A.N.: I hope you all like the ending of this chapter.
Dangerous Beauty
19
Compulsion
"You're giving me jewellery?" Tyler gave her a look, but Giulia rolled her eyes, grabbing his wrist so she could clasp the braided leather cord around it, looping it under his watch-strap to ensure it wouldn't fall off if the clasp snagged on something.
"Don't worry, I'm not asking you to go steady or anything?" she chuckled, and he smiled easily. Since his dad's death, and a few workout sessions with Mason before he had taken off, her and Tyler's relationship had reached a sort of ease that harkened back to the days before Vicki. When they had been together, not in love but friends, drawn in by the excitement of their first sexual relationship, affectionate and themselves, in a way they rarely could be with anyone else. Bad though things had sometimes been between them, Tyler an awful little shit and Giulia not bothering to stand up for herself, they had also laughed so hard their stomachs hurt, crying, they had teased each other, been playful and tactile, physically affectionate, Tyler had let go of the frustration and aggression pent up inside, only stoked by his father's abuse with no healthy outlet; they'd been…friends. Peyton and Nathan on their good days.
Now they were returning to that same friendliness, the ease. It had been a long few months not speaking to each other. Giulia didn't mind admitting she had missed him. Tyler was one of her oldest friends, her first boyfriend, the first boy she had had sex with (and a lot of it), the person with whom she could indulge in the more tomboyish aspects of her personality. Jogging together, wrestling playfully on the sofa, watching the stupid movies like Stepbrothers that made Tyler cry with giggles, venting about the girls… It had occurred to Giulia more times than one that her and Tyler's relationship had been more friends-with-benefits than anything, with the emphasis on the benefits aspect becoming stronger the closer they had come to Giulia dumping him for sleeping around on her.
"Okay, so why the surprise gift?" Tyler asked, as they paused to snack at the catering spread Mrs Lockwood had arranged for the volunteers helping set up the masquerade fundraiser. Potato-chips, fat sandwiches, fruit-cups and juice-pouches, the sun beating down, relaxing after a morning's hard work decorating, getting the Lockwood mansion in prime condition for the annual Masquerade Ball. She had been helping lay the harlequin dance-floor under a huge open tent, chandeliers everywhere, gold and red and purple the colour-scheme.
"Mason," Giulia said, glancing at him, squinting in the sun; she rearranged her sunglasses over her eyes, glad of her plain black cap, which she wore backwards to protect the back of her neck, the sun beating down on them. Tyler frowned at her.
"You know?" he asked, and Giulia nodded. It was better to say she had heard from Mason than explain everything. She wasn't going to delve into the world of the supernatural too much; ignorance truly was bliss, and if she could keep as many people out of it as she could, she would. It was necessary for Liz to know, too intrinsically linked with everything already. Jenna, too. And even though she knew, Meredith was detached enough from everything, a satellite in the atmosphere of the supernatural world but not truly part of it, that she was protected. But Matt and Tyler? She wanted to do what she could to help Tyler, make sure he didn't trigger his curse; she didn't want that for him, even though she didn't know the full implications. What Mason had hinted at was enough.
They had all been back at school, at work, for a week. The sun continued to beat down, mocking them as it shone through the windows at school, blinding her when she traipsed out of lecture-theatres, making everyone fidgety, anxious to get back out into the sun they had been spoiled with the last few weeks. Today was the first time anyone might have had the opportunity to enjoy the swimming-hole, a free Saturday after the first gruelling week back after a long break. Giulia had gone back to her new routine, dashing out of MFHS to race to Richmond and her classes, now trying harder than ever to devote as much time as she could to every single one of her projects, not to mention her friends.
Caroline was still adjusting to her mother knowing, afraid Liz was okay; he'd gotten to 1865 in his recap of Ripper-victims. He and Elena were still broken-up, despite Katherine not having made a peep in nearly two weeks; Elena had told him she wanted to wake up in the morning and know the people she cared about were safe. So, according to Caroline, she was turning into a soulless zombie, moping around school, all sighs and watery eyes. No more disinterested in school than usual, but people had gotten used to Elena Gilbert, the crier. But, and this was according to Caroline again, Elena and Bonnie had made up. Elena had caught her up on everything that was going on; Bonnie had accused Elena of being on Caroline's "side", guilt-tripping Elena that "since Caroline turned, we've barely seen each other", and that "losing Caroline was bad enough, I didn't think I'd lose you, too."
