Thank you for all the reviews on the last chapter... whew, I was so nervous! But I'm glad you liked it :) I have this idea that Elijah is intrigued by Evangeline, but it would be a little strange for him to just fall head over heels infatuated with her right away. He kind of needs to know every pawn on the board, you know? (and keep in mind, this was also the first time he saw Elena, so I'd figure he was kind of focused on that). But stay with me and we'll see how it all unfolds!
(Oh, and I figured out too late that the girl dying at the masquerade, you know, the one who hangs around with Jeremy and Tyler, is also called Sarah... Evangeline's Sarah, however, is still alive and kicking – sorry for any confusion!)
Sorry for being kind of late with this one, but enjoy!
Disclaimer: I don't own the Vampire Diaries
I had never seen the Salvatore estate before. It was massive, to say the least. It wasn't like every other mansion in Mystic Falls – there was nothing colonial about it, actually. It wasn't white with tall roman pillars, but made with dark bricks and wood. It had been built back in the early 1900s. The Salvatores used to have a colonial estate from the beginning, just like the Lockwoods, but it was in ruins now.
Everything kind of went by in a blur as Elena led me into the house. I hadn't bothered to put on my shoes again, but that didn't matter. Before I knew it, I was sitting on a leather couch in the Salvatore living room, an blanket wrapped around my bare shoulders, the cut on my hand cleaned and bandaged, and a glass of water in front of me.
My eyes wandered the room. High ceiling, walls covered in dark wood and plenty of antique furniture. It kind of went in a brownish-red theme. There was way too many things going on in that room than I could take in right now, but it looked nice – even though going all groupie on a room wasn't really on the top of my list at the moment.
''How are you feeling?'' Elena asked carefully, like she was treading on thin ice. I didn't come of as that unstable, did I?
''I don't know.''
I stared straight ahead. The fear and adrenaline that had been running through everyone's veins was still very much present in mine. Whenever I activated myself, my whole body was overcome with tiny tremors - so I tried not to move around too much.
''Do you feel like you're ready to talk?''
''I don't know.''
Elena looked to Stefan for help, and he cleared his throat, sitting down on a chair facing my way.
''Is it alright if I call you Evangeline?'' he asked tentatively.
I nodded, slowly. ''We're past formalities anyway,'' I added, mumbling.
''Can I ask you a question?'' I looked up from the spot I've been focusing on for the past minute.
Stefan nodded. ''Sure, anything.''
''I haven't imagined the last hours, have I?''
''Unfortunately, no,'' he crinkled his nose. ''I'm sorry.''
I bit the bottom of my lip. ''Are you okay?'' I aimed my question at Elena, who looked a little startled.
''Yeah, I'm fine, I'm more worried about you, miss- sorry. Can I call you-''
''Sure,'' I cut in and just waved it off. ''We're not in school anyways.'' I let out a heavy sigh, rubbing my temples. My head still hurt a little bit. ''And besides the fact that I've just figured out I'm surrounded by vampires, I'm perfectly fine, thank you.''
''So you know,'' Stefan stated.
I reached out for the glass of water and took a quick sip. I realised that I hadn't eaten or had anything to drink for quite a while. The cold fluid went down my sore throat like smooth silk.
''How much do you know?'' Damon suddenly joined the conversation. He'd been standing by himself up until now, picking up bottles from a table and looking at their labels closely.
''Not enough, probably,'' I mumbled under my breath, keeping my gaze from him.
''How old would you say I am?'' he continued, lifting his arms from his sides and turning his body back and forth as if he was showing himself off.
''Let me guess,'' I said, a bitter taste on my tongue. ''You're old.''
''Well, they...'' Elena began, but Stefan interrupted her.
''I was born in 1846.''
I just stared at him. He lowered his eyes and played with a ring on his hand.
''1839,'' Damon jumped in, smiling slyly and raising his hand. My head snapped towards him.
The only reason I wasn't running for my life when they confessed that they were vampires, was my gut telling me that they could be trusted. And I trusted my gut. I felt like I should say something, but all I could get out was:
''Okay.''
Feeling everyone's eyes on me, I squirmed in my seat, using the blanket to wrap myself up in a cocoon. It was really warm.
''Just okay?'' Elena asked, frowning at me.
I shrugged. ''I honestly don't know what else to say.''
''Um... okay? Do you want to ask anything else or...'' she trailed off.
