Flashback
Loveland,Ohio 1886
"Excuse me sir, are you okay".
Roman opened his eyes, he was laying on the forest floor, surrounded by trees and dirt, everything felt so sharp. Roman could feel everything around him twice as much as he could before, he looked up and focused on the face of who had spoken to him. Roman saw a beautiful girl with dark brown eyes and hair to match, he recognized her as a girl from the local town, her name was Alanna, she looked down at him with concern. Roman made his way to his feet, he was incredibly disoriented, the look on his face was of someone who was unsettled and distressed, he was hyperventilating. Roman started to shake his head, opening and closing his eyes,each time peering around at his surroundings to anyone else it would seem like he was trying to get everything to come into focus, but in reality for Roman everything was too focused, too sharp, completely overwhelming.
'What has Klaus done to me?'.
Alanna who was standing by watching the man she had found in the woods, her expression of concern when she had found him now changed to one of discomfort as she watched him act so strangely now, she stepped toward him, speaking uncertainty.
"Um..Excuse me sir".
Roman's head jerked toward Alanna at a lighting quickness, she stepped back, clearly startled a bit,clutching her bow and arrow she had been using to hunt. Roman finally focused on the girl who had interrupted his thoughts,stunned when she spoke,in his daze he had forgotten she was there.
"Are you okay?".
Roman wanted to answer, but in that moment he tilted his head to the side, his eyebrows creasing in wonder, all of his senses were in a frenzy before but now it all focused on one thing, his eyes went to the vein on her neck, he could hear her blood pumping, her heart beating. All of the sudden Roman and this incredible urge to drink every last drop from her, it lit every nerve in his body on fire. Roman's head shot up as his eyes widened, he realized exactly what Klaus had done to him.
'Oh for the love of God no'.
Alanna was now looking at Roman with a cross between confusion and panic at his demeanor. Roman's expression went from realization to sinister, his eyes becoming yellow, his fangs protruding. Alanna let a gasp of shock. Seemingly by instinct Alanna brought up her bow and shot an Arrow at Roman, hitting him right in the shoulder, he didn't even flinch. Roman reached up and pulled the arrow out of his shoulder. Alanna peered at him in shock. Roman in an internal battle with himself not to kill her, looked back at her, his voice low and growly.
"Run".
Alanna stumbled backwards and fell to the ground, dropping her bow and having just used her last arrow on his shoulder, she had lost any weapon she had. Alanna quickly scrambled to her feet running as fast as she could away from Roman. Sadly in that moment Roman seemed to lose complete control of his own body, becoming a feral predator. Alanna didn't even make it ten feet before Roman sped in front of her, his sudden appearance frightening her, she yelped as she fell backward again. Roman reached down and grabbed her leg, she yelled out in pain as his grip shattered her ankle. Roman pulled her back, but Alanna fought him like hell, kicking at him multiple times with her other foot, before finally landing a kick square in his face, it did not hurt him at all, but for a brief moment it brought Roman back to reality. Roman let go of her ankle and she turned on her stomach and tried to crawl away, crying out in pain all the while Roman sat on one knee clutching his head in both hands, trying to fight himself, his conscience screaming one word at him, getting louder and louder.
'Stop,Stop,Stop,STOP,STOP,STOP'.
Unfortunately however. While Roman's head said one thing, his body did another, he lost his internal battle and stood up. Walking forward aggressively, Roman grabbed Alanna's leg again and pulled her back with a loud grunt while Alanna let out a loud scream for her life.
"AAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH".
Present Day
Virginia Beach, Virginia
Roman sat up in his bed, he was hyperventilating, he looked stunned. Roman peered to his left to see Elena standing at the side of his bed, looking at him with the same concerned expression Alanna had given him all those years ago.
"Sorry I didn't mean to startle you, but I thought you were having a nightmare. I heard you tossing and turning, mumbling different words...plus," Elena brought her hands up,they were soaked,"You're sweating...a lot".
Roman stared at Elena wide eyed, his breathing never calming, he opened and shut his mouth a few times trying to speak.
"I...uhh...I….I'm so sorry".
Roman scrambled from his bed, tossing the blanket aside and speeding as quickly as he could out of the house, he felt like he was a thousand degrees. Running across the sand, Roman dove into the cold water of the ocean, he stayed underneath for what seemed like eternity but in reality must have only been a few minutes before rising to the surface with an unneeded gasp of air. When Roman stood the water only came to his waste, he turned a waded back to the shore, his black tank and basketball shorts sticking to him. Roman stood in the sand at the shore line bracing his hands on his knees, breathing in slow deep breaths, willing himself to calm down, the water had been like a reset to his whole system.
