Chapter 31: The Descent

March 31, 2010

Ellie didn't sleep well that night. Her dreams were filled with Tyler screaming and pained howls of a wolf. Finally, she jolted awake and couldn't go back to sleep, so she dragged herself out of bed and into the shower. Once she was dressed and ready, Ellie packed up what she needed. Jenna stopped her before she could leave however. "Jenna?" Ellie asked as she allowed Jenna to pull her into the older woman's bedroom. "What's up?"

"I don't know how to be around Elena right now." Jenna confessed.

"Why do you think I'd been avoiding her and Jeremy for days? I didn't know what to say to them. I didn't know how to act. All I could think about was the lies that they told me. I just wish they would have told me. The only reason Jeremy even knows is like because Damon killed him or whatever the reason is." Ellie told her. "Jenna, I avoided them like the plague. I've hardly spoken to anyone."

"This is insane." Jenna huffed. "When did our lives become freaking Twilight?"

Ellie choked on her laughter. "That, my darling aunt, is a very good question that I don't have the answer to." Ellie informed her. "But we're going to be just fine. I promise you."

Jenna nodded as she relaxed slightly. "So where are you heading to?" She asked curiously as she gestured to the bag Ellie had.

"Just taking some stuff to a friend." Ellie replied. "They've been having a rough few days."

"That's nice of you." Jenna said. "Oh, by the way, if that writer guy, Elijah, sends someone to get those files today can you let them in to get it? My thesis advisor is insisting to see me in their office because of course my latest version isn't up to standards by their definition. I swear I will be so freaking glad when I graduate. This back and forth is tiring."

"Your thesis advisor is an ass." Ellie said bluntly. "But yes, I will make sure that whoever comes to pick up the stuff for Elijah will be able to get it."

"Thank you." Jenna said gratefully before she glanced at her watch. "Ugh, ok, I have to get going, but I'll let you know if Elijah calls me."

Ellie let Jenna pull her to her feet. "Ok. I should probably head out too." Ellie replied. They made their way downstairs and headed out. Ellie opted to lock the door while Jenna pulled out first. Jenna drove in the direction of her school while Ellie pulled out and headed for the woods. She would have to make the first with Katherine quick so that she could get to the school in time. The drive was quick, and the trek to the tomb had quickly become familiar "Katherine?" Ellie called as she made her way down the steps.

"Mmm, wasn't sure you were coming back." Katherine called as she made her way to the entrance. The vampire looked to be in surprisingly good shape. "Looks like I'm still stuck in here."

"I brought you things to try and help pass the time." Ellie offered as she passed the bag to Katherine. "I'm sorry you're still stuck in here."

Katherine shrugged. "Nothing I can do about it now that Elijah's here." She replied as she opened the bag to search through it. "Apparently he's made a deal with Elena to get Stefan out and I got left in here." She seemed annoyed by that. "He actually left me in here."

"Stefan?"

"Mmhmm. He likes to pretend that he didn't love me once." Katherine told her. "He loves to pretend that he hates me." She scoffed loudly. "Tell me, Ellie, if he hated me so much why did he feel the need to stalk you and Elena when he realized that you both looked like me? Why would he fall in love with Elena if he hated me?"

Katherine made a good point. Ellie hadn't even thought about it. Why would Stefan follow them around the way that he did? It was definitely in the stalker territory. But they'd have also been dead without him. She didn't really know what to think about Stefan. From the actions she knew of, Stefan was a good guy. But Katherine was right too. "Yeah." Ellie said finally. She didn't know what else to say. It was something that she'd have to think about.

The vampire went about her usual routine of brushing her teeth and doing what she could to clean the filth off her skin. Ellie had turned out to be far more interesting that she had originally anticipated. She had expected for the young girl's personality to be like Elena's, who was as dull as dishwater. This one, however, was much more a Petrova. Had they been sisters when Katherine had been human, she could see them having been close.

When Ellie had made her first appearance down in the tombs, Katherine would have never expected sympathy from her. Elena had most certainly not cared that Katherine hadn't wanted to die, nor did she care that Katherine had to carry the grief of being responsible for her family's murder. Her father hadn't been the best man, but her mother and sister had been angels. She could still remember her sister's dedication to protect her and the baby from their father's anger. They had managed to go quite some time without him knowing of her pregnancy. In the end it hadn't mattered. He took her baby and banished her.

The fact that Elena and Ellie were alive was proof that her daughter had lived and had a child of her own, at least one. Did her baby look like her? Or was she all her father? It was painful, even now, to linger on those thoughts. Her daughter had to be long dead, and she was in no position to grieve. It would show weakness, and that would get her killed.