Giulia agreed wholeheartedly with Bonnie, for once: it did leave her the odd man out for not being on the Vampire Barbie bandwagon. For not standing by her friend. Bonnie continued to reject any responsibility for Caroline's fate, blaming Caroline for something that had been entirely out of her control; and Giulia continued to have absolutely no interest in being Bonnie's friend. She had outgrown the self-pitying, miserable little brat. Oh, Giulia would ensure she was protected, but she was now so far from being emotionally invested in Bonnie, and her days were so much lighter not having to worry about what kind of mood Bonnie would be in.
Things were changing. Friendships were shifting and reforming, bonds strengthening, ties being cut. Giulia was closer with Stefan while she helped him with his experiment, dosing him with the thimbleful of human blood every day with a piece of fruit and ten names. They had watched Pulp Fiction together and afterward pushed the sofa and daybed out of the way in the Boarding House, putting on Stefan's old records to jive while Damon filmed them.
She often met Damon for lunch, or a smoothie in Richmond between classes – or a cocktail after her evening lectures; he'd joined her on the first social since classes had started back up at UV, masquerading as her older-brother. He'd even come to one of her dance-classes, enjoying the hell out of himself dancing the Charleston, the shim-sham and making jaws drop as they performed the lindy-hop he had taught her when she was twelve; they'd dragged Stefan along, and he'd filmed them in turn. Since he and Elena were on a break, Damon had taken his baby-bro under his wing, keeping him distracted. The two of them were working on Giulia's Beetle while she rode her bike around town. Although she hadn't invited him in, and he wouldn't ask, Damon had taken her to a couple of antiques places and design studios, looking for things for her house. He'd been impressed and supported her plans as she pitched an idea to Liz, who was executor of her father's will and caretaker of Giulia's estate until her eighteenth birthday, to buy up the land the Fells were getting rid of, as well as the land that had belonged to the late Ms Gibbons, whose home Giulia had burned to the ground after Damon had killed her, and they had killed the vampire nest that had taken Stefan hostage. The City was more than happy to sell it to a Founding Family, who would always protect the interests of the town, and small-businesses that flourished there while chains hijacked the rest of the country.
That was the propaganda, anyway, and Giulia held them to it – and with the vervain out of their systems thanks to "the heat-wave 'killing' the plants", it had been easy for Damon to compel the Fells (all but Meredith, whom Giulia had made dinner for one night and convinced her to agree to their plan) to lose all interest in the Council, to erase their animosity toward and fear of vampires, implanting in their minds Giulia's idea that Logan's death had made them realise that the risk of their involvement in the Council was too great.
Logan had been their golden-boy, and since his death the Fells had been slowly parting with land and possessions, downsizing – sticking it to the train-wreck cousins who had made the family's reputation a source of ridicule for the other Founding Families, with their DUIs, Mean Girl attitudes, awful taste in men, dropping out of college – one of them, to have a baby given up for adoption, the other, to whore her way around exotic islands with various older men – their aimless, airheaded behaviour.
So the Council was down one Founding Family; but Giulia was up a lot of property Damon had compelled the Fells to part with at a very reasonable price. Carol had been asking Giulia what she planned to do with it – she knew Giulia too well to think Giulia would do as the Fells had done, hold on to the land just for the sake of owning it, but doing absolutely nothing to increase its value – when Tyler had returned from an early-morning weight-lifting session at school, unwillingly recruited into helping set up.
"This should help with your anger issues," Giulia said, touching the bracelet lightly, before reaching for her paper-plate loaded with lunch. Carol had promised fudge-bars if they finished their sandwiches first; they were Tyler's favourite. "Keep you from doing something irreparable."
"You mean like kill someone?" Tyler sighed, popping a huge potato-chip into his mouth whole, and crunching with relish.
"Exactly," Giulia yawned. Elijah had kept her up late again, waking her in the middle of the night by entering her. Something must have come to him while he slept, because it had been a little different. Toe-curlingly slow, savouring, refusing to hurry the pace of his gentle, deep thrusts, their fingers interlocked, gazing into her eyes, refusing to look away, in a way that had heightened everything. Tyler gave her a sidelong look.
