Chapter 27: Rose

March 24, 2010

Ellie was the one to wake first. Her hands and feet were both bound securely. One look over at Elena confirmed that she was in a similar state. The unfamiliar man noticed her state of consciousness almost immediately. He stared her down through the mirror and warned, "If you so much as think about trying anything funny, I'll kill the both of you." His tone told her just how serious he was and she didn't doubt for a second that he'd do it.

With his threat in mind, she remained still and silent, despite the fact that she desperately wanted to check on Elena. This whole scenario felt like it was out of movie, not her real life. Hell, her being a witch felt more realistic than this kidnapping. There was nothing around for what looked like miles. It was just trees and then empty fields. The only thing around was a ridiculously large mansion that seemed to be their destination.

Elena moved slightly in her sleep, and for her sister's sake, she hoped Elena would just continue to sleep. He pulled up and killed the engine and Ellie felt herself tense. The man opened her door first. Without any warning, he yanked her from her spot and began carrying her inside. "Why-" She started.

"Do not speak." He insisted. He carried her through the house and deposited her onto a couch. "You move an inch and I kill her." Without another word, he turned and headed back the way he came; she was sure he was going to get Elena.

She could hear footsteps and as he appeared within her line of sight, she could hear Elena panting. "Please…" Elena begged. He dropped Elena onto the couch on the opposite side of where he had placed Ellie. He began pulling off his gloves before he removed his hat, glasses, and jacket. He tossed them down carelessly. Ellie had watched enough Criminal Minds to know that if a kidnapper let them see his face, their chances of escaping alive were slim. He sat down on the edge of the couch and began pulling the ropes off of Elena's legs and hands. "What do you want?" She begged.

"Shhh…" He shushed her as he continued on her ropes.

"Please, I'm hurt." Elena told him. The moment she said it, Ellie spotted the blood dried on Elena's sleeve.

"I know." He replied. As he finished removing Elena's bindings, Ellie watched in horror as his eyes shifted to a terrifyingly unnatural red. "Just a taste."

Both Elena and Ellie shouted in terror before a woman's voice snapped at the man. "Trevor! Control yourself." The woman demanded.

"Buzz kill." He huffed as he stood from the couch.

Ellie was shaking as the man, Trevor, walked off. "What do you want with us?"

The woman was staring at the twins with intensity. "My god, the two of you look just like her." She moved to take Trevor's place on the couch, but faced Ellie instead as she began untying her bindings.

"But, I'm not. Neither of us are. Please, whatever you want…" Elena pleaded.

"Be quiet." The woman snapped. She was much faster at undoing the ropes than Trevor had been.

"But I'm not Katherine." Elena insisted as the woman finished untying Ellie and she stepped away from the twins. "My name is Elena Gilbert. This is my twin sister, Ellie. You don't have to do this." Elena said as she stood and stepped towards the kidnapper.

"I know who you are." The woman hissed. "I said be quiet."

"What do you want?" Elena repeated. It was apparently the wrong thing to say, because the woman swiftly backhanded Elena and she flew back into the couch before sliding so that she was laying in an awkward position, once again unconscious.

"I want you to be quiet." The woman sassed. She turned back to face Ellie, who was curled up as she stared at the woman in horror. Her fear was strong enough to keep her glued to her spot, despite her renewed concern for Elena. "Am I going to have the same issue with you?" Ellie shook her head mutely. "Good. Do not even think about trying to leave."

After a moment of deafening silence, the woman turned and strode out of the room. She tried to think past her fear. If not for herself, then for the fact that Elena was also in danger. Maybe if this kidnapping wasn't so insane, she wouldn't be hesitating so much. But that man's eyes… what the hell had that been? People's eyes weren't supposed to do that. Yeah sure, they could get kind of red when they were irritated, but that man's eyes had been as red as blood. He'd said he'd wanted a taste after Elena told him she was injured. Did he mean he wanted her blood? What the hell?

Who was Katherine? Why did that name ring a bell? As far as she knew, she didn't know any Katherine's. She especially didn't know one that looked enough like her and Elena that people might get them confused. Once she knew the lady had been gone long enough that she probably wasn't going to appear out of thin air and scare her half to death, she moved very slowly towards Elena. She made her way across the small space of the couch as she tried to make as little noise as possible.

