A week after their arrival Ella had been enrolled at Mystic Falls High, her fake records and equally fake grades passing through whatever checks the school had. So come Monday morning she'd forced herself out of bed, readying herself for the day ahead.
Ella had done her best to immerse herself in town history and everything she needed to expect. From her research of modern day living in Mystic Falls, she'd found the vast majority of the population ranged from middle class to notably wealthy. The latter of whom seemed to have garnered a good chunk of their wealth from the days of slavery that the town seemed rather keen to celebrate, though the historical society articles she'd read online and the newsletters she'd subscribed to seemed to always conveniently leave that bit out. The Founding Familes; the Gilberts, the Forbes, the Fells, the Lockwoods etc, were all considered somewhat like royalty, with most of them holding key positions in the town as well as their adorable little vampire hunting club.
Once she'd finished getting dressed she made a point of looking through her study cards once more, listing off the names of the supernatural or notable figures that were currently living in town. She had written them all out in block letters, their names and key points listed neatly below in bullet points. Elena Gilbert, doppelganger, dating one of the Italians, future blood bag for Klaus. Italian #1, vampire, dating Elena, ex-ripper, used to be friendly with Klaus. Italian #2, vampire, likely incel, would be easy to use. Tyler Lockwood, untriggered werewolf, definite target for hybrids. Bonnie Bennett, witch, no coven, keep her safe. When she was thoroughly satisfied that she'd pumped her brain with as much information as possible, she put them all back in a row and burned the pieces of paper with a hex. They crumbled to dust in her hand within seconds, the bright greens and blues fading to black and then to nothingness within a matter of a second. No ash remained to crumble to the floor and there wasn't so much of a hint of smoke lingering in the air. Clean and simple, just the way she liked things.
Richard wrapped his knuckles against her already open door, all dressed in about a dozen layers of clothing. His undershirt, another shirt that looked like he'd stolen it from a poor unsuspecting farmer, a thin blue wool jacket to truly cement the grandpa aesthetic, matching jeans and a bigger green wool check jacket. Richard glanced downward at himself, where Ella's gaze had been fixed for over a minute. "You're mentally ripping apart my outfit, aren't you?" He guessed knowingly, meeting the innocent look on her face with an amused snort. "Snob. It's not my fault "Richard" dresses like a ninety year old. Would you prefer I put on some Ralph Lauren pieces to drive you to school?" He mocked, as he tilted his head in that all too irritating way of his. "It's all about appearances. The people here don't like showboaters, so we need to keep our heads down. People won't look twice at the grief-stricken mousy guy who works in a museum."
"He's literally a famous historian."
Richard's face transformed, a broad grin slashing across his mouth suddenly. "Which will almost definitely give me an in when a certain doppelganger and her boyfriends start looking for info on our mutual friend. Plus Alaric Saltzman can vouch for me, Richard knows him." Ah yes. Testosterone Buffy.
"Fair point." She conceded with a shrug.
"Thank you dear." He inclined his head towards the hallway. "I'll be out in the car when you're ready." He disappeared seconds later, leaving her alone with her thoughts.
The first day of school would be crucial for their plans going forward. For it to work she would need to intergrate herself into the life of the doppelganger and her friends, reach the confines of their inner circle and lie in wait. None of the Mikaelsons would look twice at a human teenage girl. And why would they? Looking on from afar, it was clear that the centuries had made them arrogant and haughty, drunk on their own power and feeling all too safe in the knowledge that they couldn't die. So unimaginative. Like killing them was the worst possible thing a person could do to them.
But who would be the best point of entry? If she tried to endear herself to the doppelganger too much she would just make herself a walking, talking red flag to Thing One and Thing Two. Maybe Bonnie, though she needed to see how far along she was in her magical studies, just in case she was able to pick up on something with her. The brother/cousin was out of the question, the history teacher would probably think she was coming on to him, so maybe... Ella brightened as an idea struck her.
Oh. That could work.