She watched as Ellie sat down, lost in the thought. Maybe she liked the other Gilbert because Stefan wasn't in love with her. Katherine would admit that she was curious to see how much of a Petrova the girl in front of her actually was. "How did Stefan wind up stuck in here anyways?" Ellie asked curiously.

Katherine winced, not where the other girl could see it though. She was sure that Ellie wouldn't take to her feeding on Jeremy well. Ellie raised an expectant eyebrow, so Katherine confessed, "Your reckless brother decided to try and come in here to get the moonstone from me. I was hungry."

The revelation hit Ellie like a brick wall. Katherine had hurt Jeremy. It shouldn't surprise her, Katherine had killed Caroline and made her a vampire after all. "You fed on him?" Ellie asked in shock.

"He's fine." Katherine told her. "He had his little magic ring on. Given, that only takes effect if I killed him, which I didn't. He's fine. And I feel great. You shouldn't be surprised." Katherine reminded her. "You should know by now that I will do anything it takes to survive."

Ellie did know that. She just didn't like that Jeremy had gotten hurt in the process. An alarm sounded from Ellie's phone and she groaned. She really wasn't in the mood for school today, but she wanted to check on Tyler. The full moon last night couldn't have been easy for him. "I have to get to school." Ellie replied as she forced herself to get back up. "I also brought back the book you were reading before I had to take the stuff. Your bookmark is still in place."

She left without another word. It wasn't like she knew what to say anyways. By the time she arrived at school, her thoughts were swimming like they always were these days. Everyone was outside and helping set up for the barbecue. It was probably the easiest day of the school year. The students came and would help set up the stations as a few people got to work cooking the food. If she was right, Alaric would actually be one of the ones making hamburgers and hot dogs on the grill.

While it was mandatory for the boys to wear their football jerseys, the cheerleaders could decide whether or not they wore their uniforms. Ellie had opted out because the weather was far too cold, in her opinion, for a short skirt and tank top that did absolutely nothing to protect them from the bite of the wind. She went and signed in on the attendance sheet her first period teacher gave her before strolling around the parking lot.

Relief washed over Ellie when she spotted Tyler. The amount of weight that lifted on her shoulders had clearly been far greater than she'd realized, and the young witch had to brace herself against one of the school buses to keep herself steady. As she recovered, she watched as Caroline approached Tyler with a smile. It was noteworthy, because in all the years she'd been friends with the two of them, they'd never been particularly close.

In that instant, she wished more than anything that she could have the ability to have supernatural hearing the way her two friends did, but as far as she was aware, she'd not come across a spell of that nature. Caroline spoke brightly to Tyler as Ellie observed them. The blonde was sincere in whatever she was saying to them, but Tyler seemed like he was trying to keep her from getting too excited. Whatever Caroline said, it got Tyler to laugh and smile at her warmly. Ellie had never seen them interact that way before. A moment later, his features were colored with confusion. "Hey Caroline, you got a second?" Matt called as he approached the duo.

Tyler backed away from Caroline. It looked incredibly awkward before Tyler eventually walked away from the duo. She wanted to stay and see whatever was going to happen between Caroline and Matt, but she still couldn't shake away the worry she had for Tyler. So instead, she moved away from the buses and followed after the young werewolf. "Hey, Ty!" Ellie called as she rushed to catch up with him.

He spun on his heel at her call and gave her a bright smile. "Hey, Ellie." She hugged him tightly, and she didn't miss the way he flinched slightly at the force of it. The reaction was similar to the way he reacted when she hugged him if he'd over done it on workouts and his sore body was protesting as a result. "What was that for?" If she didn't know him as well as she did, his feigned nonchalance would have been convincing.

For now, she let him believe that it had. "Can't a girl hug her best friend?" Ellie asked with faux offense. He shot her a look and she sighed dramatically. The best lies were always the ones with the most truth. "I had a funky dream." She confessed. "Like you were hurt or something. You know how my dreams can freak me out sometimes." He seemed concerned, but she thought it might have been more of his fear that she somehow knew than her having a nightmare. "Don't you remember after we watched Halloween and I had nightmares for a week of Michael Myers chasing me through the woods?"

That got a laugh out of him. "He literally walks everywhere, Ellie. If he caught you then you're severely out of shape." Tyler mocked.

"Shut up! We were like nine! We shouldn't have been watching them anyways." Ellie huffed as she refrained the urge to shove him. While she knew he wasn't at his best, it was a relief to see him. She had feared that he would be far more injured than what he currently was. "Come on, if we're lucky, we can get Alaric to give us some food before everyone else."