The very last thing she wanted was to anger the very scary lady. She could faintly hear the woman and Trevor talking a few rooms over as she gingerly checked for a pulse. Once again, her body sagged with relief when she felt the steady thrum of Elena's heartbeat. Despite the situation, she tried to make Elena a bit more comfortable by adjusting her body into something more similar to the way she'd lay if she was sleeping on the couch at home.

It was when she shifted Elena's body to put her in a more comfortable position that she saw the deep red completely staining the back of Elena's originally pink shirt. "Oh my…" Ellie was shaking as she touched the stain. There was so much blood. There was no way that this was anything other than blood. She spared a panicked glance in the direction that the woman and Trevor had gone before slowly pulling up the back of Elena's shirt.

If Elena was as badly injured as the blood would suggest, then the last thing she wanted was to rip open a wound if it was stuck to her shirt. But, the shirt came up off her back rather smoothly. It was slightly stuck in some places, but Elena's back was smooth and completely injury free. The only thing that was wrong with her back was the way it was stained red with dried blood. What the hell had happened? All signs pointed to the fact that this should be Elena's blood, but how could there be this much of her blood with no injury?


She wasn't sure how long it had been since she'd last seen the woman or Trevor, but Elena still remained unconscious. At first, she'd been terrified that the woman's hit to Elena had done serious damage. So she made as little noise as possible as she cast a healing spell on Elena. If Elena had a concussion, she wasn't sure how effective it would be. But it couldn't hurt to try.

During the time she'd had to think, she decided it would be too dangerous to try and use her magic to escape unless it was absolutely life or death. There were too many unknown variables. Trevor's eyes shouldn't have been able to turn that color and then turn back so quickly. There was no rational explanation to explain how in the world that woman was so strong to take Elena out like that with one seemingly effortless hit. They didn't seem like regular people. Were they witches too? Maybe the woman was a witch that had used a spell to augment her strength? Ellie was fairly certain she'd seen some type of spell that could do that. Maybe the guy was just a freak? Like Hannibal Lector. "How are the girls?" The woman asked. Her voice was much louder than it had been the last time she'd heard her voice. They must have been much closer.

"The injured one is still passed out. The one in the dress has barely moved an inch." Trevor told her. Good, that meant that he probably didn't hear her casting the spell.

"You didn't touch her, did you?" The woman asked sharply. "If you have any kind of brain, you didn't touch either of them." It was only slightly reassuring that the woman seemed so aggressively opposed to him doing anything to them.

"Give me some credit." Trevor said. She wasn't sure why he sounded so offended. "So you called him?" He asked as Ellie noticed Elena shift.

Ellie held up a finger to her lips. It would be better if their kidnappers didn't know that she was awake. "No. I called one of his contacts. You know how this works." The woman told him. He knows how what works? He who? A million questions were buzzing around in her mind.

"Look, did you or did you not get the message to Elijah?" Trevor asked.

Elena decided she was going to try something stupid and began to stand. Ellie yanked violently on her sister's sleeve. "What are you doing?" Ellie hissed as quietly as possible.

Her sister shushed her and motioned for her to follow. Despite not really hearing her, Ellie could see Elena mouthing for her to come on. Ellie shook her head. That was a very, very bad idea. Ellie tried to get her sister to sit back down, but Elena wouldn't. Ellie watched in horror as Elena crept towards the door. "They say he got it." The woman replied. They both seemed slightly agitated, which meant Elena doing what she was doing was even more dangerous.

It was a slightly terrifying thought for Ellie to realize that she would do absolutely anything to keep Elena alive. The last thing she wanted to do was to hurt anyone, even her kidnappers, but if they tried to kill Elena, she'd kill them first. She understood now why both Miss Sheila and Emily had wanted her to learn how to defend herself. "Wonderful. And what?" Trevor asked sarcastically.

"So, that's it, Trevor." The woman said it like they'd had this conversation before. "He either got it, or he didn't. We just have to wait."

"Look, i-it's not too late. We can leave them here. We don't have to go through with this." Trevor said and Ellie was concerned at the way his voice indicated that he was very much frightened.

"I'm sick of running." The woman explained.

"Yeah?" He asked sarcastically. "Well, running keeps us from dying." He reminded her. Dying? What the hell was going on?