"Are you alright?".
Roman looked up to see Elena walking toward him on the beach, concern still lingering on her face.
"Yeah," Roman nodded,"Or at least I will be...thanks for the wake up call".
Elena nodded,"Yeah, truth be told you were kinda scaring me".
Roman and Elena stood in silence for a few moments, Elena deciding to approach the next subject carefully.
"So...I heard you say a name in your sleep...Alanna,was that her?".
Roman looked at Elena, her curious eyes peering into him, he hesitated before answering.
"Yeah," Roman nodded, walking to stand next to Elena, standing side by side watching the ocean,"That was her name".
Elena looked at Roman next to her, she saw a look of heavy guilt on his face, a look of sympathy now dawned on her own. When Roman had told her about killing the previous doppelganger, she had gone silent, unsure what to say and he had walked away after a few moments.
"Roman, just so you know, I'm not angry at you. I'm sure you heard what I told Stefan back in Mystic Falls. I was a vampire once. I know what it's like to have the guilt of killing someone on me, hell I still do".
Roman nodded before his face contorted in thought, wondering if he should say his next words, he decided to just say it.
"Yeah...I kinda over exaggerated that part".
Elena's eyebrows creased in confusion,"What do you mean?".
Roman sighed,"Meaning..I didn't kill her physically myself. I just feel responsible for it".
Flashback
Loveland,Ohio 1886
Roman dragged Alanna back, her scream filled his ears, but it did nothing to stop him, he quickly flipped the girl over, crouching down he sank his fangs into her neck, drinking deeply, a voice in his head still screaming at him.
'STOP,STOP,STOP'.
Roman clutched the ground beneath him in a death grip, hearing Alanna hearth begin to slow, he managed to will himself off of her, throwing himself backward with a gasp, he laid on the ground , his nerves seemingly began to calm a bit.
"Well that was entertaining, thought I might have to step in".
Roman quickly got to his feet, looking for the voice behind him, he peered at the man in front of him.
"Klaus".
Klaus smirked at him,"Well glad to see that worked, my last attempt to create Hybrids, they all died".
Roman lunged at Klaus,"You son of a",Klaus easily dodged him, Roman landed with a crash.
Klaus laughed at him,"Easy mate. I could kill you in the snap of my fingers". Klaus went over and checked on Alanna, who was still barely alive, he bit into his wrist and held it over her mouth.
"WHAT DID YOU DO TO ME", Roman yelled from his position on the ground.
Klaus looked up at him, he took Alanna into his arms,"Oh I think you know, and this girl here is the reason you even survived it".
Roman's brows creased in confusion, Klaus answered the unasked question.
"Doppelganger mate, her blood in special, you see I've been waiting almost five hundred years for her. Since I had to kill the last one to break a little curse I had".
"Klaus turned to walk off with the girl, but he turned back to Roman with a smirk again on his face, "Thank you by the way,led me right to her".
Klaus then sped off, leaving Roman in the woods by himself, leaving him to whatever his fate may be.
Present Day
Virginia Beach,Virginia
Elena looked at Roman stunned,"So you didn't kill her?".
Roman shook his head, "Not physically, but shortly after that an enemy of Klaus caught up with him and killed her, which wouldn't have happened if I had done something, but I just sat there while he took her".
Elena shook her head at him, "Roman, you can't play that game, he probably would have killed you took her anyway, it doesn't make it your fault".
Roman shrugged, "Maybe, but it's just one of those things that..no matter how hard I try,no matter what I do, it just won't leave me alone..you know what I mean".
Elena thought about it for a second before nodding, she knew that sadly, sometimes things stay with you, even things that shouldn't. Roman and Elena stood in silence once again for a few moments before Elena spoke up again.
"But you never answered my question from yesterday", Roman's eye brows creased in wonder,"Why does Klaus want to kill you?".
Roman peered behind him for a second, looking toward the garage of the house.
"Follow me".
Roman began walking toward the garage, Elena followed him curiously. When they entered, Elena looked around, it had the normal garage things in it. A radio, various tools, for working on things, but Elena noticed Roman walking to a large freezer. Roman stopped and picked up a key out of a small drawer right beside the freezer before he opened it up. Elena watched in wonder as Roman reached in and took out a blood bag, before he turned to her holding it.
"This is why Klaus wants to kill me," Elena looked at him questioningly, he answered.
"Doppelganger Blood".