Once Richard had seen her into the school and insisted on handing her a packed lunch in front of the secretary like the child that he was, Ella found herself rather glad to be rid of him as she waited in the Principal's office.
The outfit she'd picked for the day consisted of a black leather jacket, a long sleeve white top, her sterling silver owl necklace, her favourite pair of jeans as well as some nice ankle length lace up boots. Adding in her matching red crossbody bag, Ella dared anyone to say she didn't look cute. She'd gone for a more casual affair, opting to keep things simple and practical for the day ahead, as well as not drawing any unwanted attention to herself.
As Principal Harper seated herself down in her chair Ella crossed her legs, hands planted comfortably on her knee as she readied herself.
"Miss Lang." She huffed, mouth tight with tension. Clearly she'd already had a busy morning. Though she looked only around forty, her graying hair, tired eyes and miserable attire of gray and white business clothes told Ella that she had resigned herself to her rather obvious misery. A shame, given how pretty she was despite her sullen expression.
"Principal Harper." She acknowledged, successfully fighting back a smile at the sight.
"Let's see here now..." The woman muttered under her breath, opening up a folder with her name on and quickly scanning through the contents. "Well everything seems to be in order." Principal Harper then proceeded to give her every bit of information she needed to navigate her way through the school and to classes, while Ella occasionally fidgeted with her jacket in order to look suitably nervous. Once all of that was over with, she was handed a schedule for her classes. She tried not wince as she noted that she had history first up. It was bad enough that she had to live with the human equivalent of the history channel. "I'll call in Joe Meyers he'll be showing you around-"
Ella sucked in a deep breath and plunged into the other woman's mind.
A dark gray invisible tendril slowly emerged from Ella's head, -stretching itself out a little due to a lack of use- before slowly gliding towards the head of the paralysed woman in front of her. The principal remained frozen, eyes unblinking as the tendril extended its claws before sinking into the depths of her brain. It was there that Ella could do the slight bit of editing that she needed to. Ella rapidly flipped through her memories as though she was browsing through a CD rack, birthdays with lousy presents, Christmases with racist relatives, dates with mediocre men, before she finally found what she liked to refer to as the command centre. She sank her claws in -deep, unflinching, and leaving no room for Principal Harper to struggle- and began her work.
Oh! I just forgot, he's busy. I'll ask for them to send up Caroline Forbes, I know she'll be happy to show you around instead.
Perfect. With her work done the claws retracted, the tendril slowly withdrawing from the woman's brain, and then her head all together. The tendil crept backwards, sinking right back into Ella's brain and leaving no sign of its existence. Like clockwork Principal Harper blinked in confusion, shaking herself out of what she would suppose was only bit of a daze.
"Oh! I just forgot, he's busy. I'll ask for them to send up Caroline Forbes, I know she'll be happy to show you around instead."
"Great." As the Principal called for her secretary to call for Caroline, Ella spared a glance down at her hands. They shook from the effort of keeping the connection stable, her veins glowing an unhealthy gray before fading back to their usual blue a second later. She did her best to keep her laboured breathing from being noticed, sucking in as much air as she could through her nose all while trying not to let out an unladylike grunt from the pain.
It would fade. She assured herself, feeling the sharp pulsating bursts of pain in her hands and heart gradually start to fade. It was a horrible but ultimately unavoidable side effect of mind control. It was as though the magic was punishing her body for using it to commit such a violation. She didn't like to use it too often, but sometimes it was necessary to get the right results.
Once she had gotten her breathing in order, it didn't take long for Caroline to show up. Ella swivelled her head around as she was seen into the room, offering the Principal a cheery greeting. When Richard had returned to her after spying on the inner circle of the doppelganger, one of his first comments had been on the adorable blonde human -now vampire- who he'd joked was the antithesis of Ella's entire personality. "She actually smiles," he'd quipped, earning himself a hard shove. But she could see his reasoning, now that she stood right by her. Everything about her seemed to radiate light and cheer, like she was ready to throw her arm around you and ask how your day was going. She was whole and unbroken and didn't have centuries of survivor's guilt permanantly clamped to her to chip away at her soul. A paranoid part of Ella couldn't help but note how less tightly coiled she seemed. Ella had planned out everything from her outfit to the way she would carry herself, whereas this girl had breezed through into the room without a tense bone in her body. Relax. Ella mentally urged herself, allowing her clenched hands to unfurl. Stop overthinking this.