"Elijah is old school. If he accepts our deal, we're free." The woman told him. Who was this Elijah guy? Was he some sort of mobster or something? If he was, then how could Elena and Ellie get these people their freedom? What had they done that required them to be on the run to survive? Of course, Elena just had to step on a floorboard that would make a noise. "You!" The woman snapped. "There's nothing around here for miles. If you think you're getting out of this house, you're tragically wrong, understand?"

"Who's Elijah?" Elena asked. Ellie wanted to wring her stupid neck. Did she not learn from the last time the woman rendered her unconscious?

"He's your worst nightmare." The woman said seriously. It seemed that she wasn't going to murder Elena for being up and walking around, so Ellie nervously made her way to her sister.

As the woman walked off into another room, Ellie grabbed a hold of Elena's arm. "You are going to get yourself killed." She hissed quietly.

"No. I'm not." Elena said as she followed after the woman. Knowing that the only way to protect her sister and herself was to be with Elena, she followed. "Why are we here?" Elena asked the woman as she stood in the doorway.

The woman was standing at a dusty desk as she clicked on a lamp. "You keep asking me these questions like I'm going to answer them." The woman replied.

"Why won't you?"

"Why won't you shut up, Elena?" Ellie hissed.

"That's another one." The woman replied. "You should listen to your sister. She seems to have some common sense at least."

"You got us. Ok? It's not like we can go anywhere." Elena said as she stepped fully into the room. Interestingly enough, the woman was putting up what looked like sheets of plywood or maybe cardboard to block out the sunlight. "The least you can do is tell me what you want with us."

"I personally want nothing." The woman confessed. Ellie made a face of confusion as the woman continued, "I'm just a delivery service."

"Delivery to who? Elijah?" Elena asked. She said exactly what Ellie was thinking.

The woman laughed slightly. "Two points to the eavesdropper."

"Who is he? Is he a vampire?" Elena asked and Ellie felt her eyes go wide. What in the hell was Elena talking about? Vampires weren't real. There was absolutely no way that vampires were real.

"He's one of the vampires. The Originals." The woman explained.

"What do you mean The Originals?" Elena questioned.

"Again with the questions. Haven't the Salvatores been teaching you your vampire history?"

Ellie was so confused, but it was like Elena had completely forgotten that her sister was standing just behind her. "So you know Stefan and Damon." Elena replied.

"I know of them. A hundred years back, a friend of mine tried to set me up with Stefan." The woman replied. It didn't make any sense. There was no way this woman could have been alive a hundred years ago. Stefan couldn't have either. Unless they were vampires. Ellie tried to shut the thought down. It didn't make any sense. The same part of her brain that suggested that vampires might actually be real taunted her with the reminder that witches shouldn't be real and yet there she stood. "She said he was one of the good ones." She spoke of the friend fondly. "I'm more of a sucker for the bad boys, though, but I digress."

"Who are The Originals?" Elena demanded as she took a reckless step towards the woman.

The woman finally looked away from the books she was flipping through to stare Elena down. "Trevor and I have been running for five hundred years. We're tired. We want it over. We're using the two of you to negotiate ourselves out of an old mess."

"But why us?" Elena pressed.

"Because the two of you are Petrova doppelgängers. You're the key to breaking the curse." The woman told them.

"Curse?" Elena asked in confusion. "The sun and the moon curse?"

"Oh, you do know your history." The woman said with a roll of her eyes.

"What do you mean I'm the key?" Elena pressed. "The moonstone is what breaks the curse."

"No. The moonstone is what binds the curse. Sacrifice is what breaks it." The woman said before she shrugged. "And I mean really, either one of you would probably work just fine as the key. It's why we took you both."

"Sacrifice?"

"The blood of the doppelgänger. The two of you are doppelgängers. Which means in order to break the curse, one of you will have to die." The woman explained. She must have noticed the way Ellie looked both horrified and confused and gave her a look that seemed like genuine sympathy. "You really don't know what's going on do you?" For the first time since Elena had started pushing for answers, she turned to spare a glance her way. "What? Did your sister leave you in the dark?" At Ellie's silence, she took that as a confirmation. "She did. Interesting."

"I didn't-" Elena started, but she didn't seem to know what to say. "That's not the point." She turned the conversation back to what she wanted to talk about. "Tell me more."

"Captivity has made this one pushy, eh?" Trevor asked with a grin. He was far more relaxed than he had been earlier. "What do you want to know, doppelicious?"

