Is anyone still here? lol. Hello! My apologies about the late updates. Surprisingly, or not surprisingly, life hasn't stopped being crazy hectic, but I've very happy I got a moment to finish this chapter. And in other good news, Kol is going to make his first appearance next chapter! Thanks for everyone who commented, followed, and favored my story, please enjoy this chapter!
"I spend half my week at the scariest being in the world's house," I say casually when in truth, I'm aiming for a reaction. Do I want to piss Klaus off or please him? I don't know. "I don't need self-defense lessons."
We're on the deck behind the manor, eating lunch. The conversation isn't pleasant. Klaus' eyes are full of mockery.
Apparently, Elijah had instructed Klaus to make sure I had something to eat before I got my blood drawn. And since Klaus couldn't care less, he shoved a menu at me as soon he saw me, telling me he had already decided what he wanted to get.
I had just woken up, gotten dressed in yesterday's clothes, and was making my way downstairs. To say I was tired was an understatement. My temporary room at the Mikaelsons was the quality of a five stars hotel, but I was too wired to fall into a deep sleep.
When the delivery guy arrived, I took the container with my grilled chicken and took it out to the deck where Elijah and I had had many lemonades.
I was kind of surprised when Klaus followed me with his plate, something with steak, of course. We don't talk- until he starts to pick on me.
"The moment you cease to be of use to me," Klaus counters, managing to sound condescending even with a mouth full of fettuccine, "that protection is off the table. It would be beneficial to learn to defend yourself."
I mull over the thought, rolling the delicious bite of flavorful chicken on my tongue. Once I swallow, I shrug. "I'm not worried about that."
I get an eyebrow raise as a reaction. Klaus leans back a little. "No?"
"Nope," I repeat. "As long as blood- doppelganger blood runs in my veins, I'm stuck with you. I'm not happy about it, but I'm going to take advantage."
Something resembling a smirk curls his lips up. Oh, it's full of mockery, but he doesn't voice his opinion.
Feeling particularly combative, I go on, "Plus, I like your brother. So I may stick around for that."
The shift in Klaus' expression is so abrupt it startles me. No more teasing, mocking, or whatever it is he originally wanted to do. In fact, it's the same expression he gave Damon and me the day he corners us at the Grill, looking for his family's coffins and Stefan.
"I've been meaning to talk to you about that," Klaus says tonelessly. He sets his knife and fork down. "Finally admitting you like playing house with Elijah?"
I think carefully before answering. "Yes," I say honestly. "I don't...know what he wants with me, but I like the lunches and the lemonades and the talks we have."
"Talks."
"Yeah, talks," I say. "He's a thousand years old. He knows more about history than, like, Alaric, who's a history teacher. He's actually lived through it and met some pretty iconic people. Before he left, he was telling me about the time he met Napoleon."
"Interesting," Klaus says.
"Look." I roll my eyes. "Drop it. I'm not...going to do anything. Elijah just makes this summer more bearable."
Klaus is silent for a moment before his eyes narrow. "And what happens if the momentary protection you have is gone, when Elijah's interest fades? Do you think you'll survive for long?"
I think he's bored. His question is mean, and I find myself wanting to get out of his company. I can't believe I actually sought safety in this man's house without Elijah there. He's nice to me a few times and I forgot one of our first interactions was him sacrificing me over an altar.
I set my fork down, leaving the half-eaten grilled chicken. "I'm going to go home," which is where I stay for the next three days.
I think there's someone in the house. My thumbs fly too fast on the keyboard, too twitchy and sweating. My breathing is patchy. I don't have the time or mind to proofread these texts, so I'm sure they're riddled with typos.
KLAUS!
I'M LITERALLY BEING ROBBED!
WHY AREN'T YOU ANSWERING?
I threw the covers off my bed. Great. The first night back at my house and I'm getting literally robbed. It's times like these when I curse my mortality and non-vampire abilities. If I were a vampire, I could have just, like, compel the robber to go away.
But I'm not. And I don't have my vampire friends or boyfriends to help me. It wasn't instinctual for me to text Klaus. I listened for a bit, and decided I was stuck because the ruckus sounded like he was in Jenna's former bedroom and the robber would see me if I peeked my head out, never mind try to leave.
So I texted someone I knew would be awake at 3 a.m- an immortal hybrid who could get here in minutes- if he cared enough, but with his precious doppelganger blood at risk, I think he'll come.
I almost gasp out loud when my phone starts vibrating in my hands. I answer before even the first ring finishes in case whoever it was could hear the vibration.
"Klaus, there's someone in the house," I whisper panickily into the phone the second we connect.
"Get out of there, Elena," he snaps, a growl in his voice.
"I would if he wasn't downstairs," I hiss. I get out of bed and head towards the window to measure how far the distance from my bedroom window to the ground was. "Can you please come here?" I'm not even ashamed of how pleading I sound. There's a fucking burglar in my home. I've literally stabbed myself before to trick Elijah, but I'm freaking out.
"I'm on my way," Klaus says strongly. He growls again. "I cannot decide whether to tell you to run if you see the chance or to fight."
"You want me to fight?" I demand-whisper.
"You've faced worse," he says. "And don't you dare get killed." He hangs up.
My mouth gaps at the "call ended" screen on my phone. Maybe I wasn't as precious to Klaus as I thought I was. My face feels hot, and when something drops in the other room, I flinch harder than necessary.
Before I know what I'm doing, I'm shoving myself away from the escape route I was planning on taking when I'm heading toward my bathroom and through it, Jeremy's room. The baseball bats where he left them are still there. I pick the aluminum one.