By her estimate Caroline was about 5'8, with a pale complexion, mid-length blonde hair, soft and rosy cheeks that complimented her blue-green eyes, as well as a friendly smile that made the tense part of Ella's stomach unclench itself. She was dressed in a pink lace top, jeans and some matching ballerina pumps, a little plain for her tastes personally, but she looked nice enough. Caroline caught her eye as Ella finished looking her over, a corner of her mouth rising knowingly. A passionate fan of fashion, I see. It seemed to say, forcing Ella to have to fight the urge to laugh at herself for getting caught once more. Caroline could see it too, fighting back a giggle of her own as Principal Harper encouraged Caroline to take a seat next to her.
"Caroline, this is Ella Lang our new transfer student." She introduced, gesturing to Ella. "I was hoping you could give her a tour and help her settle in."
"Sure." She readily agreed, holding out her hand in greeting. "It's nice to meet you."
"Likewise." Ella replied, giving it a firm shake. As she did so, she silently took note of the rather antique looking daylight ring on her finger. Gods. To have to wear something like that for all eternity? She'd sooner walk out into the welcoming arms of the sunlight.
The two of them were soon free to leave, Caroline leading the way as they walked down the halls. "-that's the science lab, make sure to have some kind of antiperspirant with you at all times on your days in there. Algerbra classroom, bring your own pillow, oooh!" The other blonde threw out an arm and stopped her short, gesturing to a balding man in his sixties talking to another teacher by a water fountain. "That's Mr Kennedy, totally anal. Don't forget your homework he hands out detentions like candy."
"Got it." Ella laughed, as Caroline realised she still had her hand up. She blushed wildly, shaking her head to herself.
"Sorry," she apologised, her breathing a little erratic as she sucked in deep mouthfuls of air. With just a few weeks into vampirisim, she appeared to be adjusting fairly well. Her shaky breathing was only noticeable as Ella knew what to look for. Good for her. She thought, though she made a mental note not to sweep her hair back from her neck in case Caroline decided she was in the mood for an appetizer.
"It's cool," Ella dismissed, her tone light and breezy as she pretended she hadn't noticed her eyeing her like she was a juicy steak. "You seem pretty in the know."
"I like to be prepared for anything I can." Caroline explained with a shrug, leading her out of a backdoor and out into the courtyard. Ella nodded in approvement, twisting with the strap of her bag a little as Caroline went over all the best places to have lunch. The girl was like a walking, talking map and would definitely be an ideal person to turn to if she needed help with any information on people. She was perfect and definitely the ideal person to stick by in school. But how could she get her to like her? How could she get this girl to want her by her side?
"Wow!" Ella exclaimed once Caroline was more or less finished, sitting herself down on one of the benches out in the courtyard. She blinked rapidly, offering Caroline a shaky grin as she pretended to look overwhelmed. "This is... Ah, a lot."
"Oh! Hey..." Caroline sat by her, placing a reassuring hand on her shoulder. "You'll get the hang of finding your way around eventually. When I first saw the place on my first day of freshman year I nearly had a panic attack!" She let a self conscious laugh bubble forth. "Make sure to write down anything you need to remember, it'll be a total lifesaver."
Ella reached into her bag, pulling forth the small pink planner and pen she had thrown inside in anticipation for the day ahead. Caroline beamed at the display of preparedness, tilting her head in curiosity as Ella tucked them back inside. "A girl after my own heart! So where are you from anyway? I feel like I've been doing all the talking." Caroline inquired, opening up the floor for Ella.