"Who are you running from?" Elena asked.

"The Originals." Trevor said.

"Yeah, she said that. What does that mean?" Elena questioned.

Ellie wanted to fight her for how sassy her tone sounded. "The first family." Trevor explained as he kicked books across the floor. "The old world… Rose and I pissed 'em off." The woman, apparently named Rose, cleared her throat and shot him a look. "Correction, I pissed them off. Rose had my back. And for over half a millennium, they've wanted us dead."

He tossed a book carelessly at Elena's feet. "What did you do?"

"He made the same mistake countless others did. He trusted Katerina Petrova." Rose explained.

"Katherine."

"Mmm, the one and only… the first Petrova Doppelgänger." Rose confirmed.

Trevor was flipping through one of the books without really reading it as he added, "I helped her escape her fate. And now I've… sorry, we've… been marked ever since."

"Which is why we're not going to make the same mistake again." Rose said. Although it seemed more like she was reminding him rather than telling them. He dropped the book down onto the table with the others before he turned and followed Rose out of the room.

They were gone for a minute before Elena shrugged and said, "Come on, let's go back."

"Elena, seriously what the hell is going on?" Ellie asked. She felt dizzy from all the information getting thrown at her. Whatever was going on, Elena seemed to know enough about it that she was acting more like this was an inconvenience than a life threatening situation.

"I'll explain later. Just come on." Elena replied as she took a hold of Ellie's hand and pulled her back into the room they were first placed in. "Everything's going to be fine. I promise."

"Why do you guys keep talking about vampires? Elena, something like that couldn't possibly exist." Ellie told her.

"It's complicated, Ellie. Now just really isn't the time." Elena replied as she dropped down onto the couch and tugged Ellie so that she'd do the same. Ellie sat obediently as Elena pulled her feet up. Their attention was caught by the sound of something rustling under Elena's feet. She lifted her foot to see a crumpled and folded piece of paper. She leaned over to look at it with Elena. On it was Bonnie's familiar scrawl and it read 'Stefan and Damon are coming from you -B'.

Elena let out a shaky breath before she quickly crumpled the page before stuffing it into her pocket. The note didn't particularly fill Ellie with the same hope that it seemed to give Elena. She relaxed, well as much as she could, back into the other side of the couch. Rose dropped a bag between the two of them before stuffing the back with clothes and zipping it up. The twins watched as their kidnappers seemed to almost frantically prepare for this Elijah person. Whoever he was, he seemed to scare them like he was the devil incarnate.

Trevor seemed to be pacing throughout the mansion, worriedly peeking through the slots in what had been put up to block the sunlight. The more he paced, the more nervous Ellie became. If this were literally any other situation, she might have tried to comfort him. But as it were, it seemed odd to comfort someone who had taken her hostage. He'd been gone for a few minutes before Rose grabbed the bag she'd placed between the twins to move it to another chair. Trevor reappeared, nearly running, as he fearfully announced, "He's here." Ellie and Elena both shifted in their seats. "This was a mistake."

"No, I told you I would get us out of this. You have to trust me." Rose insisted.

"No!" Trevor exclaimed. "He wants me dead, Rose!" Ellie almost felt bad for how genuinely scared he seemed.

"He wants them more." Rose said forcefully.

"I can't do this. You give them to him, he'll have mercy on you, but I need to get out of here." He said frantically.

Rose grabbed his hands to stop his frantic movements. "Hey, what are we?"

He took slow, deliberate breaths before replying, "We're family." Ellie glanced at Elena to see her staring at them with sympathy. "Forever." Rose smiled at him and Ellie couldn't describe it in any other way than love. It was clear that the woman was trying her best to keep him calm. There was a sudden pounding on a door somewhere that caused all four of the room's occupants to flinch at the sound.

"You're scared." Elena said in surprise.

Rose squeezed Trevor's hands in another attempt to calm him. "Stay here with them." She instructed. "And don't make a sound." Rose quickly rushed up the steps to go answer the door. Trevor, on the other hand, looked like he was about to get very sick as he panted and wiped his sweaty hands against his jeans.

It had only been a minute or so that Rose had been gone before Ellie rose from her seat, too anxious to remain seated. Trevor looked to be on the verge of bolting at the slightest indication that something was going to go wrong. Elena stood up shortly after and she was pacing in tight circles. Ellie was trying her best to keep Elena both in her line of sight and behind her at the same time.

