I do not own TVD or TO.
Sorry for the delay in the updates. I wanted to finish Unobtainable. This chapter jumps ahead several months so when she gets to New Orleans its going to be around the same time that Hayley and Jackson get married and Hope returns to the city, but before Dahlia while Kol and Finn are still inhabiting Kaleb and Vincent.
September 2012
She sat on the edge of the bed and ran her fingers over the puffy comforter. Several months had been spent sleeping beneath the soft material but she still marveled over the fabric. Maybe it was a silly thing to think about. There were definitely more interesting things to find fascinating in the house she shared with Jeremy… her brother… but nothing seemed to compare to the material that was at once light and warm.
She lifted her gaze when the soft blue was concealed by a pair of legs. She ran her eyes up over the leather clad arm and found herself staring into the blue eyes of Damon.
It had been nearly half a year and she was starting to believe the way he looked at her was that of a man obsessed and not of one in love. She knew the look of a man in love; before she had woken in the boarding house she had seen the light of love in her husband's eyes.
She missed his eyes more than her magic which had all but faded away.
"Morning, sunshine," Damon smirked.
"Do you need something, Damon?" She stood up suddenly anxious to put some distance between them. "I was just about to take a shower." She still marvelled over the convenience of the shower.
"I just thought I'd stop by and ask how your memory is coming along," Damon ran his eyes slowly over her body when she stood by the door to the bathroom.
"Not great," she turned her head and stared at the green book on the night stand. Jeremy had told her it was her journal. He had told her that she used to write down the things that happened to her and suggested that reading it would help; she had known it wouldn't but she had humoured him. At first she hadn't been able to make sense of the black and blue scratches, but when she had stopped thinking about it the words had flowed through her brain. She had come to the conclusion that this life had not been easy for her; she had stopped reading after the ritual that should have ended her human life.
"Would you like company?"
"What?" Her head snapped back around from where she had been lost in her own thoughts.
"I said: would you like some company?" Damon stood from the bed and took slow steps towards her. "In the shower, I mean. Perhaps I can jog your memory." He wiggled his eyebrows suggestively.
"You," her voice was strangled when she tipped her head back, "and me? We?"
"Is that so hard to believe, Elena?" Damon placed his hands on either side of her head. "Of course, we weren't in the shower at the time."
She swallowed and dropped her eyes to his chest. She knew the moment he misinterpreted her actions.
Her eyes grew round when his mouth pressed firmly against hers. She couldn't stop the gasp, but immediately wished she had when his tongue pushed into her mouth.
She squeezed her eyes tightly shut and attempted to push him backwards. Once again her actions were misinterpreted.
She grew light-headed when he moved faster than she could comprehend. The soft comforter shifted and moulded to her body when her back was pressed into the mattress and her arms pinned above her hand with his hand.
She did the only thing she could think of when he brought his knee up between her legs and squeezed her breast. Her mouth which had been slack up until that point sprang into action. She clamped down on his tongue and tasted thick blood; pain bloomed across her chest when his palm pressed down hard.
"Feeling kinky today, Elena?" He propped himself up on his elbows and smirked down at her.
"Get off me," she glared and spat the blood in her mouth so that it landed across his chin and white shirt.
"Don't be like that," Damon soothed. He ran his hand down her side and heard her hiss in pain when he reached her ribs.
Her voice was stronger the second time. For a brief moment there was a flicker of energy deep in her body; she twisted her hips and he stumbled back.
"Get out," she shoved at his chest when her hands were free. "Get out of my house."
"Fine," he held out his hands in a placating gesture. "I'll see you later."
She shuffled into the bathroom when he was gone. The adrenaline was starting to fade away. The energy slid from her body to lie in a puddle on the floor.
She bent as much as possible and rinsed her mouth out before standing and struggling to pull her top over her head; it was growing increasingly difficult to lift her left arm above shoulder height. She shimmied out of the shirt and gasped when she saw the bruises already forming across her ribs; each inward breath burned over her chest.
She didn't hear a wheeze in her breath so she surmised that her lung had not been punctured, but she could plainly see that at least one rib was cracked.
She slid her right hand around her back and tried to unsnap the bra with no luck. It didn't matter she could tell there were bruises covering her breast as well.
Her hands shook as the tears started to fall down her cheek.
"Elena," a feminine voice called up the stairs, "the door was unlocked."
She blinked and tried to dispel the tears. Gritting her teeth against the pain she bent and picked up her shirt. She had just pressed the fabric to her chest when the voice trailed off at the open door leading from the bathroom to the bedroom.
"Elena," Caroline stepped into the bedroom, "are you here?" She froze in the door to the bathroom.
Caroline's eyes zeroed in on the blood clinging to the brunette's chin and the dark splotch she could see in spite of the attempts made to cover it.
"What happened?" Caroline flashed in front of her. She turned on the water and wrung out a washcloth before gently wiping away the red.
She trembled like the swiftly turning leaves outside the window. Shaking her head she pressed her lips together to hold in her hysterical sob. It broke out when Caroline wrapped her arms tightly around her shoulders.
"Elena," Caroline murmured soothingly, "you can tell me anything you know? Tell me who did this and I'll tear them apart."
She shook her head and hissed when Caroline squeezed gently.
"I'm sorry," Caroline pulled back. She gently ran her fingers over the dark mark across her friend's ribs.
She lifted her right hand to keep Caroline from biting into her wrist. Shaking her head she moved slowly into the bedroom and took up a perch on the window seat.
Caroline saw when she averted her gaze from the bed. The blonde reached out for the desk chair and placed it a few feet in front of her friend. She waited impatiently for her to speak.
