Jenna, Elijah and I were walking around the historical sights of Mystic Falls for Elijah's cover story as an author. Jenna had asked me to help out again and I was ready to help and make sure I stayed away from Damon for a while.
"The old Fell property actually starts just beyond that fence." Jenna told him.
"Ah, the Fells. One of the "Founding Families"." Elijah said and I gave him a curious look.
"Why do you say it like that?" I asked him.
"My research showed me that this area was actually settled almost two full centuries earlier. It was a migration of townsfolk from the northeast, um, it was Salem, to be precise." he said and I smiled.
"Massachusetts? As in the witch trials?" I asked him.
"Which means the ever lauded founding families... They didn't actually found anything." Elijah said.
"Well, I bet it was the men who made a big deal about being founders back in 1860. Men are very territorial." Jenna said as we stopped walking.
"Yes, they are." Elijah said looking away from us. I turned in the direction he'd been looking and saw Ric walking up to us.
"Elijah, this is my friend, Alaric Saltzman." Jenna said introducing them.
"Yeah, I got your message about walking Elijah here through the old property lines. I thought I would tag along. You know being a history buff and all. Where to next?" Ric asked him.
"I'm pretty curious about the freed slave property owners. Some say, you know, the descendents of the slaves are the true keepers of American history." Elijah said.
"Well, I only brought the surveys. I got that list in the car. Just give me a sec." Jenna said and she walked off to her car leaving the three of us alone.
"Alaric Saltzman. So you're one of those people on Nicole's list of loved ones to protect." Elijah said looking from Ric to me before looking back at Ric.
"So is Jenna." Ric told him.
"You don't have to be jealous. I don't really pursue younger women. It's a joke, Ric, lighten up." Elijah told him. He offered me his arm and I took it letting him lead me away.
I walked into the Mystic Grill and saw Ric, Damon and Damon's new girl toy. I ignored them and walked to the bar.
"Water please." I said smiling at the bar tender. He nodded and got me a glass of water. "Thanks." I sat alone drinking my water thinking about how things had changed since I'd left. I eventually got up and walked to Damon, Ric, and Andie.
"This is too weird." I heard Ric say.
"No kidding." I said standing next to him, my water in hand.
"I just need the right opportunity." Damon said looking behind Ric. "Ah, there's Jenna with her new boyfriend. Hi." I turned to see Elijah and Jenna walking up to us.
"Hey, guys." Jenna said smiling.
"So I hear you two had quite a meeting of historical minds today." Damon said looking at the two of them.
"Yeah, I guess you could say that." Jenna told him.
"Well, as much as I'd like to continue this, I've got papers to grade." Ric said putting some money down and getting up from the table.
"No, you know what? We should continue this. Let's have a dinner party." Andie suggested to us.
"Ooh, my girl. Full of good ideas. I'll be happy to host. Say tonight. Maybe?" Damon said and I gave him a look.
"It's good for me. Jenna? Nicole?" Andie asked us.
"I don't know if tonight works..." Ric started saying.
"Yeah, I'm free." Jenna said.
"Why not? I've got nothing else planned." I said smiling.
"It'd be a pleasure." Elijah said.
"Great." Damon said.
Jenna, Andie, and I were preparing the table for the dinner talking about guys.
"So what's going on with you and Alaric? I feel like there's some tension." Andie said.
"Do I want to know this?" I asked looking at them.
"It's fine Nikky. I don't know. I really like him. It's more than like and I want it to work, but I can't help but feel that he's hiding something from me. And then I've got John whispering things in my ear about him." Jenna said and I focused more on what I was doing.
"Like what?" I asked her.
"Things I don't want to believe. Things I don't believe, not if they're coming from John's mouth." Jenna told us.
"Oh. Well, there you go, then. Trust is the key to any relationship. I mean, I am so grateful that Damon tells me everything." Andie said and I rolled my eyes.
"I bet he does." I said smiling.
I heard the door bell ring and opened the door to see John. I started to close the door but he forced the door open and walked in.
"Who invited him?" I asked.
"John. Surprise. Leave." Damon said from behind me.
"When Jenna told me she was coming to a dinner party for Elijah, I decided I couldn't miss out on all the fun and games." John said. Ric walked in with Jenna next to him.
"There are not going to be any games tonight, John. It's just a friendly dinner party." he said and John looked to Damon.
"What he said." Damon told him.
I opened the door to see Elijah outside the door.
"Elijah." I greeted smiling.
"Good evening Nicole." he said.
"Thank you for coming. Please, come in." I heard Damon say from behind me.
"Just one moment." Elijah said before coming inside. "Can I just say that if you have less than honorable intentions about how this evening is going to proceed, I suggest you reconsider."
"No, nothing, nothing dishonorable. Just getting to know you." Damon told him.