Trevor was the first one to react. He tensed up and Ellie straightened up as she took a cautionary towards Elena. She could hear the clicking of Rose's shoes approaching and felt her heart doing double time. Rose stepped in first and moved to the side to let a man enter. He was impeccably dressed and wearing a suit that she had no doubt was insanely expensive.

Out of the corner of her eye, she could see Elena turn to face the man. He rested his hands on the banister for a moment as he stared at them in disbelief. With impossible speed, he moved from the stairs to in front of Ellie. Her breath caught in her throat as she moved to stand so that she blocked Elena from the man. This must be Elijah. Her heart was beating painfully in her chest at his proximity.

She could feel Elena grab her hand in fear. The man, Elijah, wasn't looking at her, instead he was staring at her neck. When he began leaning in, she froze and refused to move a muscle except for the involuntary movement of tilting her head up slightly. He was so close that she could feel his breath on her neck and she was sure he must be able to see the way her heart was on the verge of beating out of her chest.

Elena was shaking like a leaf behind her and her grip on Ellie's hand and wrist was nearly crushing. For a brief moment, Elijah stayed in that position so close to her throat before pulling up so suddenly that her heart stopped beating. "Human." Elijah declared. "It's impossible." He looked back down at Ellie and locked eyes with her. "Hello there." He said to her. "Not only one of them but two. How unexpected."

"Two doppelgängers, just as I promised." Rose said, though she spoke very cautiously. He turned to face them and Ellie could see how terrified Trevor was. Despite everything, she couldn't help but feel sympathy for him.

Elijah took a few steps towards Rose before stopping and Ellie moved as quietly as possible to stand in front of Elena more fully. "Yes. As you promised." He agreed. He turned backed to the twins and told them, "Well, we have a long journey ahead of us. We should be going."

"Please, don't let him take us." Elena begged as she stepped slightly to the side of Ellie to try and get their original captors to save them. It was useless. She could see how scared they both were. They would not dare defy Elijah. She could see Rose look away from them, guilt written all over her face.

"One last piece of business. Then we're done." Elijah assured them. Elena's begging didn't seem to bother him in the slightest.

Trevor didn't seem to be able to meet Elijah's gaze. "I've waited so long for this day, Elijah. I'm truly very sorry."

"Oh, no, your apology is not necessary." Elijah dismissed. He now stood slightly behind Trevor, but the other man didn't move an inch.

"Yes. Yes it is." Trevor insisted. "You trusted me with Katerina and I failed you."

Elijah was circling around Trevor and as he came around the front of the other man, he agreed, "Well, yes, you are the guilty one. And Rose aided you because she was loyal to you. That, I honor. Where was your loyalty?"

"I beg your forgiveness." Trevor said as opposed to answering Elijah's question.

"So granted." Elijah said easily. Just as Trevor began to smile, Elijah raised a hand and Ellie's mind couldn't process how one minute Trevor was standing there and the next, his head was rolling away from his body.

Rose let out a horrified and pained scream as she nearly collapsed against the banister. Ellie could feel the pressure in her chest. She wanted nothing more to scream, but no sound came out. Elena reached out to really hold onto Ellie and the young witch did as best as she could to pull Elena against her so that her sister couldn't see the horrific sight. "You!" Rose's voice was distorted with pain.

"Don't, Rose…" He warned her casually as he fixed his sleeve. "Now that you are free." Rose was trying her best not to sob, but she couldn't keep all the broken sounds from escaping. "Come." He demanded of the twins, his force taking on a more forceful tone.

"No, what about the moonstone?" Elena asked in a panic as she flinched away from him.

He paused as he stared Elena down. "What do you know about the moonstone?" He asked her seriously.

"I know that you need it, and I know where it is." Elena told him.

"Yes." Elijah seemed pleased by her confession, as if she were being more useful than she realized.

"I can help you get it." She promised.

"Tell me where it is."

"It doesn't work that way." Elena told him and Ellie dug her nails into the flesh of Elena's hand in warning.

She could see the way his jaw ticked and knew that Elena was treading on very thin ice. "Are you negotiating with me?" He questioned.