She still wasn't excited about trying to interact with people that had lied to her for so long, but her fear over Tyler's safety had overruled her worry about that. It had also been a bit easier to get over how she felt about some people's decisions as opposed to others. As far as she could tell, the majority of the secrets Alaric kept were due to Elena wanting them to stay out of it. Maybe it also helped him earn her forgiveness when it was so obvious that he was kind of in love with Jenna. "Alaric?" Tyler asked curiously.

"He's dating Jenna, so I guess that gives me and Elena and Jeremy the ok to be on a first name basis with him." Ellie shrugged.


Ellie had been wrong, unfortunately, and Alaric had not been on grill duty like she'd thought he'd be. But luckily for her and Tyler, Mr. James, the art teacher, had taken pity on them and their rumbling stomachs and gave them burgers as he watched the duo eye the food hungrily. After Tyler eventually left her at the call of some of his football buddies, Ellie found herself arm in arm with Luka. He was definitely avoiding Bonnie, but Ellie wasn't sure that it was because she'd nearly killed him. "Do you guys do this every year?" Luka asked before he took a sip of his drink.

"Yeah, typically we do. Can't remember who came up with the idea though." Ellie confirmed. "Really a lot of students get here on time and then they'll eat and leave. I don't think the teachers particularly care as long as you're not obvious about it." She informed him. "So, you wanna tell me about what's going on that has you avoiding Bonnie like the plague?"

Luka flushed with embarrassment. "You noticed that huh?" He asked as he awkwardly rubbed the back of his head. "It's nothing, really." He denied.

"Nothing, huh?" She asked suspiciously. "Doesn't seem like nothing." He still looked awkward, so she added, "Luka, you're one of the few people that I'm actually talking to at so, fess up."

He sighed heavily before confessing, "I just don't like lying to Bonnie. She seems nice, and she asked me to help remove the spell from the moonstone. I lied to her and said that we did so that she'd give me the moonstone. I just feel bad is all."

"Is that what Elijah wanted you guys to do?" Ellie asked curiously.

"Well, he didn't say it exactly, but he wanted the moonstone. The how wasn't really important as long as we got it." Luka admitted.

Ellie nodded along as they moved to sit away from everyone else. "So why exactly are you and your dad working for Elijah anyways?" Ellie questioned.

"I don't really know if I'm supposed to tell you, but my sister was taken by Klaus. Elijah told us if we helped him, he'd help us get her back. So that's why." Luka explained with a shrug of his shoulders. "Elijah's honorable, he'll keep his word to us."

"Why did Klaus take your sister?" Ellie asked as she took care to keep her voice low. The last thing they needed was for the vampires to overhear them, because she still wasn't sure how far away they could be and still hear her.

Luka looked sad talking about it, and felt bad for him. It couldn't be easy losing a sibling. Even if she was pissed at Elena, she could never imagine really losing her. "I don't know, honestly. Maybe he just wanted her because she was a witch. I just don't know."

She gripped his hand tightly. "You'll get her back." Ellie assured him. "I'm sure of it. And I'm sure she's fine."

He gave her a soft smile and squeezed her hand in return. "Thank you. I hope you're right." He replied. They sat in silence for a while before their conversation returned to normal. It was a while after they went back to their normal flow that Ellie's phone began to ring. She had been zoned out watching some of the cheerleaders as they practiced their flips, so Luka gently nudged her. "You gonna answer that?"

"Oh, shoot yeah. Thanks." Ellie replied as she answered the call. "Hello?"

"Hey, Ellie!" Jenna greeted brightly as she answered the phone. "Ok, so, do you think you can head home to get those boxes for Elijah? He called and said he was available to come get them."

"Yeah, sure. Uh, tell him I'll be at the house soon, I'm headed there now." Ellie replied. She knew she could text him herself, but Jenna didn't know that.

"Ok, great! I'll talk to you later, Ellie." Jenna said gratefully. "I owe you one."

"More like a thousand." Ellie joked before hanging up the phone. "Ok, so I gotta go, I have to do stuff for Jenna."

Luka gave her a warm smile as they both stood. "Alright, have fun with that." He said with a laugh. She gave him a quick hug before making her way to her car.

She sent Elijah a text letting him know that she would be home soon and that she'd let in whoever he was sending. Well, maybe not let them in, maybe she'd just bring the boxes out to them. She didn't want to risk accidentally letting in more vampires to her home. When he didn't respond, she assumed that he'd read it and not felt the need to reply. When she arrived at the house, she was surprised to see him standing there leaning against his car. Even she could admit that he looked like he'd stepped straight out of a GQ magazine. He was opening her door before she even got the chance to try. "Hi." She greeted as she gave him a surprised smile.