"So he told you?" he asked, and Giulia nodded, sipping from her juice-pouch. "You think it's all legit?"
"Absolutely," Giulia said, without hesitation. There was no point playing coy. He knew; she knew considerably more. "That bracelet is to protect you from triggering the curse. Mason wanted you to have it." She'd told Mason what she was doing for Tyler, via texts to his burner phone, the number saved to her phone under 'Playgirl': he was in full support of her idea, wishing he could've taken the same precautions. Through their texted conversations, Giulia had learned what a fair-minded, grounded man Mason was. What he had gone through, he hoped Tyler never had to; but if he did, Tyler would have the benefit of Mason's experience. Mason had done it all on his own, the first time.
Tyler frowned at the bracelet. "So this will stop me from triggering the curse?"
"Hopefully," Giulia said, glancing at Tyler. "As long as you wear it all the time." Tyler shrugged.
"Cool. Thanks," he said, smiling at her. "So…I got you something, too. I got you…a high-five?"
"I'll take it," Giulia said, and she chuckled as they clapped palms.
"So, what've you been up to, anyway? I never know with you," Tyler said, and Giulia smiled privately, sipping her juice. "Caroline's been babbling about your road-trip. Should've seen the look on Matt's face, he was totally bummed she'd be gone all summer." Giulia blinked.
"I hadn't even thought of that. I mean, I love Car but if she's gonna be moping about Matt all summer – aw!" she chuckled, shaking her head. "Crap!" Tyler chuckled.
"Well, I could always come with you," he shrugged half-heartedly. "Maybe we could go meet up with Mason wherever he finds his feet."
"Ooh. Now that is a titillating thought," Giulia grinned lecherously, and Tyler rolled his eyes, chuckling. Her lust for his uncle was not unknown to Tyler; they'd all gone for a run before Mason had disappeared, she'd teased that she was quite happy to try and keep up with the both of them. The view was spectacular. "Won't you have summer-training?" Tyler was on the football team, hopeful for a scholarship to a good school; with a scholarship, he wouldn't have been dependent on his dad and therefore, could have studied whatever he wanted without the threat of being cut off if he didn't do what he was told. But football was good for Tyler, too, it helped him work out a lot of his aggression and frustration, he got to hit people without any malice behind it, it gave him discipline, taught him how to rely on other people and to be responsible for others in turn, forcing him to be a team-player. Thinking about others had never been a natural instinct with Tyler.
"I guess," Tyler sighed, gazing into the distance with a small frown on his face. "Kinda different now… Mom wants me to college, no question, but she's chilled out a whole bunch about where she wants me to go, what I have to major in… She found Jeremy's sketches and thought they were mine, so I showed her my stuff."
"You did?" Giulia asked, surprised. Tyler's love of art was pretty much his dark secret.
"Yeah…it was weird. It was like…she was upset when I showed her," he said thoughtfully. "Like…she had no idea I was any good at that stuff."
"You are. You've more technique than Jeremy – don't tell him I said that," Giulia said, and Tyler chuckled.
"He's just wackier; he's got that whole edgy, morbid thing going on," Tyler shrugged.
"He told me you two hung out," Giulia said, and chuckled. "You two are so similar it's no wonder you were at each other's throats over Vicki."
"What? Me and Gilbert?"
"You're both artistic, both fatherless young men, you're both fiercely protective of what's yours," Giulia shrugged. "Only, he's not a dick." Tyler laughed.
"Yeah. Yeah, he's always had that goin' for him," he sighed. "Can't deny that."
"You know, you don't have to be a dick either," Giulia said. "I remember a lot of times when you were incredibly sweet to me."
"Well, that's because I loved you," Tyler said, with a fond smile. Giulia rolled her eyes, blushing slightly.
"You didn't love me," she disagreed with a smile.
"I did – I still do! I guess…y'know, we're not like in love with each other," Tyler shrugged. "Tell you what, though, if being in love with you made me as whipped as Stefan is over Elena…" Giulia laughed.
"If I turned out as maudlin and depressed as Elena is right now, over you, I'd throw myself off a bridge," Giulia said, and Tyler grinned.