"I don't think you'd believe me," she whispered finally.
"We've been friends for fifteen years," Caroline tilted her head, "there is nothing you could tell me that I wouldn't believe, Elena."
She drew her bottom lip between her teeth and gnawed the raw flesh until it was swollen and sore.
"That's not my name," she breathed. It was clear that Caroline could hear her though by the way the blonde's head tilted in confusion. "That's not my name. This is not my life. The memories will not come back."
"I'm not sure I'm following," Caroline frowned.
"The cure did something to me," she shivered and used her good arm to wrap a blanket around her shoulders. "I think I must have been… reincarnated."
"You think this is a second life you're living?" Caroline's eyes narrowed sceptically.
"You think I'm crazy," she laughed and winced when the movement hurt her ribs. "I'm not. I lived over two thousand years ago. I knew Silas and Qetsiyah and… A… Amara. I knew them well… I thought I did." Her sister's screams echoed in her mind.
Caroline exhaled slowly when she saw nothing but honesty shining in her 'friend's' dark eyes.
"I believe you," Caroline leaned back in her chair. "It actually makes a lot of sense. It explains the way you don't understand seemingly normal things… like the shower, the oven, or the television." She ran her hand through her hair. "What I don't understand is what it has to do with this," she nodded to the bruising. "Who did this to you, Elena?"
Caroline's mouth popped open. "Sorry," she murmured, "what is your name?"
"Elena's fine," she frowned. The last time she had heard her own name it had been her sister screaming it; she wanted to forget her name for a while. "I've kind of gotten used to it." She hurried to change the topic. "This was Damon," her voice crackled.
"Damon did that?" Caroline felt the blood drain from her face. The vivid memory of blood on her pillow and creaking bed springs flooded her mind. "Did he…?" She trailed off and nodded towards the bed.
"No," she swallowed around the lump in her throat. "He said he'd see me later," she was powerless to stop the tremors racing down her spine. "I'm scared Caroline."
"Oh sweetie," Caroline moved to sit beside her and gently took the shaking hand between hers. "I know the feeling," she exhaled slowly. "What do you want to do?"
"I want to feel safe again," she hiccupped. "I haven't felt safe since before I woke up." I want my power back… I want to see my husband returning over the hill… I want to run my fingers over the flowers and hear their secrets… I want my sister… I want my child alive and thriving… I want to be safe.
"You're the doppelganger," Caroline pointed out, "you'll never be completely safe. There will always be people who want to use you for your blood."
"Is there nowhere I might be safe?" She slid her hand through her hair.
"Well…" Caroline drew her lip between her teeth. "You never would have considered it before."
"Someone 'I' once trusted physically assaulted me," she took shallow breaths. "I don't think I'll be basing any decisions on how I would have acted before."
"I know you read some of the journal," Caroline's eyes fell on the green leather. "What did you read about Klaus?"
"Klaus?" She blinked slowly. "He was the vampire who wanted to use me in a ritual to unlock his werewolf half. I stopped reading before I saw the outcome."
"The ritual worked," Caroline took a deep breath, "but there was a catch. In order for Klaus to make more hybrids they needed to complete their transition with the blood of the doppelganger."
"Sounds like he was cursed by a creative witch," she raised her eyebrows.
"Klaus was ticked off when you became a vampire," Caroline pushed through, "I don't think Rebekah told him what happened with the cure though. If she had he probably would have shown up for you by now."
"He needs my blood," she chewed her bottom lip. "He wants an endless supply of it."
"Yes," Caroline nodded. "He's one of the strongest creatures on the planet and he would do everything to ensure you stayed alive."
"Where is he?" She lifted her hand to her ribs.
"New Orleans," Caroline rose from the window. "If you want I'll drive you down myself… after we've gone to the hospital of course."
"How would we explain that?" She watched Caroline pull a large bag from the closet and start throwing in clothes.
"Girls trip," Caroline shrugged. "I'll pack your things and take we'll go before Damon comes back."
"You really think he will?" She stood and pulled open a drawer while Caroline darted into the bathroom.
"I know he will," Caroline returned with the bag of toiletries. "Is there anything you want to take with you?" She looked up when the bag was filled with clothes and helped the brunette into a button down.
She stubbornly waved Caroline's hand away and buttoned the shirt on her own. It took some time but she managed it before lifting her eyes to the various knick knacks and pictures. She held no sentimental attachment to anything in that room, but she wasn't sure she wanted this Klaus to know the full extent of what had happened.
Would Elena have taken anything?
She reached up wordlessly and started pulling down the pictures that were stuck to the mirror. She focused on the ones of 'her', Jeremy and who she had come to learn were her 'parents'. She slid the glossy paper into the journal and laid the green book inside the bag with the clothes.
They were pulling into a hospital in Richmond when she turned to Caroline and searched her blue-green eyes.
"Will you tell Jeremy when you see him again?" She saw the surprise in Caroline's gaze. "He might not be my brother, but he did treat me like his sister. He should know where I went and that I'm safe. He wouldn't tell anyone else would he?"
"No, he wouldn't," Caroline smiled gently before helping her from the vehicle and into the ER, "I'll tell him. Do you want him to know everything you told me, or just that you needed to get out of town where you knew you would be safe?"
"The second option," she followed Caroline to the nurse's station, "let him think his sister is still alive somewhere in the world. He doesn't need to know she disappeared with the cure."
I was thinking she would meet Kol at first when she goes to New Orleans because Caroline doesn't know where to go, so she stops for directions. Obviously he's going to be pretty mad about being killed.