"Vancouver. Though we move around every few years for my dad's work, he's a total history and folklore dork. He writes books, does documentaries, tours the convention circuit, the whole thing." Ella explained, their backstory long since memorized. She'd made Richard quiz her about it so much in the weeks leading up to their arrival, that she could almost believe it to be true. That the lies spilling forth from her tongue were indeed her life. "His next book is on folklore in Mystic Falls." She threw up a hand in display. "Hence how I ended up here."
Caroline raised her brows. "That must suck. Having to start over all the time."
"It keeps you in your toes that's for sure." She allowed herself to drift off, pretending to smile sadly as she rubbed her hands together. "It's been kind of rough recently though. My mom passed and the funeral was barely over before he sold the house and packed up all of our things." She shook her head to herself, allowing a small bit of truth to creep in. "She was always the one to help me with this kind of thing. If I ever had a problem she had an answer. But now... Now my entire life, everything I knew is just... Gone." Ella swallowed the lump that had formed in her throat, allowing her eyes to travel downward as tears pooled in her eyes.
"I'm sorry..." Caroline apologized. "That... That's a lot."
Ella wiped away at her eyes, dismissing Caroline with a shake of her head as she pulled back the reins and retreated. "It's okay. Really I should be the one apologizing, I'm totally oversharing. Nothing like a super depressing dead mom story to open the floor with right?" Take the bait, take the bait, take the bait.
Caroline softened at her words, smiling sympathetically. "You know, I know someone who would really relate to you." Caroline rose to her feet and gestured for Ella to follow, extending a juicy offer to her: "Come on new girl, you can stay with me. I'll show you all the best places to hide from hall monitors on the way to class."
Ella pretended to scramble to her feet, eyes alight with the unspoken offer. Stick by me and I'll look after you in this new environment, it seemed to say. God this girl was nice, it made Ella almost feel bad for using her. You should be careful about that. Ella thought critically, as she smiled at the other girl like all her good fortunes had come true at once. I want to use your friend to get to Klaus and you waved me in through the door with just one sad story.
Still, Caroline had given her an opening. She certainly wasn't going to pass this up.
After her first round of high school classes, Ella suddenly realised why people spoke about the time in their lives with such disdain.
Perhaps it was her inner old woman speaking, but when did teenagers get so loud? And nosy too? Each and every one of her teachers -including the vampire hunter- had made her introduce herself to her class, before sending her off to the back of the classroom where it felt as though half a million eyes were on her. Were residents of small towns so starved for entertainment? She felt as though she was the newest shiny fish to a particularly mundane bowl.
Thankfully enough her peppy tour guide had acted as a buffer of sorts, showing her around and introducing her to people but never letting her linger too long. But when lunch came around, Caroline finally introduced her to the people she'd been waiting for. The girl was rambling on about her football playing boyfriend Matt and how he had a big date night planned for the two of them that coming Saturday, when Ella locked eyes on her talking animatedly with a girl Ella recognised as Bonnie. Caroline's slowly maddening chatter faded to nothing for a moment, as Ella took in the sight of the latest doppelganger. A slender frame, long straight brown hair, kind brown eyes that seemed to see into the depths of your soul, a face that seemed to light up like dazzling fireworks when she smiled... Elena was like everything that had came before her and nothing at all all at once. Whereas Katherine had been a gut punch, Elena invoked the kind of nostalgia that made Ella want to give up and crumble on the spot from the sheer unfairness of it all. Like her past was dangling all of her failures in front of her, taunting her about what could have been. In all honesty, Ella wanted to scream at being forced to look at her, but mostly the sight of her just made her sad. She'd been sad for longer than she'd been alive, and it wouldn't be letting her go from its grasp any time soon. But this? This plan unfolding right in front of her? The one she could only have dreamed of pulling off as a girl was the only thing keeping her going. Klaus, Elijah, the whole lot of them did not get to be happy. Not after the carnage they'd wreaked in her life without sparing her a second thought.
"Hey guys!" Caroline greeted as they approached the girls lunch table, finally winding down her talk of her pet football player.