"See, that's why I love you; you've got your head on straight!" Tyler chuckled. He sighed. "What happened with us, anyway? We used to be good together."
"No, we weren't, not really. We just had sex a lot," Giulia said, shrugging, sucking the last droplet of juice from her pouch. "We were always better as friends."
"Still, at least we tried it," Tyler sighed. "No-one could call us pussies."
"They wouldn't dare!" Giulia chuckled, and Tyler grinned.
"So. You seein' someone?" Tyler asked, and Giulia laughed outright.
"That's direct." Tyler shrugged, smirking. "No, I'm not."
"Really? Huh. 'Cuz Mason said he could smell sex all over you whenever he saw you."
"Mm," Giulia smirked; she was sure he had. Just as she'd sensed it on him too. She had realised that she and Mason were mirrors of each other. The only difference between her situation with Elijah and his with Katherine was that Giulia knew exactly what Elijah was up to; Mason hadn't. "Well, I have been sleeping with someone." Tyler scoffed, rolling his eyes.
"Do I even wanna ask?" he sighed, giving her a look.
"Really, you don't," Giulia chuckled.
"I never know what the hell you're up to," Tyler mused. "What if you wind up in a ditch somewhere?"
"Just know insane orgasms led me there," Giulia said, smiling, and Tyler blushed. "What about you?"
"You wanna know about my –?"
"Orgasms?" Giulia smiled blithely. "I love it when you blush! No, are you seeing anyone?"
"Nah. Been kinda slow in that department," Tyler shrugged.
"With all those girls in bikinis, there wasn't one you got drunk enough?"
"Apparently not," Tyler sighed. "Guess it doesn't matter…"
"And why not?" Giulia asked curiously, frowning at his despondent look.
"Guess I'm just…thinking about the future," Tyler said, wincing slightly. "This…werewolf curse thing… I'd pass it on to my kids."
"Right," Giulia said softly.
"Guess I'm just wondering whether it's worth the risk," Tyler sighed. "Anyway… C'mon. My mom's probably worked herself up into a tizzy about the decorating. You always know how to calm her down." He grabbed her in a playful headlock, staggering back to the house, finding Mrs Lockwood issuing orders, corralling volunteers, and working herself up into a tizzy about the antique furniture being scratched by the rented candelabra and how much the rented glasses cost per breakage.
Hours later, Giulia hung up her phone, unbuckled her seatbelt. The boys had done an amazing job rebuilding the engine of her Beetle – one-hundred years' experience tinkering with engines and a lot of free time lately, they had had the car up and running in no time, and Giulia had spent one afternoon repainting the car with Stefan, who had bought the special paint. It was a deliciously succulent sapphire-blue that seemed to shimmer in the sun, and with the polished metal, her car looked almost brand-new; she'd had to tell the DMV she had changed the colour but it looked glorious, glinting in the sun as she waited, sipping the remnants of the smallest Jamba Juice they offered, fresh from a little Sephora-indulgence with Caroline at the Grove Hill Mall to pick out final accessories for the masquerade. Caroline had been inspired by their decorating efforts, and had wanted an excuse to get Giulia alone to grill her about being so giggly with Tyler earlier. Conscious of the heat, she had tucked her little bag of cosmetics into the icebox in her trunk, fully stocked with donated bagged-B+, animal blood, 'Long Arizona' raspberry iced-tea and Caroline's favourite caramel Frappuccino bottled coffees, before driving back to Mystic Falls. She had dropped Caroline off, sent a few texts, and parked out by the Fell tomb, waiting.
She shoved her legs out of her car, just enjoying the warmth on her skin, the gentle activity of the woods, the birds, the sigh of the breeze through the trees, adjusting her sunglasses as she turned the page in The Prince. She had been inspired to reread Machiavelli. In next to no time, she heard the soft bristle of dry pine-needles being disturbed, and glanced up over the edge of her sunglasses. Squinting, Elijah was a dark slash in the glowing green-gold of the surrounding trees. He looked incongruous, and she sighed internally at the Hugo Boss suit he wore. He wasn't likely to run into anyone out here, but if there was the slightest chance anyone might catch a glimpse of him, Elijah buttoned himself up again. Only she got to see him with his top button undone, wearing jeans – dark-wash, extremely expensive, fitted jeans that made his ass look insane, but denim nonetheless – and a thin cashmere sweater. But that was the relaxed Elijah lulling himself into a false sense of reality, that this was merely a vacation, fishing all day from the deck, sharing a glass of wine in the evening while they played cards or chess or fucked in the lake, on the piano, or in the shower.