I falter for a moment. What am I even thinking? Just because-
The door to my room is shoved open, and even though he hasn't seen me through the bathroom, I can see the man burglarizing my home. He's in a dark maroon hoodie, muddied sneakers, and faded dark jeans, and he's moving erratically. Is he on something?
He moves, and I notice something clutched in his hands. My jaw drops before it clenches. It's my mom's pearl necklaces. Her favorite. The one she kept in a special compartment of her jewelry box.
My first instinct is to run away. The second has more to do with the rightfully-placed anger that churns my stomach. No, I can't let him get away with stealing my mom's stuff.
My third reaction is wanting to charge at him, but again, I'm not a vampire.
Klaus still isn't here.
While the robber is still pulverizing my room, I silently back out of Jeremy's room. The door is thankfully still open. I cast one look at my room, my teeth hardening at the sound of my precious belongings being thrown around like they're nothing.
The noise masks whatever sound I make quickly transcending the steps. I stop at the last step and veer off to the right, stopping at the stairs' blind spot.
I wait for almost five minutes, standing still despite my knees knocking together. Thankfully, my robber is loud, and I tighten my grip on Jeremy's aluminum bat as his steps come closer and closer. I don't allow myself to second guess the moment he turns to make a right and slam the baseball bat as hard as I can at his face. The noise he makes and the crunch his nose makes are startlingly horrifying.
"Oh God," I say at the same time he shouts a less savory comment. His reddened eyes connect with mine. They're full of confusion and rage.
"Get out of my house," I demand haughtily. I recognize the aggression in his next move and move to counter it without thinking, slamming the bat- this time, it connects with his chest and stomach.
He yells out in pain. His voice is gravelly, like he smokes two packs of cigarettes each day. He clutches his chest, and I scream as his eyes roll back and he collapses where he is on the ground.
I barely have a moment to scream again when the front door is kicked open. Furious, blood-red veiny-eyes stare at me in my disheveled state before falling at the man crumbled at my feet, widening in shock.
"F-fuck!" The man suddenly groans, stirring on the ground. He grabs around blindly, and I don't have time to move before he's suddenly gripping my ankle and pulling me down. Klaus yells out something that I don't hear over the thud my body makes when I crash down.
Numerous vampire and witch attacks have me scrambling out of the way just in time to avoid the fist coming my way.
"Hey!" Klaus' voice is thunderous. "Elena, invite me inside."
"No!" I lunge for the baseball bat at the same time the man makes to kick me. The aluminum connects with his knee. He staggers back, giving me enough time to lean on the wall as I try to stand up, breathing heavily.
I spare Klaus a look, more of a glare. "I got this."
The bat connects with the side of the man's head. He goes down easier than a vampire usually does. This time, he stays still.
I freeze in my position, standing over him with my bat half raised. I'm breathing more heavily than I should, my breath coming out choppy. There's blood seeping out from the man's head.
"Well, then," Klaus says, drawing my reluctant attention to him. "Guess you don't need to invite me in after all."
I burst into tears.
"Elena, Elena, come on." Klaus is still at the front door, but he's crouched down to speak at eye level with me. "What happened? What did he do?"
My body is torn between crying and gasping at the same time. I do try to explain what happened, but he probably doesn't get the blubbering noise that comes out of me.
"All right," he says when I quiet down. "Elena, I need you to check if he's still alive."
"W-what?" I gasp. I hadn't even thought I could kill him! I was just crying because the adrenaline rush combined with seeing my mom's necklace was wreaking havoc on my mental state. I scramble from my kneeling position and run towards the burglar.
I place my finger on his pulse the way I've seen people do on TV and- "I don't know how to do this."
Klaus huffs. "Then invite me inside."
I slow down and look at Klaus. His arms are braced on both sides of the doorframe, like he's ready to tear something apart. He's not seething with anger, but he's still pissed off.
There's blood on my fingers when I pull my hand back, and that's alarming enough for me to blurt out, "Okay, you can come in."
There's a sharp breeze and blur of movement before Klaus is crouched beside me, his back to me. He does the same move I did, but places his finger in a different spot.
"He's alive," he says. "And heavily on drugs by my guess."
I snort. I let my body relax, my back connecting with the wall under the stairwell. I sniffle. "I didn't even think that I could actually, like, kill him."
"Yet you slammed that bat so boldly," Klaus says, eyebrows slightly raised. He makes a humming sound, and turns to face me, studying me. My eyes have stopped tearing up but my breathing is still slightly panicked.
"I was mad because he had-" I can't believe I forgot about this even for a second. My heart jumps to my throat when I don't see the pearl necklace in the man's hand, but I calm down when I see it hanging out from his hoodie's pocket. I grab it and clutch it tightly. "It was my mom's."
"Oh my god!" Both Klaus and I turn quickly to the front door where one of my neighbors is standing, horrified.
"Ms. Gilbert, are you all right?" The middle aged woman shouts, quickly making her way towards us. She's...Mrs. Blanc, I think. The one who used to yell at Jeremy and his school friends for playing soccer in the street.
"I'm fine, Mrs. Blanc," I tell her, raising my shaky voice so she could hear it. "I, um, got robbed."
Mrs. Blanc's eyes fall on the unconscious man on the ground.
"Did you call the police?" she asks, voice raised like she's still in shock over the situation.
I look at Klaus, horrified at myself. I'm so used to supernatural problems that it didn't even cross my mind to call the cops on a real problem, like a thief breaking into your home.
"No, Mrs. Blanc. I- I couldn't find my phone," I explain. The lie makes Klaus crack an amused expression. He's probably smug about the fact that I called him first.
"And, she's calling the police," I say quietly, defeatedly to Klaus, but mostly to myself. Mrs. Blanc's voice alone can wake the neighborhood.
Klaus then voices what I was just thinking. "Can't believe you called me before calling the police."