"Hello, Eleanor." He replied as she stepped out of her car.

Elijah shut the door for her before following her up the steps and into the house. "Uh, do you actually want these boxes for something?" Ellie couldn't help but ask as she instinctively went about the process of making tea. All her time with Sheila had made the routine something she couldn't quite shake, even if she wasn't actually wanting tea at the moment.

"I do." He agreed as he shrugged off his coat. He knew that it would be best if he had the girl's genuine trust and respect, not just her desire to keep her family safe. To do that, he needed to make sure he didn't accidentally intimidate her. The circumstances under which they met weren't exactly the best ones.

"Tea?" She questioned as she gestured to the kettle.

"That would be nice." He confirmed as he took a seat at the table. The boxes that Jenna and Ellie had pulled out last night were still sitting on the table, so he helped himself to the first box and began pulling things out to read through them.

"Why do you need this stuff?" Ellie asked as she poured their tea. She set the cup in front of him before she took the seat beside him and began reading the papers he was holding. He had to admit, it was impressive that she was not more afraid of him. Most wouldn't dare get that close to him, even if they were working together. But, she didn't seem frightened at the proximity as she closely read through what he held.

"I'm looking for information." He explained as he took a sip of his tea.

"You know, it would probably go faster if you told me what you were looking for so that I can help." Ellie informed him bluntly. It took her by surprise to see the corner of his mouth quirk up into a small, amused smirk. The more time she spent with him, the less intimidating he seemed. She knew he was very capable of killing her and just about anyone that crossed him, but he didn't seem unstable.

"Thank you, but I'm quite capable of this. If I'm wrong, you're the first person I'll ask for help." He replied and, since Elijah seemed quite content to sit at the kitchen table and read, she pulled out her homework and got to it. The silence was comfortable as they worked and she refilled their cups absentmindedly. His attention was split between the papers he was reading and the witch beside him. She was drumming a beat onto the table with her pencil as she worked through her math problems. Realization struck him with a reminder that he'd promised to help her with her magic, and he could do more than just introduce her to Luka and Dr. Martin. "You know, I did promise you assistance with your magic."

His casual tone caught Ellie's attention before she processed what he said. "I thought that's what Dr. Martin and Luka were for?" Ellie asked curiously as she turned in her chair to face him. "I mean, other than whatever you need them for."

"They are. Dr. Martin is an excellent teacher and is good at what he does, but I do have grimoires that they've not had access to. They may provide you with beneficial information if you would like to take a look at them." He offered.

It was surprising how bright her eyes became at the offer and she straightened up. "Really?" She asked. "What kinds of grimoires? What's in them?"

"I haven't spent much time on reading them if we're honest, but you can read through them if you'd like." Elijah told her.

She grinned brightly at him. "I would like that." She told him sincerely.

"If you would come with me, I can take you to the grimoires. I'm sure it wouldn't go over well with your sister if she came home to see me here." Elijah reminded her.

"Ok." Ellie agreed easily. There was no indication that he had a hidden agenda and she had no reason to not trust him. "Should we take some of these boxes? Jenna would probably find it strange if nothing had been moved when she got home." Elijah nodded and rose from his seat as Ellie took their teacups and placed them in the sink. He grabbed several boxes as she packed away her things, but she managed to get the door open for him so that he could get out to his car. Ellie brought her backpack with her as she followed him out the front door. "Is that all the boxes you want to take?"

"I can always come back and get more once I read through these." He assured her and she locked the door as he packed them away in his trunk.

She was no longer surprised when he opened the passenger door for her before she could even try. He was a thousand years old after all, some habits must have stuck. "Thank you." She replied as she slid into the seat. He was in his seat before she buckled her seat belt. Ellie reached and flicked on the radio before she remembered that she wasn't with Caroline or someone else. "Oh, sorry." She said as she went to turn it back off.

He waved the apology off. "Play whatever you want." He assured her and after she stared at him for a long moment, she turned the radio to a familiar station and tapped her foot along with the beat of the song. She watched their surroundings with interest. Wherever he was going, it wasn't a direction she normally went.

After a while, they pulled up to a fancy looking apartment complex. "Where are we?" She asked as she stepped out of the car.

"Not far from Mystic Falls." He assured her as he closed her door. She waited as he picked up a stack of the boxes like they weighed nothing, and she vaguely wondered how strong vampires actually were. "Follow me." He told her and she did so without hesitation. Her breath caught in her throat at how expensive the lobby alone looked as they walked in. Elijah nodded at the woman at the front desk and Ellie couldn't help but raise an eyebrow at the way the woman blushed.