Giulia was tempted to ask whether he was trying to make walking impossible for her. Whatever the spell was on the tiny earring of hers, it worked; she had no bruising despite the power in his hips, although she felt it. God, did she still feel him.
"You repainted your car," he observed mildly.
"Caroline and I voted we'd paint the trailer blue, with silver fenders and wood details," Giulia smiled. "Figured the car needed to match." Elijah's lips twitched into a smile. Truth was her car had needed a fresh paint-job for decades.
"You didn't invite me here to admire your car. Although I hope the engine now looks as good as the exterior."
"Well, it's what's on the inside that counts," Giulia said, and Elijah made that masculine little thoughtful noise of his. "I let the boys work on it; it gave them a project they could bond over. Paid them in bourbon for the labour."
"You seem to be spending more time with them," Elijah observed. Giulia nodded.
"It's different," she said quietly. "Something's changed." With Katherine's betrayal, Damon's love for her had turned into indifference; without his obsessive need to free or find her, he now had endless free-time to consider his way forward. Refusing to let his brother spiral without Elena, Damon was now playing the big-brother; he and Stefan were bonding, as much as they ever could with the century and a half of issues between them. Without significant others, the brothers had turned to her. Damon had wanted 'games night' and they were the only ones with whom playing Trivial Pursuit was entertaining for Giulia. They still drank too much, but it was a free, relaxed kind of atmosphere, whatever tension that had been stirred up by Katherine's ghost – and Elena's presence – evaporating away for the few short hours they spent together. It was odd, and unusual, and Giulia liked it. She liked spending time with them, when it wasn't all doom-and-gloom, where there wasn't (to the best of their knowledge) a nefarious plan in motion against them, when it wasn't a frantic heart-stopping fight for survival. When the supernatural shit stayed at the threshold and they could just enjoy each other's company.
"Why did you ask me to meet you here?" Elijah asked, sidling over and casually taking her book from her, which she had closed in her lap. His lips curled in a smile as he read the title.
"I have a surprise for you," she said, with a breathless smile. His dark eyes swept from the twisted curls of the pretty Dutch braid winding from one ear over the other shoulder, to her sandal-clad toes, nails glittering hot-pink in the sun, taking his time to peruse in between. "Not that kind of surprise." He let out a soft sigh of disappointment, but followed her with a curious half-smile, delighted, anticipating. She retrieved a bottle from the icebox and a sheet of binder-paper folded in half, and guided the way down into the ante-chamber of the sealed tomb. She pressed a finger to Elijah's lips, but indicated for him to lift the stone away from the entrance to the tomb. Making him wait out of sight with a clear view into the tomb-entrance, Giulia squatted down, uncapping the battered Aquafina bottle, pouring a thimbleful of blood into the cap and setting it just outside the mystical barrier, she waited.
For a few minutes, there was nothing, but she smiled softly to herself as she heard a faint scuffling noise – someone walking with a labouring gait, as if their feet were too heavy to lift. The effects of starvation on Katerina Petrova were not flattering. Her hair fell in dank, rumpled curls covered in dust and ash around a face so pale and sunken, she might have physically aged sixty years, if not for her incongruously perky breasts. Dark eyes glittered hatefully from the wizened face, shining with something Giulia thought might be hope, transfixed on the tiny capful of blood that had drawn her out of the depths of the tomb more effectively than any coaxing or threats ever could.
She saw Giulia and launched herself headfirst, at full-strength, toward her; Giulia didn't even flinch, tilting her head to one side and grimacing in sympathy as Katherine was violently repulsed by Emily Bennett's magic – the spell she had created to keep Katherine safe within the tomb… The irony was delicious. Black veins flickering beneath reddened eyes full of the threat of a slow, torturous death, fangs sharpened, lips peeled back, hissing, she did look monstrous, fighting and flailing against the magical barrier that protected Giulia.