Both Bonnie and Elena looked up in surprise, the joy on Bonnie's face draining at the sight of them. Ella watched with some interest as Bonnie muttered an excuse about forgetting something in her locker, before gathering up her things and leaving in a hurry. What's that about? Caroline looked as though someone had ran over her cat, and Elena looked like she wanted to be literally anywhere else. "Sorry Care, she's-"
"Yeah, yeah I know." Caroline sighed, completely despondent. She squared her shoulders, plastering on a cheerful expression as Ella tried not to look as awkward as she felt standing there. Clearly she'd walked into quite the domestic dispute. "Elena this is Ella, she's new. I've kind of adopted her."
"Hey." Elena waved in greeting.
"Hey." Ella waved back, holding eye contact with her only for the socially acceptable amount of time. God they really were uncanny, it was eerie to look at up close. Everything down to the fine bone structure, her nose, her mouth, even the slight dimples in her cheeks as she smiled. Like someone had simply hit copy and paste and brought her into being. That all too familiar locked cage where she housed everything she didn't wish to feel was still very much there, as much as she tried to keep it at bay each time its bars were rattled to be heard. Every once in a while over the centuries it threatened to unhinge its jaws and swallow her whole.
She was reminded suddenly of the last time she'd seen Lucien, at one of his Kingmaker parties in New York. It'd been the anniversary of her mother's death, so naturally she'd gotten plastered, spilled her guts to him about her feelings in quite possibly the most embarrassing display of emotion ever, then passed out on his couch like a common drunk. She'd fled in the morning and had successfully avoided all contact with him for three months. He'd been so excruciatingly kind. Listening to the words she managed to get out in between her sobs, patient and sympathetic yet without an ounce of pity. Like he too understood what it meant to have to live in a world with Klaus and Elijah still roaming about in it, and what it meant to keep going in spite of it. A pang of guilt sounded in her stomach for ghosting him, but Ella merely shrugged it off.
"Caroline's been giving me the full Mystic Falls High experience," Ella pretended to babble, taking a cue from her new companion as she injected a healthy dose of anxiety into her tone. "It's so different from my last school, everything's so- High school-y!" Why did you say that? Oh good god I'm not cut out for this. But like her friend Elena seemed charmed rather than annoyed by her frantic nervousness, inviting the two of them to sit down with her.
"How are you finding Mystic Falls?" Elena queried. "Ridiculously small, yet charming all the same?"
Ella let a fake little giggle pour forth. "You read my mind." Internally however, Ella longed to bash her head against a wall. She despised small talk more than anything in the world, she'd never had the patience for it even as a child unless she was getting something out of it. "So is it true the town holds all these glamourous parties, like-" Ella let her eyes take on a dreamy sheen. "-all the time? I think I spent the entire drive on the way here staring at those gorgeous masquerade dresses online!"
"The town does like its parties." Elena agreed with a laugh.
"Not so glamourous when you're on the planning committee for them all though." Caroline grumbled miserably, resting her chin on her hand. "I still need to wrangle together more volunteers for the picnic."
"You can put my name down." Elena offered.
As Ella pulled out the lunch her ever annoying friend had made for her, she considered her options. A town event, many people around, and perhaps a non suspicious way to slither her way into Elena and company's good graces? "Me too." Ella decided, realizing with a start that Richard had cut off the crusts of her sandwiches the way she liked. She felt oddly touched. "I'm ready to do anything to get out of unpacking." She joked, earning herself a wide-eyed look of joy from Caroline.
"You're both lifesavers." Caroline beamed, pulling out a notebook to jot down her and Elena's names. "And you new girl, are officially my new best friend."
Ella met Elena's amused chuckle with a fake one of her own, pleasure curling within her chest as she tucked into her lunch. You have no idea.
Ella's day ended with Caroline's number in her phone, and a promise to come by her house the next day to help with preparations for the picnic. Caroline seemed to believe that she'd picked up a willing and handy sidekick for herself, and Ella was all too happy to assist her with that notion. The girl spent an annoying amount of time talking about her boyfriend troubles and inane facts about their classmates, but she had been nice enough to her that Ella supposed there were worse people to spend time with.