I didn't know what there was to say or ask about them being vampires. Seriously, I had no idea – so I decided to just leave it at that. I did have other things on my mind though. I brought the glass to my mouth and downed what was left before I asked my next question.
''What's compelling?''
Stefan reached out and grabbed a bottle on the table to fill up my glass again. ''It's a kind of mind control-''
''Oh, please, it's total mind-control,'' Damon scoffed. ''Don't try to sugarcoat it.''
''As I was saying,'' Stefan continued, ignoring his brother, ''vampires can compel humans to do whatever they want them to. Unless they're on vervain, either having it in their system or somewhere on their bodies.''
''That's a kind of herb, right?'' I asked, not completely sure. Stefan nodded.
''But Elijah said...'' I gulped. ''He said that I didn't have any vervain in me. And I'm pretty sure I don't have it on me... so why couldn't he compel me?''
''Yeah, why is that?'' Damon mused, with a half smile on his face that looked more like a smirk than anything else.
Stefan rubbed his forehead in annoyance. ''If you could quit being a jerk for just one second, that would really help.''
''I was just asking! It would be really handy, you know.''
''What do you want to know?'' I sighed, exasperated. ''I don't know what I am.''
''You don't?'' Elena looked perplexed.
I shook my head. ''Sorry to disappoint.''
Damon scowled, his electric blue eyes boring into mine. I sighed again, closing my eyes briefly. ''Look, I...'' I swallowed nervously. Should I really tell them about me? Again, I went with my gut. ''All I know is that I am very susceptible to emotion. It's usually only dependent on touch but sometimes, if someone is really scared or something, I can feel that too.''
Elena looked at me. She went to say something, but only ended up opening and shutting her mouth again.
''Really?'' Damon asked in a high-pitched voice. ''What am I feeling right now?''
''I just told you,'' I snapped. He was really starting to get to me, and I didn't like it. I didn't like getting angry – not that I was all sunshine and daisies every second of the day, but it was like my body wasn't compatible with that feeling. Like it tore at me more than other people. Treat people the way you want to be treated went to war with treat people how they treat you in my head. The latter one had the high ground, for sure. ''I can't unless my hand comes in contact with someone's skin or if someone's either really happy or really scared. Or something else.''
I don't think he expected me to talk back, because that seemed to have shut him up. If only for now.
''Back at the house,'' Elena started, pulling her hair behind her ears, ''did you feel something?''
Scratching the back of my neck uncomfortably, I hesitated to answer. Like always, it felt like an invasion of privacy. ''I did... I felt how scared we all were.''
''Do you get like an inkling or-''
''No,'' I shook my head rapidly, interrupting Stefan mid-sentence. ''I feel everything. Exactly the way the other person is experiencing it.''
I felt Stefan's curious eyes on me. ''Can you protect yourself somehow? I mean, it must be exhausting if all that's thrown at you.''
''I can shield myself, sometimes,'' I admitted. ''Well, I think I can. But it's like I don't know how to hold the barrier up. And if I'm surrounded by people with a lot of over-the-top emotions, its practically impossible.''
''Hm...'' Stefan looked deep in thought. ''Maybe you have some sort of resistance to it... being compelled? Something in your nature that vampires don't have?''
''I don't know what nature that is,'' I muttered. ''I've spent every night since, forever, and I haven't been able to figure it out.''
''We should probably call Bonnie,'' Stefan concluded. ''She might have something in one of her grimoires.''
I tilted my head in confusion. ''Grimoires?''
''Her witchy potions book,'' Damon chimed in.
''A book that has spells written in it, among other things,'' Stefan explained further.
''Wait, did you say Bonnie? As in, Bonnie Bennett?''
Stefan scratched the back of his head. ''Yeah, she's...'' he cleared his throat. ''She's a witch.''
''This just keeps getting weirder,'' I mumbled, falling back against the couch. ''The thing is...'' I groaned and buried my head in my hands. ''It's kind of great to know that I'm not the only strange thing out there, you know? Even if we aren't the same. But that doesn't mean that... that I feel comfortable with all this.''
''There's nothing wrong with that,'' Stefan consoled. ''Listen, if you want to, I can take you home and we won't bother you.''
I sighed. ''No... no, it's fine. It's just overwhelming.''
''What I don't get,'' Damon began, ''is that not even you yourself know what you are, and you think its us who is weird. Come on, if you figured out vampires exist, why should it stop there?''
