Chapter 19

Ottilie's witch training was going incredibly well, and Bonnie had been shocked and impressed at how the young girl was able to pick up spells that had taken her weeks of practice to perfect. Ottilie generously put down her abilities and quick learning to Bonnie's teaching skills, but Bonnie was certain that the little girl possessed great powers.

Kol attended their practice sessions religiously, living vicariously through the little girl as she discovered her magical talent, much as he had done almost 1000 years ago. He found himself yearning for the that feeling over power tingling at the ends of his fingertips once more, saddened that it would never come to be for him. And so he threw himself into helping little Ottilie master as much as she could, generously giving his time and advice whenever he could.

Damon watched proudly one day, as Ottilie showed him some of the skills she had been practicing with Bonnie, laughing in amusement as she summoned a large gust of wind to lift Stefan from his feet, before gently placing him back onto the ground. Her cheeks were flushed with the excitement and joy of what she was now able to do, and Damon thought fondly, that he'd never been happier.

There was only one person who wasn't feeling the same delight in Ottilie's abilities as everybody else. Elena watched from her car as the three Salvatores played together outside; Ottilie showing off her new skills and the brothers laughing and praising her generously for them. She felt the familiar cloud of jealousy seep into her thoughts and she glared at Ottilie with nothing but pure hatred in her eyes. Life had been perfect for Elena before Ottilie arrived. She had two handsome men vying for her love and attention, and could quite happily string them both along, contrary to her protestations that she was nothing like Katherine.

She knew she needed that life back, and that she would do just about anything to get it. The fact that the thing in her way was an 12 year old child meant nothing; she was just another obstacle to be dealt with by any means. She smiled to herself, sinisterly. If she could get the child to leave of her own fruition, without any blame leading back to her, then that would be ideal. She knew that Ottilie was coping well with her new found life as a witch, but how would she cope when she found out that the brothers who had taken her in and gained her trust, were in fact lying to her; that they were in fact monsters who fed on blood; that the majority of their friends were monsters too, and that two of them were werewolves, and two were vampire hunters. She knew what she had to do, and she set to it, not considering for a moment the pain Ottilie's departure would cause not only the little girl, but also the two brothers whose unadulterated love and attention she so desperately yearned.

Climbing out of the car, she walked confidently over to the trio, greeting them loudly to get their full attention. She was irritated to see Ottilie immediately step behind Damon, and Damon making no move towards her, as he once had whenever he saw her.

"Elena…" greeted Stefan, uncertainly as he looked at Ottilie practically cowering behind Damon's legs.

She smiled at them widely, the smile not quite reaching her eyes, and engulfed Stefan in a tight hug. "Hey, Stefan!" she cooed, before turning to Damon and hugging him too. Next she knelt down to be at the same level as Ottilie, and smiled at her, a sickly sweet smile that made the little girl cringe away from her, eying Elena uncertainly as she loomed over her.

"I haven't seen you guys in so long," Elena continued, not allowing them to get a word in edgeways, "How have you been?"

Damon was eying Elena up, looking at her strangely as if trying to work out her ulterior motive of being there. Stefan, however, smiled warmly at Elena, believing that she was there with only good intentions. Seeing his brother's smile, Damon rolled his eyes and held Ottilie just a little closer to him. He knew that Stefan was too pure of heart to think the worst of people, unlike his cynical self.

"We've just been admiring Otti's new skills," said Stefan, grinning down at the little girl. Ottilie's powers were no secret to Stefan and Damon's friends, and they spoke openly with them about it, after Ottilie had okayed telling them.

Elena forced a smile onto her face and looked at the child. "I saw them as I drove in – I thought you were going to drop Stefan!" she said in a light, teasing voice. Ottilie looked horrified at the idea of hurting her beloved Uncle Stefan, as he'd come to be known. "What?" questioned Elena, seeing her expression. "It's not like it'd hurt him…" she muttered, catching Damon's death glare in her direction, as Ottilie looked a little confused, knowing that dropping Stefan from the height she'd lifted him would certainly have bruised him at the very least.

"She's pretty good, isn't she!" continued Stefan, apparently oblivious to any irritation coming from Damon aimed at Elena. "Are you coming in?" he asked Elena, "we are just about to start cooking tea." She accepted the invitation, smiling prettily, and followed the brothers and Ottilie into the mansion.

Elena made pleasant conversation with the brothers whilst they bustled around the kitchen, preparing the evening meal and helping Ottilie with her homework that she was doing sitting at the large kitchen table. Elena offered to help chop the vegetables, and took her place by Stefan, using the large knife offered to her. She noticed Damon standing next to Ottilie with his back to her, helping her with a particularly difficult sum, and she knew this was her chance to instigate her plan. Making sure Stefan was momentarily looking away, she nicked her finger with the sharp knife, making sure to squeeze it to encourage the blood flow.

Stefan, being closest to her, immediately smelt the blood, and turned to Elena to check whether she was okay. Not even realising it, his eyes turned slightly red, and the black veins started appearing through his skin as he body reacted in the natural vampire way to human blood. It wasn't until he felt the sting of his fangs breaking through his gums that he realised what was happening, and he turned away to face the wall, horrified to think that Ottilie might have caught sight of his vampire face.

From her spot at the table, Ottilie heard Elena's small gasp of pain, and turned quickly, her pencil still in her mouth where she had been chewing it, studiously trying to work out a difficult question. Damon turned too, and for some reason, stepped very quickly in front of her, almost blocking her view of Stefan. Almost.

Ottilie was absolutely sure that she saw black lines appear around her uncle's eyes, and she gasped in shock, worried that he was hurt too. She blinked, and suddenly Damon was next to Elena, running her finger under the sink, muttering quietly. Stefan, rubbing his eyes, exited the room, muttering something about "damn onions…".

"Are you okay, Elena?" asked Ottilie, who despite not trusting Elena in the slightest, still didn't want her to be hurt. "What's wrong with Stefan?"

Elena smiled at her, turning to look at her whilst Damon placed a plaster, somewhat haphazardly, onto her finger. "I'm fine thanks, Ottilie. Just a silly slip with the knife. Stefan…"

Damon cut her off, glaring at her. "Stefan tried to help her but got onion in his eye. Idiot…" he said, rolling his eyes. Ottilie said nothing but turned back to her books, although she could no longer focus on them. She was convinced that Stefan's face had strange black lines running near his eyes, but if he didn't want to talk about, she would never ask him. After all, he never made her talk about things she didn't want to talk about.