She'd opted to walk to her next destination of the day, the house in question located only a few blocks away from the school. She came to a stop in front of the humble residential house, hands clasped together as she patiently waited for the home owner to come to the door. A minute or two later, no doubt sensing her presence, Shelia Bennett opened the door to her home and raised an unimpressed brow.
"Hey Sheila." Ella called to her old friend, giving the seasoned witch a cheerful wave. "How've you been?"
"Don't tell me you moved here." She sighed, shaking her head to herself. "I should have known it was you. A few months back I was putting a spell back up with my granddaughter on the tomb. I start feeling a little weak in the knees, then all of a sudden I get a rush of power to see me through."
"You're welcome by the way." Ella retorted as she sauntered on over to her, crossing the length of space between them until she was stood on the porch with her. "That spell would have killed you." She frowned in concern as an odd look crossed over Sheila's face. Something significant must have occured to make her use such a vast amount of magic at once. "What were you doing using that kind of power anyway?"
"Got dragged into vampire business." She shrugged, nodding towards the porch swing where the pair comfortably seated themselves down. "One of them wanted his girlfriend back."
"One of the Italians?" Sheila pulled a face of confusion. "Was it Damian or Stephen?"
"You known damn well what their names are." Sheila snorted in realisation, causing Ella to snicker in turn. "And that would be Damon."
"I'll be paying him a visit." Ella promised, sincere and full of protectiveness. "I'm sorry for letting him drag you into his soap opera drama. I was dealing with a... Problem of mine." She sneered, selecting the most polite term in her arsenal. "I won't have you used like a packet of batteries."
"I'm not six years old anymore dear."
Ella took Sheila's hand into hers and finally allowed herself to smile genuinely for the first time in hours. It felt good being next to her. Her face physically ached from smiling and pretending to laugh all day. With Sheila she could simply talk, listen and not have to worry about the plan for a little while. She glanced down at the physically older woman's frail hand, so soft and frail that it made Ella's heart ache. It was the only problem that came with looking out for the Bennett family. Such brilliant, dazzling people, all different in their own ways, always so easy to get attached to, but it always ended the same way. At least Bonnie would have her grandmother with her for longer. "You'll always be the little squirt that made me play tag with her." Ella squeezed her hand gently. A tender, nostalgic flower bloomed within her stomach. "Ella! Ella! One more time!" She imitated, earning a hearty smile from Sheila as she softened in remembrance. "You were faster than most vampires, I continue to stand by that."
"Well... I'm not so fast anymore." She sighed, eyeing Ella expectantly. "Why are you here dear? It can't be just to catch up."
Ella chewed at her lip, considering what to tell her before finally settling on the best version of the truth. "To keep my promise to your family of course, along with a whole host of other reasons. Chief of which being revenge. The timing is finally right and I want to be near the action when it happens."
"Against who?"
"Two very old vampires who have long been in need of my foot up their asses. One of them will be paying this town a visit soon, so I wanted to-"
Sheila shook her head in vehement denial. "You're not teaching Bonnie any of your sorcery crap."
"I know, I know." Ella assured her. "Just... Make sure she stays on top of her magic studies. Believe me-" She sucked in a deep breath, trying not to let the worry show too much on her face. "-she's going to need it."
"Hey kiddo!" Richard called as Ella walked through the door of their home and closed it behind her, his glasses balancing precariously on his nose as he kept it buried in a book. "How did school go? Did you sign up for any clubs? Make any friends?" He teased absentmindedly, licking the tips of his fingers before flipping to the next page. Ella shivered inwardly at the action. Heathen.
Ella dumped her bag on the floor and folded her arms. "Is he here?"
Richard nodded in confirmation, still not looking up from his book. "The Kingmaker truck dropped him off a couple of hours ago." Ella did her best to ignore the sudden leap of her heart at the mention of Lucien's company. "I've got him nice and secure in the basement. Pre-warning though: He's extra grouchy today."