He crossed his arms and spared a glance back at Rose. The woman glared hatefully at him through tear-filled eyes. "It's the first I've heard of it." She said.

When he turned back to the twins, it seemed to be the first time that he glanced down at their necklaces. "What is this vervain doing around your necks?" He asked before he snatched the necklace off of Ellie and threw it behind him, before taking Elena's more aggressively. He easily pushed Ellie out of his way and grabbed Elena by the back of her head, forcing her towards him.

"No!" Ellie yelped and she latched onto his arm in desperation. "Please let her go." She begged, but no matter how hard she pulled he didn't budge in the slightest.

"Once she tells me what I want to know, I'll let her go." He told her simply. But it was hard to focus when all she could see was how terrified Elena was. His gaze shifted back to Elena. "Now, tell me where the moonstone is."

Elena stopped fighting against him and Ellie could see Elena was staring blankly back at Elijah. "In the tomb underneath the church ruins." She replied obediently.

"What is it doing there?"

"It's with Katherine."

"Interesting." He replied. Any further questions he may have had were cut off by the sound of glass shattering somewhere in the distance. He released Elena and Ellie didn't hesitate to place herself between the two of them again. "What is that?"

"I don't know." Rose told him.

He kept looking around trying to find the cause. "Who else is in this house?" Elijah asked her.

"I don't know." Rose repeated. He took a glance back at the twins before snatching Ellie's arm. She didn't fight him. He hadn't budged when she was trying to save Elena. If she tried to break herself free from his grip, she would more than likely only hurt herself or put Elena at a higher risk. He forced her to start walking before he grabbed Elena with his free hand.

"Move!" He demanded as he rushed them up the steps. They came to stand in front of a larger staircase and when something rushed behind them at unnatural speeds, she unintentionally flinched towards Elijah. He released them both and pushed them towards Rose who caught them. "Rose."

"I don't know who it is!" She told him immediately. Ellie's mind pushed the image of Bonnie's note to the front of her mind. Was it Stefan and Damon? Someone rushed between where the girls were and where Elijah was and they all turned to follow the movement.

"Up here." Someone called. Ellie's brain made the connection that it was Stefan a split second later. Elijah was up the steps in an instant.

"Down here." Someone, Damon, called. A moment later there was the sound of something similar to the sound made by those machines that spit at balls in the batting range. Ellie watched as Elijah jerked slightly before she realized that what looked like a thin stake had been shot through his hand. She would have watched him pull it out if it wasn't for the fact that everything around her turned into a blur. One second she had been standing in the middle of that room, the next she was pressed between a wall and Rose as Damon forced a hand over both of their mouths.

"Excuse me?" Elijah spoke out. "To whom it may concern, you're making a great mistake if you think that you can beat me. You can't." Damon pushed his hand against her mouth a little more to make sure she was silent. "You hear that? I repeat… you cannot beat me." There was the sound of something breaking off as Damon very slowly released his hold he'd had on her mouth. "So I want the girls on the count of three or heads will roll." It sounded like more things were getting broken before he asked, "Do we understand each other?"

"I'll come with you." Elena said and Ellie's eyes shot wide at the sound. Rose didn't hesitate to hold her in place and cover her mouth so that they wouldn't be found. "Just please don't hurt my friends. They just wanted to help me out."

She heard Elena gasp but she forced herself to stay still before tapping on Rose's arm to be released. The other woman did so hesitantly. "What game are you playing with me?" Elijah asked but it was hard to hear. There was a pause, and then the sound of something shattering like glass. Elijah's pained screams followed after that. A series of gunshots rang out and heavy thuds as Ellie yanked off her heels. If she needed to run for her life the heels would just make it harder.

Not knowing what else to do, Ellie hid in a small closet near where she'd been and prayed to god or whoever could hear her to keep Elena safe. Finally, finally, it was silent. Whether that was a good thing or a bad one, she didn't know. "Just let her go." Elena called to someone and Ellie felt the pressure on her heart ease up. At the very least, as least she knew Elena was still alive.

"Hey, come here. Are you hurt? You ok?" Stefan spoke. His voice echoed in the relatively empty space.


It had been quiet for quite a while before Ellie carefully opened the door. She was met with silence. Not too far from where she was, she could see her discarded shoes in the same place she left them. She tried to see where Elena might've been, but saw no one. Ellie silently searched around to try and see where they were if they were inside or outside, but they were gone. "Did they leave me?" She muttered to herself as she crept back to where she'd been before and she did her best to not vomit at the sight of Trevor's decapitated body.