''I thought I was alone,'' I glared at him, kind of offended of how he spoke to me as if I were five years old sitting at the grown ups table. ''And I didn't really 'figure out' the whole vampire thing. Not voluntarily.''
''Right, about that,'' Stefan looked a little ashamed, ''Caroline isn't like she was in the beginning.''
''You know about Caroline?'' I exclaimed, but quickly restrained myself. ''I mean, well... of course you would. Never mind. What do you mean 'in the beginning'?'' I quickly quit my babbling.
''Well, when she'd just turned she didn't have control,'' he explained. ''It's very common, but unfortunately you ended up on the other side of it. I'm sorry.''
''Ding ding, next question.'' Damon tapped a spoon on a whisky glass by their bar table.
I brought my hands to my hair and started to undo the mess there; picking out all the pins and trying to untangle everything best as I could. Some pins were pricking my scalp painfully and I just had to get them out. ''What about the moonstone?''
''What about the moonstone?'' Damon smiled.
''Well, what is it?'' I pressed, placing every pin I got out in a pile on the coffee table.
Stefan glanced at Damon and Elena before proceeding. ''It's a component in a curse... the curse of the sun and the moon.''
''It's about yay big,'' Damon put in and measured with his fingers.
''The curse of the sun and the moon?'' I echoed.
''An old curse that made werewolves bound to turn on nights with a full moon and vampires weakened by the sun,'' Elena filled in. ''And the moonstone is a part of breaking it.''
''How do you know all this? And you,'' I turned to Elena, ''how did you get involved in it?''
The corners of her mouth turned up, forming a small smile. ''I met Stefan.''
Of course, how could it be any simpler? She fell for him, and then he just happened to turn out being a vampire.
''The rest of it is kind of a long story...'' Elena continued. ''And maybe we can talk about that some other time?''
I nodded, yawning at the same time. To much of this and my brain would fry.
''And we'll get Bonnie to come, too.''
Suddenly, Stefan's forehead creased and he looked over his shoulder towards the door.
''What is it?'' Elena asked worriedly.
Stefan didn't say anything, he just stood up and let his gaze sweep the room.
Whoosh.
''You,'' Elena's voice was dripping with resentment.
It was Rose. I felt the hairs on my arms stand when her eyes went to me, before they focused on the other three.
''I've come to warn you.'' It was only now I realised that she actually had a British accent.
''You just kidnapped us,'' Elena said through gritted teeth. If looks could kill...
''It's about Klaus,'' Rose continued, completely ignoring Elena and obviously aiming her words at Stefan and Damon. Stefan's frown deepened, and Damon actually looked surprised for a moment, before he collected himself.
Elena's eyes locked with mine when I looked at her. She and I were sitting in the same boat, being completely uncomfortable in this situation. Only a couple of hours ago she'd been holding us hostage, ready to trade Elena off to a vampire that wanted god knows what with her.
Elena looked to Stefan for support, and he seemed to understand. He stood up and walked over to Rose, still keeping a fair distance. ''Come on,'' he mumbled, and gestured for her to walk out with him.
''How can she just...'' I began, feeling very confused, only to quickly be interrupted by an irritated Elena.
''What is she doing here?'' she practically spat. ''And Stefan shouldn't have gone with her by himself, she's older than him!''
I choked on the water I'd just had and quickly placed the glass on the table. ''What?'' I coughed. ''She's older?'' She was a vampire? I'd just been kidnapped, by a vampire?
''She's a vampire too,'' Elena explained, fuming. ''She thinks she can just walk in here and...''
''Calm down, ladies,'' Damon urged half-heartedly. ''He'll be fine.''
I leaned back against the couch. Thankfully, the blanket was large enough to cover most of my bare legs too. I couldn't wait to get out of the dress and into a pair of sweatpants. With Elena pacing and Damon keeping himself busy with drinks, glasses clinking constantly, there was no way I would be able to get some sleep. That was a good thing, I guess... I hadn't let my guard down just yet. Not enough to relax.
''Okay, you have to understand – I only know what I've picked up over the years, and I don't know what's true and what's not true. That's the problem with all this vampire crap. But Klaus, I know is real.'' Rose seemed convinced of this, yet she didn't convince the two brothers hearing her out.
''Who is he?'' Elena asked from her place on the other end of the couch with her arms crossed, glaring at Rose.