"Is the sky also blue?" She grumbled.
Richard simply nodded, smiling faintly. Her curiosity peaked by his reaction, she walked around to see what it was exactly that he was reading. "It's one of Richie's classics," he clarified, turning to her with a grin, "he thinks Mikael's werewolf massacre back in the day might have been aliens."
Ella snorted at his words, incredulous at what she'd just heard. "Only you would choose to possess a fucking conspiracy theorist." She patted him on the shoulder, turning to head towards the basement entrance.
"They're fantastic reads, truly. I mean sometimes he's on the mark, but sometimes he's waaaaaaay off. If you get bored, you should read the one where he tries to convince you Marcel Gerard is a time traveler from the 31st century." He called after her, his snickers of amusement trailing after him as he headed back to his study.
A child. A literal child.
In the corner of the kitchen was the entrance to the basement, a simple, basic white door that stood in contrast with the rest of the house. Ella pressed her palm against the wood, her power thrumming from her hand, and a second later the door swung open. Last evening, she'd placed a hex on it to allow only her and Richard through, just in case they ever had some nosy visitors over.
Ella began her descent down the spiral staircase, a million and one different ideas and theories running through her mind concurrently as she considered how best to deal with the source of her frustration. Ella was growing tired of lugging him around, but she needed to study him down to the last minute detail if she was going to be able to keep her promise to Richard. Luckily she'd acquired some new toys for herself, and she was eager to test them all out.
As she reached the bottom of the steps she turned on the light, shifting past some of the old junk she and Richard had dumped down there for show. Ella kicked aside an old carpet and some ancient trinkets, kneeling down slightly to press her hand to the hidden door on the floor. This took a moment longer to unlock, the series of hexes and jinxes she'd placed on it so tightly wound together, that she needed to take her time unlocking them unless she wanted a swimming pool's worth of liquified vervain and wolfsbane to be dumped over her head.
Before she became impatient with the process, the door finally clicked open. The wooden handle began to rise from the depths, soon settling into place on the door's surface as though it had always been there. Ella turned the handle and opened up the door, revealing another spiral staircase to climb down. She set off down them, all the while humming the song Who Let the Dogs Out under her breath. She smirked as she heard her new best bud mumble something unflattering about her under his breath, his displeasure made more than clear.
She flipped on the light, causing her subject to flinch at the sudden change. He threw a hand over his eyes, cursing at her.
"Hey Ansel," she greeted, an all too cheery grin gracing her mouth, "how was the truck ride?"
"Horrid." Klaus's father replied, bringing his hand back down to rest at his side. "Much like yourself."
Within the hidden lower level of the mansion was a long stretch of bare space, which Ella figured the designer had in mind for a den or party location of some sort. However rather than decorating it to her tastes and transforming it into such a thing, she and Richard had put in a glass cage. The glass walls were strong and reinforced enough to keep someone with Ansel's strength contained, but the actual space took up almost the entirety of the room. It also had plenty of facilities to keep him alive and sane so that he didn't try to bash his head in against the walls. He had a working toilet, sink and shower, a Marilyn Monroe folding screen for privacy that Richard had won for him on Ebay as a joke, a wardrobe, a training space with gym equipment, a reading area and a book shelf (one she definitely hadn't filled with only romance novels the night before just to piss him off), a TV, as well as a small table and chair set where he could eat with some degree of dignity. It was like his own tiny little apartment, just minus any true privacy along with the ability to leave.
Ella feigned hurt at his words, pouting mockingly as she placed a hand over her heart. "Ansel! Sweetie! After everything we've been through?"
"Let. Me. Go. Witch." He seethed, throwing a useless fist against the glass. The action merely resulted in him bruising his knuckles, making Ella snort as he clutched them painfully.