When she reentered the room where she'd last been with Elena, a horrified scream ripped from her throat at the sight of Elijah pinned to the door with a coat rack rammed through his chest. His body was unmoving and she couldn't help but go closer. To her shock, he was unnaturally grey with veins more prominent than they would ever naturally be. Why did he look like that? Was he dead? He looked dead.

She thought her situation through as she backed away from him. Rose had made it clear that they were in the middle of nowhere, nothing around for miles. The young witch had absolutely no clue where she was. She also didn't have her phone, which meant she had basically no way to get into contact with anyone to help her. It was also going to get dark soon. She could already see the sky beginning to turn slightly orange which meant if she even tried to walk the distance to get help, it would be dark before she got anywhere and she could end up lost or attacked by animals.

The situation looked bleak. That much she could admit. Not knowing what else to do, she took a seat on the steps. It would be more comfortable on the couch, but she couldn't bear to be in the same room with Trevor's body. It seemed like the events of the day were taking a toll on her with the way her eyes demanded to be closed. Well, if she had nothing else to do but to wait for someone to remember that she'd been with Elena and to come back to get her, it wouldn't hurt to close her eyes for a moment.

She forced her eyes to open back up, only to startle when she saw how far the sun had gone down. Clearly, she'd closed her eyes for a bit more than a moment. Ellie had been looking up at the window above where Elijah's body was pinned when she thought that she saw him move. Her mind dismissed it as impossible. When he continued to move, she looked down and screamed once again when she saw him staring at her as his skin returned to his normal shade.

"Oh my god!" She yelped as she scrambled to her feet. All signs of exhaustion she'd felt moments before were gone. He wrapped his hands around the wood buried in his chest and she let out a panicked shout of, "Oh fuck!" She didn't think about anything other than getting very far away from him as she ran as fast as she could up the stairs.

"It is not smart to run." He warned her. His tone was like ice and she didn't dare to turn around. She made it up the stairs and down the hall before she felt the air shift and he grabbed her roughly. In her panic, it felt like her magic exploded from inside her before a burst of energy threw Elijah away from her. She barely registered the look of surprise on his face before she turned and ran into the first room she could reach. She slammed the door shut and did the locks before backing away. "You should know that it won't be enough to keep me out, little witch." He warned.

Ellie didn't reply. Instead, she focused all of her energy and magic on the door to keep her safe. The door shook on its hinges as he kicked it and she backed farther from it. Again and again he kicked it, but the door held up and Ellie thanked whoever was listening. Elijah was relentless, however, and she was beginning to tire. Too much had happened and she couldn't hold out much longer. "Please." She begged when she saw the first crack in the door. Within seconds, he had the door kicked in and was on her. "Please, don't hurt me. Please, please, please."

She was shaking. This was how she was going to die. She knew it. "Now why would I do that little witch?" He asked her calmly, as if he hadn't just chased her through the house and kicked down a door to get to her. "Now, Rose said there were two, which one are you?" She just looked at him in disbelief. "Your name. What is it?"

"Ellie." She told him as she tried to stop shaking in his hold.

"Ellie." He repeated. "Is that a nickname? What is it short for?"

Despite her confusion as to why he cared, if it meant he wasn't trying to kill her then it was better to try and stay on his good side. "Eleanor. Ellie is short for Eleanor."

"Hmm, lovely name. Now, Eleanor, if I release you, are you going to be so foolish as to try and run again?" Elijah asked her. She shook her head quickly and he gave her a satisfied smile. "Wise decision." He released her instantly and she was surprised that he arms didn't ache from the hold he'd had on her. "Rose did not inform me that one of the doppelgängers was a witch."

It seemed like he spoke more to himself than to her, but she felt the need to defend herself. "She didn't know." She said softly. He turned back towards her with a curious look and so she repeated, "She didn't know. No one knows I'm a witch."

"Interesting. You were involved with vampires, and yet you didn't disclose the nature of your abilities." He commented and she must have given off some sort of signal that something was off. "What? Your sister was entirely aware of vampires and knows at least two that she's friends with. Do you mean to tell me that until today you were unaware of the existence of other supernatural creatures other than yourself?"