''He's one of the Originals,'' Damon piked in. ''He's a legend.''
''From the first generation of vampires,'' Stefan added.
''Like Elijah,'' Elena breathed.
''No,'' Rose shook her head firmly. ''Elijah was the Easter bunny compared to Klaus. He's a foot soldier. Klaus is the real deal.'' Damon rolled his eyes.
''Klaus is known to be the oldest,'' Stefan explained.
''Okay, so,'' Elena began, frowning, ''you're saying that the oldest vampire in the history of time is coming after me?''
''No-''
''Yes!''
''What they're saying is, I mean, if what she's saying is true...'' Damon rambled.
''Which it is,'' Rose cut in.
''And you're not just saying it so we don't kill you-''
''Which I'm not.''
''Then we're looking at a solid... maybe.'' Damon sounded a little confused himself. That helped a bit with the feeling of not understanding anything. It was almost like being back at that abandoned house, watching Elena with Elijah like I was at the cinema. The only thought running through my mind was – how old was old? A couple of hundred years? Thousands? When was the dawn of vampires?
''Look, Elijah's dead, right? So if no one else even knows that you exist...''
''Not that you know of,'' Rose grumbled.
''That's not helping.''
''Look, I've never even met anyone who's laid eyes on him,'' Stefan said softly to Elena. ''I mean, we're talking centuries of truth, mixed with fiction. I mean, we don't know what's real. For all we know, he could just be some stupid bedtime story.''
''He's real!'' Rose exclaimed angrily. ''And he doesn't give up. If he wants something, he gets it. If you're not afraid of Klaus, then you're an idiot.''
''Alright, we're shaking,'' Damon cut her off. ''You've made your point.''
Elena abruptly rose from the couch, hanging her bag over her shoulder.
''Where are you going?'' Stefan frowned in confusion.
''School,'' she said shortly. ''I'm late.''
School. Oh no... What day was it? Did I have work that I was missing?
''Let me grab my stuff, I'll go with you.'' He walked up to her, expecting her to say yes. She didn't.
''She's in denial,'' Damon leaned in and said to Rose.
Stefan turned around and glared at him. ''Shut up, Damon.''
The fact that Elena left so quickly told me that she really didn't like Rose, and that she wouldn't forgive her for simply coming here and handing over information, no matter how valuable it might be. And neither would I. I wasn't really a part of all of this – well, somehow I was, but I didn't feel like it. But I wanted to know more – I needed to know more. So if they didn't make sure we discussed this more, then I would, eventually.
''Um... Stefan?'' I spoke quietly, not wanting to draw attention to myself.
''Yes?''
His eyes were lingering at the doorway, probably longing for Elena. She was really short with him, actually, and I didn't know why. But I didn't know them well, either, so who was I to speculate.
''How long were we gone?''
''About two days,'' he answered, turning his eyes from the opening in the wall to me.
I inhaled sharply. ''Two days? I have to get home, right now.''
He nodded in understanding. ''Come on, I'll take you home.'' Stefan offered me his hand. I hesitated, and decided to push myself off of the couch instead.
He slapped himself gently on the forehead. ''Sorry, I didn't mean to. I forgot.''
''It's fine.'' I grabbed my shoes in one hand then let him support me out to the car. No skin on skin contact.
On the way home I quickly realised that I – at some point – had lost my bag, and therein my phone. If my mum had called me I wouldn't know – and she wouldn't have been able to get ahold of me. When we finally turned right onto my street and Stefan stopped in front of my house, I started feeling nauseous.
''We'll find a time to talk some more, okay?'' Stefan looked at me from the driver's seat. ''You okay?''
''Yes,'' I said, answering both questions at once, and gulping when I noticed the car in the driveway. I think that my mum was home. Turning back to Stefan, I nervously fidgeted with my fingers. ''Thank you. For... well, for...''
He smiled. ''No problem. Go and see your mum. We'll talk.''
I nodded. ''Bye.''
Getting out of the car, I noticed the front door of my house opening. As I slowly started walking up to the house, the sound of Stefan speeding away in the car behind me, it was really dawning on me. I didn't know if my mum had noticed me being gone. She probably had. And I was terrible at coming up with cover ups on the spot.
How on earth was I supposed to explain this to her?
So... this ended up being way longer than I expected it to be, but consider it me making up for a week with no update :P
