needs and she scowls as she presses her finger tips to the woman's temple. Blue eyes roll back as the woman's body slumps forward, sliding through Eloise's loose grip like water. After that it's a simple matter of popping her trunk, maneuvering the woman's body into the car, and rendering her completely incapable of movement before Eloise hops in behind the wheel and leaves the boarding house behind without a second thought.