"Oh, Kitty. You have not been keeping yourself up," Giulia sighed, tutting, and shook her head. "It's such a shame. I've brought you a visitor. Here…" She picked up the bottle-cap, dripping the blood back into the full water-bottle before capping it, tossing it gently into the tomb. Katherine latched onto it, not bothering to uncap the bottle; she sank her fangs into the plastic with a ferocity that could rival crocodiles. Giulia observed coolly, a tiny, arrogant little smile on her face, and she waited. Two seconds, and Katherine was crumpling the plastic bottle to her chin, trying to suck the last droplet – her body caught up, her starved senses reacting – and she retched, moaning, hacking a cough and bending at the waist.
"What the hell kind of schwag blood did you just give me?" Katherine growled.
Giulia smiled. "Racoon." She hopped out of the way and chuckled as Katherine gave her a petulant look, throwing the crumpled water-bottle at her, then started to retch again.
"Why are you here?" Katherine growled, wiping her mouth on her arm. The blood, however distasteful it was to a vampire used to sipping from the vein of whichever lover she had suckered into her bed, had done the trick. Katherine was almost pretty again; her skin had tightened, softened, the olive tone rejuvenated richly. But Katherine hadn't been keeping herself up; her eye-makeup was smudged so she resembled her recent meal. Her fingernail-polish was chipped; her lips were chapped, and whenever she veered out of the shadow of the chamber, her skin started to blister. She gasped, ducking out of sight, and Giulia smiled, leaning against the stone, dangling a familiar blue pendant from her fingertips.
"I couldn't help myself, it was just such a darling antique," Giulia said, smiling viciously, as Katherine's eyes glittered from the shadows, watching the blue stone in its delicate Victorian silver setting, as it swayed like a pendulum from her fingers.
"You'll regret this," Katherine promised.
"Somehow I don't think so," Giulia mused. "Elijah, wouldn't you say?"
"My dear Katerina," Elijah said softly, and Giulia heard Katherine gasped. She seemed to freeze, eyes glued to the impeccable Elijah in his dark suit and chic sunglasses. He looked like freaking James Bond, especially with that tiny little smirk of delighted malevolence. "You do not seem to understand the implications of your predicament."
"Elijah…" she whispered, fear etched into her features.
"You have the good sense to be frightened, at the very least," Elijah said, observing Katherine almost disinterestedly. He then gave her a brilliant smile, shooting Giulia a sidelong look that was full of pride. "However did you ensnare such a vicious little Kat?"
"She thought I was a mouse," Giulia said softly, eyes on the starving vampire pinned by her fear of Elijah. She wondered how long it had been since Katherine had seen him last: It must have been the night she fled Klaus and the sacrifice.
"Imprisoned in the tomb created in her honour," Elijah said, with an ironic smile, peering into the gloom of the stone tomb.
"She's where she should have always been," Giulia said softly. "Desiccating in a tomb no vampire would ever enter because they can never leave…she's absolutely safe in here. Safe to suffer alone, in darkness, with no-one to come for her, no-one to know, or care." It was actually quite a devastating thought, but Giulia tucked it away, tilting her head as she observed Katherine, still cowering in the shadows, shivering away from Elijah's gaze as if it was a physical blow.
"How long have you kept this secret?" Elijah asked, a curious note in his voice.
"Long enough for the vervain she has been sipping for the last century and a half to leech from her system while she starved," Giulia said lightly, negligently handing him the folded piece of binder-paper. She had taken the time while allowing the vervain to leave Katherine's system, to compose something for Elijah.
He had told her Originals could compel both humans and other vampires. And their compulsion was understandably the strongest of any vampire alive. It was so strong that, provided the appropriate loopholes were closed, their compulsion outlasted even an Original's death by a mystical silver-dagger. Elijah took the paper, unfolding it with a curious frown, and he took the time to read it, to re-read it; she could practically see him absorbing every word she had so meticulously crafted. He was thinking through every implication, working out the loopholes, the insinuations, the benefits and the risks, plotting several moves ahead. Eventually, he gave Giulia a smile that was at once wicked and admiring. He curled his finger at Katherine.
"Come here, Katerina," he said gently, and she flinched, backing further into the stone wall, not daring to retreat further, her fear of him was that strong. Trapped inside the tomb, for a moment, Giulia had thought Katherine looked…young. Fear did that.
"I'll burn," Katherine whispered, eyeing the bright line of golden light cutting across the tomb entrance.