They stepped into the elevator and she watched as he pressed the button to take them to the top floor. That view couldn't have possibly been cheap. She followed him down the hall and he produced a key from his pocket and unlocked the door. He held it open for her, allowing her to walk in first. When she stepped through the door, her jaw dropped. The apartment was stunning. "Wow." She said softly as she eyed the expensive furniture. It looked like it came straight out of a magazine.

"The grimoires are over there on the bookcase." Elijah told her as he tilted his head to a large bookcase. She placed her book bag down next to the door before making her way to the bookcase. It was absolutely filled to the brim with books. Some of them looked so old that she was certain if she touched them they'd just crumble beneath her fingers. "They're on the bottom shelf." He called.

Her gaze dropped down to the bottom shelf and immediately spotted the difference in the way these books were bound. Somehow, they just screamed grimoire to her. "Thank you!" She replied as she carefully pulled out the first book.

"I'm going to get the rest of the boxes from the car, feel free to make yourself comfortable." Elijah told her before exiting from the apartment. Once he was gone, she gave herself a moment to really look around the apartment. It was stunning with high vaulted ceilings and chandeliers. There were large windows that filled the room with sunlight since the curtains were pulled back. It was impressive that the place felt expensive without feeling fake.

Knowing that he would be back soon, Ellie stood from where she'd been crouched down and made her way to one of the couches. When Elijah returned, he spotted her on the couch and she was clearly focused on the tome she held in her hands. She didn't even look up when the boxes dropped heavily onto the table. He removed his jacket once he dusted himself off before placing it over the back of one of the kitchen chairs.

Elijah had not expected how easy it would be to work while she read through the books. She hadn't seen, but his lips had quirked up into an amused smile when she'd found something interesting and rushed to her backpack to pull out a pen and paper. But she didn't disturb him while he worked, and for whatever reason, he didn't see the need to keep his guard up as they worked silently. Maybe he'd be able to gain her trust after all.


Author's Note:

Hey guys, I really need your help with something! I know that I'm going to need to split this story into parts, because it's going to be a very, very long fic. I wanted to know when you guys thought that I should split it. This story will definitely have at least two parts if not more. I haven't finished writing season two and it's already over 200K words. Please leave a review and let me know what you think!

To RiRi: I definitely want the three of them to be friends, but I haven't gotten a chance to write them in yet. I do intend for it to happen though! It's really not Elena's place to make decisions like that when she's literally a teenager. But no, Ellie and Jenna aren't sheep, and Ellie's not gonna let Elena manipulate Jeremy however she wants. Ric and Jenna are gonna have issues because of all the lies, if we're honest. I hope you enjoyed the Ellie and Elijah moments this chapter!

To Daynesky: Yeah, her panic over Tyler was interesting to write. Originally, I'd intended for her to be there, but then it developed into Elijah stopping her. Her and Luka are precious honestly.

To Guest: It's most likely crossed Damon's mind a time or two. Klaus and Ellie's relationship is going to be so much fun to write. I can't wait for us to get there. There have been a few scenes that have been written where Ellie uses her magic against a certain someone in the scooby gang.

To HappyKat: Jenna is so underrated! She tried so hard to keep them all safe and be a good parent when she wasn't prepared for it, and got killed because of it. Katherine and Ellie are a blast to write, and there are some scenes in future chapters that I hope don't seem to out of character for Katherine because to me where I see her coming from, it makes sense that she'd do those things. I'm also really glad Ellie and Elijah seem so real to you!

To Oz: Jenna being the first to know wasn't necessarily about Elena keeping secrets, but about the deal Ellie made with Elijah. He didn't want the Scooby Gang to know, but Jenna wasn't a part of that, so she could tell her. Don't worry, her relationships with Jeremy and Caroline aren't going anywhere. Oof I love True Blood, but to be true to TVD, the only way to keep them out is for Jenna to give the house to Ellie. I'm not sure when, but there is eventually going to be a blowout between them unless the story just goes somewhere completely unexpected. Ellie being Katherine's humanity isn't something that I would disagree with, and I feel like a good way for her to redeem herself to Care would be to save Ellie. Katherine really deserved so much better and no one can change my mind.

To Rose1414: Thank you!

To Aryabloodlust: I think what makes a difference is giving your word or not. He's big on honor, and if someone gives their word that holds weight and makes the promise/deal more significant. Her and Ric's relationship is still going to be a bit rocky because he doesn't know she knows. Jenna and Ellie also don't know about Isobel.

To Sting3: Thank you so much for all your reviews! I can't tell you how happy it made me to see them all! I hope you enjoyed this chapter!

-Madame Magic

Posted: 9/12/20