"First off, not a witch. And no, I don't think I will." She began to cross the length of the room to where Ansel was stood, still glaring at her like a grumpy child who'd been denied candy. As she came to a halt in front of him -just the thick sheet of glass between them- she couldn't help but marvel to herself a little at how young he looked. Sure he was graying a little, but his face still held a youthful sort of look to him. When Ella had known him before, Ansel had always seemed so ancient and stoic to her, the way all adults had when she'd been young. But now with the fuzzy memories pulled back from reality, she saw a man who'd barely grazed his mid-forties before being brutally murdered by Mikael.
After observing Ansel for an uncomfortable minute, Ella finally spoke. "I saw the doppelganger today." She placed her hands behind her back, tilting her head as she watched his reaction. "You know, the clueless human girl, who has no idea your son wants to sacrifice her so he can go howl at the moon."
Ansel visibly winced at her words. It affected him then. To know his beloved lovechild had become the world's most infamous supernatural predator. "Yeah," Ella remarked, "that one."
"What do you want?"
Ella clasped her hands together. "What do I want? Well for starters your son and his smug older brother writhing in agony. But I'm gonna need to wait on that for a little while, and while I do, I intend to figure you out my friend." She walked over to where her equipment was located in the corner of the room, a mixture of scientific and magical objects she'd collected and placed in the hidden basement to test out the man's longevity. She grabbed a needle from her workstation, beginning to prep it as she spoke. "I need to see how long you're going to last."
"You brought me back," Ansel pointed out, confusion painting his tone, "what are you talking about?"
"If witchcraft is the movie, sorcery is the director's cut. You get way more bang for your buck, but nothing's ever completely perfect. I'd never done a resurrection hex before you." She admitted, walking back over to the cage. "You're somewhat of a prototype Ansel."
"And you're looking to make sure you get the real thing right." He guessed, as she made her way back over to him. "You want to know if you made any mistakes. Who are you looking to bring back?"
Ella just smiled, tight and displeased, her conciliatory mood now gone. "That's not for you to know." With her free hand she sent a freeze jinx through the glass, grey sparks flying as Ansel collapsed on to the floor with a heavy grunt of displeasure. "You're simply here to be my guinea pig." With a flick of her wrist she opened up the door of the cage, strolling inside like it was her own living space.
"He'll see you, you know." Ansel stared at her, his body unmoving but his eyes wide with hatred and just a hint of fear. Ella didn't acknowledge the werewolf as she knelt down next to him, fingers prodding his neck in search of the right vein to use. "I've watched Niklaus in the years since my death. My son is no fool. He'll see you for what you are."
Ella shrugged in response, giving the older man no warning as she sank the needle into his neck. "I know. But that's the thing Ansel," she ranted, Ansel's lips quivering from pain as she continued to withdraw a good chunk of his blood, "If he's even smart enough to put two and two together about who I am and why I'm here, by then it'll be too late." She withdrew the needle, a gasp of pure relief pushing past Ansel's tightly gritted teeth.
"You don't need to do this. Whatever was done to you-" Ella's eyes darkened with anger at his attempted dismissal of what had been done to her. Oh that was it!
"No, actually I do." She snapped harshly, cutting him off at once. "Him and Elijah ruined my life." She hissed, her eyes and mouth flared with barely tempered rage as she gripped Ansel's mouth with her free hand. "Then they walked off into the sunset and left me to rot. So when he shows up for Elena, I'm going to pay all of the Mikaelsons back in full for what they did to me, and to my friend." No matter what happened, in the end Ella would ensure that none of them walked away the same.
She let him go, her mouth etched into a scowl. She clutched the needle tightly in her fist, unable to keep it from shaking. "Why couldn't you have just claimed him as your own?" She shook her head, muttering more to herself than Ansel in a bitter tone. If Klaus had grown up with his biological father instead of Mikael and Esther, perhaps the events of that godawful day might never have happened.
Ella walked out on the cage, the door swinging shut and sealing itself once more. "Give it ten minutes!" She called back to Ansel, casually walking back over to her workstation now with a needle full of his blood in hand.