He seemed very calm, but she was still a bit wary of him. "I knew of other witches. I hadn't really considered the possibility that things like vampires were real. It just doesn't seem logical." She confessed.

"But being a witch does?" He questioned. "How is it that your sister doesn't know what you are?"

"I've kept it a secret. I was told it wasn't safe to tell her."

"Told by who?"

"It doesn't matter." She replied, sharper than she'd intended to. Ellie shrunk away from him slightly before she added, "They died. So it doesn't matter anymore."

"My condolences." Elijah replied and it seemed relatively sincere. "It seems we have a predicament here, Eleanor. I still need a doppelgänger, and it seems that they have so conveniently left you behind." She could feel her heart as it started to hammer another panicked beat before he held up his hand. "Calm down. I'm not going to kill you. No, I need you alive for now."

The 'for now' made her want to throw up. "I don't want to die." She didn't mean to say it out loud, but she did and he heard it.

The look of sympathy he gave her was more genuine than before and he placed a gentle hand on her cheek. "I understand. Maybe you don't have to. There's two of you, it doesn't have to be you."

Her hands flew up to grab a hold of his wrist. "I won't let Elena die when I could save her." Her voice was fierce, the strongest it had been since they'd met.

It seemed to entertain him. "Your dedication to protect your sister is very admirable. It is very loyal of you. But where was her loyalty when she left you here with me? Where was her loyalty when your life was in danger and yet she still left you clueless to the things that go bump in the night?" It felt like a punch to the gut. In her fear over trying to not be killed by the dangerous man before her, she'd momentarily forgotten what had happened.

"I…"

"Perhaps there is a chance that neither you nor your sister have to die. It may be within my abilities to protect you both. However, if I'm going to do that, I'm going to need your assistance." He explained. She felt like she was Eve in the Garden of Eden, because this very much felt like making a deal with the devil.

Even if she was making a deal with the devil, could she really run the risk of what could happen if she didn't? If she didn't, it was basically guaranteed that either she would die or Elena would. Hell, they might both end up dead. At least, if she agreed, she had a shot at saving their lives. "I still don't know anything about what's going on." Ellie told him. It was neither a yes nor a no.

"I will explain it all to you. I will answer your questions to the best of my ability. I will even do what I can to help you improve your craft since you lost the teacher you had." Elijah promised.

"How could you do that?"

He laughed lightly at the question. "Trust me, I have my ways. Now, do we have a deal? Your assistance for mine in return, as well as doing everything within my power to keep you and your sister alive."

"What do you mean by my assistance? I don't want to hurt anyone." She told him.

"I wouldn't make you. Your assistance mostly just comes from your cooperation. If I need you to do some digging, then you dig. If I want to find you, you don't run from me or try to hide. I have no intentions of making you do something that goes against your morals." Elijah assured her.

Jeremy's smiling face appeared in her mind along with Jenna's. "I don't want any of my family or my friends getting hurt because of this. As far as I know they aren't involved. My family has lost enough and I will not be responsible for hurting them any more." She insisted.

"Of course. You have my word that none of your friends or family will come to any harm. Do I have your word?" Elijah inquired.

It seemed like as good of a deal as she could possibly get. Her friends and family were protected. She and Elena were protected. He would even help her with her magic. Elijah even said that he wouldn't force her to do anything she didn't agree with. He was being very generous and they both knew it. He offered up his hand for her to shake. After one last moment of hesitation, she placed her hand in his. "You have my word."


Author's Note:

Oh my gosh guys we've finally reached Ellie and Elijah's first meeting! I cannot tell you how long I've been waiting for this! I hope you guys enjoyed it. Please leave a review and let me know your thoughts and if you have any questions!

To Aryabloodlust: Honestly, the way the writing worked out, Ellie and Rose don't spend much time together. But if they had, Ellie and Rose would've been friends. And yes, Ellie did get taken as well.

To Muskan Jain: Yes, he's here! And yes, Ellie did try to use her powers to escape, but that didn't really work out.

To jgood27: Thank you so much! I hope you liked this chapter!

To lolistarkiller: I literally find it so amazing that there are people that find this good enough to binge read! That means so much to me you don't even know. If you're new here, I update every Saturday. I hope you enjoyed this chapter.

-Madame Magic

Posted: 8/15/20