"Hmm. Well, that's good." Elijah said walking inside. "Because, you know, although Nicole and I have this deal, if you so much as make a move to cross me, I'll kill you and I'll kill everyone in this house. Are we clear?" he asked Damon and I looked to him.
"Crystal." Damon said.
"Jenna. Wonderful to see you again. How are you?" Elijah said walking up to her.
"Nice to see you." Jenna said.
"You look incredible." he said smiling.
"Thank you." Jenna said.
We all sat around the table talking and eating, getting to know Elijah.
"I hate to break it to you, Damon, but according to Elijah, your family is so not a founder of this town." Jenna told him.
"Hmm, do tell." Damon said and we all looked to Elijah.
"Well, as I mentioned to Jenna earlier, a faction of settlers migrated from Salem after the witch trials in the 1690s. Over the next hundred years they developed this community where they could feel safe from persecution." Elijah told us.
"Hmm. Because they were witches." I said, remembering our conversation from before.
"Yeah, but there's no tangible proof there were witches in Salem." Andie told him.
"Andie's a journalist. Big on facts." Damon told Elijah.
"Well, the lore says that there was this wave of anti-witch hysteria. It broke out in the neighboring settlement, so these witches were rounded up. They were tied to stakes in a field together and, uh, burned. Some say you could hear the screams from miles around us. They were consumed by the fire. Could you pass the..." I past him what he'd been pointing at.
"I wouldn't repeat this to the Historical Society." I told him.
"It's starting to sound a little like a ghost story to me." John said.
"So, why do you want to know the location of these alleged massacres?" Damon asked him.
"You know... a healthy historian's curiosity, of course." Elijah said.
"Of course." Damon said. Elijah glanced at Damon and smiled.
"Would anyone care for some cognac? I have a bottle that I've been saving for ages." Damon said getting up from the tables.
"None for me thanks. Nine bottles of wine is my limit." Ric told us. We all started getting up from the table and gathering our dishes.
"The gentlemen should take their drinks in the study." Andie said and I sent Damon a look who just tried smiling innocently back.
"I have to say the food was almost as wonderful as the company." Elijah said smiling at almost everyone.
"I like you." Andie said while Jenna gave John some plates.
"Here you're not a gentleman, make yourself useful. Hmm?" she said smiling. I tried to hold my giggles back as John took the plates and walked off. Ric walked up behind Jenna and tried talking to her.
"Here, here. Put me to work." he told her.
"Um, I got it." Jenna told him picking up plates and walking out of the room. Ric stopped her at the doorway to the kitchen.
"Hey, Jenna, are you... are you ok?" I heard him asked her.
"Yeah, fine, Ric." I heard her say before John walked up behind Ric.
"I suspect this is my fault." John told him and I spoke up.
"What did you do now?" I asked him.
"I merely mentioned that Alaric hasn't been completely honest with her about his dead wife." John told me.
"You son of bitch." Ric said grabbing John by his shirt collar. John grabbed his wrist and pulled his hand off him.
"I think I've been very clear with you, Ric. I want my ring back." John said walking out of the room. Ric's phone began to ring and he answered it without looking at the caller ID.
"Hello. Slow down. Slow down. Stefan?" He listened to the message from Stefan before rushing off.
"What is it? Ric?" I asked following him. Ric and I burst through the study doors.
"Gentlemen, we forgot about dessert." Ric told them.
"Elijah." I said holding my hand out for him.
"Miss Gilbert." Elijah gave Damon his glass, who drained it, and took my hand. He spun me around and I giggled as we walked out of the room together.
"How are you and your child?" he asked me.
"We are doing fine. Do you think Klaus will come soon?" I asked him, trying to keep my face straight.
"I believe he will." he told me as we walked back into the dinning room. when we walked in Jenna was pouring a cup of coffee for John.
"Sorry, guys, dessert is taking longer than I thought. I usually just unwrap food." Jenna said going back into the kitchen. We all sat down again at our places.
"So... I know this is a social thing, but I... I would really love to ask you some more questions about the work that you're doing here." Andie said.
"I'd love to answer." Elijah told her.
"Great, that's so great." Andie said as Damon and Ric walked into the room.
"Ric, would you do me a favor and grab the notebook out of my bag?" Andie asked him and he went to her bag.
"Elijah, did John tell you he's Elena and Nicole's uncle/father?" Damon asked him.
"Yes, I'm well aware of that." Elijah told him.
"Of course, they hates him, so there's absolutely no need to keep him on the endangered species list." Damon said smiling from John to Elijah.
"No Ric, it's in the front pocket. On the... you know what? Excuse me, guys. Sorry" Andie said going to her pack.
"What I'd like to know, Elijah, is how do you intend on killing Klaus?" John asked Elijah.
"Gentlemen, there's a few things we should probably get clear right now. I allow you to live solely to keep an eye on Elena and Nicole. I allow them to remain in their house living their lives with their friends as they do as a courtesy. If you become a liability, I'll take one of them away from you and you'll never see that sister again." Elijah told them. Damon glanced at me and I drank my water calmly. Andie came back with her notebook and sat down across from Elijah and myself.
"Ok. My first question is when you got here to Mystic..." she never got to finish her question as Elijah screamed and grayed. I jumped out of my seat away from him when he started screaming and looked at Ric who pulled out a dagger and placed it on the table before looking at Damon.
"Now, get rid of him before Jenna comes back with dessert." Ric told him.
"All right." Damon agreed.
I followed Ric and Damon as they moved Elijah's body down to the cellar.
"You said there wasn't going to be any violence." Ric told Damon.
"Says the guy that did all the killing." Damon reminded him before walking out. Ric stopped him by grabbing his arm.
"Hey, I took the shot because I saw an opening, not because I planned to do this with Jenna in the house. Now, you can't lie to me like that." Ric told Damon. "Hey, I am your friend, damn it. And you don't have many friends. So, no more lying." Damon nodded at him and left.
"Neither of you should have done that." I told Ric as he closed the cell door. "That was our only option, you now you've doomed us all." I said walking away from them.
I was walking home when I saw someone in front of me.
"Hello? Who's there?" I called out putting my hand at the small of my back holding my gun.
"Hello, Nicole." I heard Elijah say.
"Elijah? but they killed you, right next to me." I said as he walked towards me.
"You're coming with me." he said grabbing my arm and speeding off.
When Elijah stopped running I saw we were at the Lake house where Elena was. He knelt down and grabbed some rocks. Elijah got up and tossed the rocks from hand to hand. He then threw the rocks at the door, breaking it off its hinges and I flinched, hoping no one was behind that. Elijah walked closer toward the house pulling me with him.
"You know, I might not be able to enter this house... But I'm a very patient man. I'll wait you out." he called to the two inside. I saw Elena slowly walk out from behind the wall toward the door, but staying inside the house.
"They shouldn't have done what they did." she told him.
"The deal is off." Elijah told us.
"I'm renegotiating." she said.
"You have nothing left to negotiate with." Elijah told her. Elena then pulled out a knife and I tried running to her but Elijah stopped me.
"I'd like to see you lure Klaus into Mystic Falls after one of the doppelgängers bleed to death." Elena told him.
"Two things. One, Stefan won't let you die and two, I have another doppelganger right next to me." he said pulling me forward a bit.
"Nicole has a child growing inside her, Klaus's child." Elijah looked to me in shock before looking back at her. "If you kill her you're killing an innocent baby. And you're right, Stefan wont let me die. He'll feed me his blood to heal me, and then I'll kill myself and become a vampire, just like Katherine did. So unless you want that to happen again, promise me the same as before... promise me... You won't harm anyone that I love. Even if they've harmed you." Elena told him.
"I'm sorry, Elena. I'm going to have to call your bluff." Elijah said smiling at her lightly while releasing my arm. Elena pointed the knife to her stomach as Elijah and I watched, unsure of what she will do. Elena looked to us and stabbed herself in the stomach. She screamed in pain and fell to the floor. I ran to her as blood gushed everywhere. I helped her stand and applied pressure to her injury feeling blood rushing through my fingers. Elijah rushed towards us, but stopped at the doorway because he hadn't been invited in.
"No! Yes. Yes, you can have your deal. Let me heal you." Elijah begged her. I looked at him confused, he had me so why does he want her to live so badly?
"Give me your word!" Elena told him.
"I give you my word." He said and she limped outside and into Elijah's arms. I watched her stab Elijah with the silver dagger and he fell to the ground, dead. Elena fell to the ground and Stefan rushed out of the house to heal her. Damon joined me at the door way as he watched them.
"Little tip. Don't pull the dagger out." Damon told us.
Damon and Stefan carried Elijah's body back down into the cellar with Elena and I behind them. Stefan wrapped his arms around her as Damon knelt down and searched through Elijah's jacket.
"Uhh! What do we have here?" he asked pulling out the moonstone. "A little moonstone bar of soap. I'll hold on to this."
"So, that's it. I mean, as long as we keep the dagger in there, then he stays dead." Elena said.
"Pretty much." Damon told us.
"Ok, then... Good night." Elena said and we turned to leave. Elena stopped and turned to the boys. "You know, you guys want us to fight, fine, we'll fight. But if we're gonna do this, you can't keep anything from us anymore. From this moment on, we're doing it our way." Elena said motioning to the two of us.
"That seems fair." Damon said. I turned to Stefan and he sighed before nodding his head.
"Okay." he told us.
"Okay." I said walking out with my sister.