"I know," Elijah said softly. He focused on her face, and Katherine gasped softly, growing still. "You will stand in my shadow." A shiver passed over Katherine's face, the one show of resilience against Elijah's compulsion – then she was cowering, suddenly skinny and seventeen and afraid, chin tucked to her chest, trying to look anywhere but into Elijah's eyes. "Look at me, Katerina," he said, so gently it was terrifying.
There was a stubborn tilt to her chin as she raised her eyes, a display of bravado even, literally, in the shadow of her enemy.
Watching Elijah compel Katherine was oddly mesmerising. His voice was so gentle, so lulling, that even she started to be drawn in by it. Even though she had written the words herself, so carefully crafted, it was Elijah who strangely breathed life into them.
"If anyone tries to reach into your mind, by compulsion or magic, they will find no trace of my compulsion," Elijah said softly. "You will never suspect that you have been compelled. You will know only that you underestimated Giulia Salvatore when you attacked her, that she trapped you within this tomb in penance for your actions against her friends… Should you find yourself freed of the tomb, you will not seek vengeance against her, you will not manoeuvre to punish those you have acted against. While you are within this tomb and after you find yourself freed from it, you will do whatever Giulia Salvatore asks of you, and gladly, though you will not know why you want to help her, and you will never suspect that you have been compelled to do so. You will still voice your disapproval, still give your opinion on the matter and suggest alternative course of action, but ultimately you will help her. You will keep her secrets, and no-one who tries to enter your mind shall steal them from you. Should I die by a mystical silver-dagger this compulsion will only be strengthened. You will be bound to Giulia's will, giving her unquestioning loyalty."
Giulia stared at Elijah, unease curling in her stomach. He had veered from the script, and she didn't know how she felt about it.
"Now…you will not remember this," Elijah said calmly, and slinked out of sight, leaving Katherine's skin sizzling in the sun. Katherine blinked, coming out of a trance, and her lax features morphed into fury as she glowered at Giulia, darting out of the sunlight.
"What do you want?" she hissed. Giulia sighed, eyeing her.
"Just wanted to check in," Giulia said casually, reaching for some of the other things she had brought with her. She tossed a blood-bag at Katherine. "Here."
"More racoon?" Kathrine asked scathingly, though her eyes were fixated on the blood.
"No. A negative," Giulia said. Katherine needed no other incentive, and drained the blood-bag, dumping it negligently on the ashy dirt floor. "This is for you. Come here."
"Um. You stole my daylight pendant, Giulia. That golden glow you see in front of you, that's daylight. I'll burn." But, gritting her jaw, she moved into the light. Her skin started to hiss, steaming, and blisters started to grow on her face, her exposed arm. Giulia handed her a large vervain plant she had carried down with her after digging it out of the pot.
"Take this," she said, and Katherine gripped the plant by the soil-covered roots. "Find a patch of sunlight inside that tomb – I know there are cracks in the roof of the cavern – and plant it. You can keep taking vervain just in case."
"In case what?"
"In case Klaus finds you and frees you," Giulia said, looking her in the eye; a shiver passed over Katherine's face. Once Elijah had compelled Katherine to do what she wanted, Giulia wanted to provide Katherine with as much protection as she deserved. She wasn't unfeeling toward Katherine's predicament, self-inflicted as her lifestyle was, due to the choice she had made five centuries ago. But she and Elena were two sides to the same coin – Elena had people jumping in line to help her; Katherine had been doing everything on her own for centuries. She manipulated and strong-armed people into doing her bidding because there was no-one else. It was a heart-breaking thought, and explained so much about Katerina Petrova. She was so selfish because there was no-one else in the world who legitimately cared for her. Who would look out for her if not herself? "Are you enjoying yourself in there? Plenty of time to reflect on things."
"Yes," Katherine said sardonically. "You see, all I have now is time. Time to sit. And rot."
"Well, you wanted to stop running," Giulia said fairly. "Goodnight, Katherine. Sleep well."
"Who's in here with me?" Katherine called, as Giulia turned to go. Giulia smile to herself, taking the jacket Elijah handed her as he moved to lift the great stone barrier into place, leaving only six inches through which light could shine into the chamber beyond, giving no-one space to enter, sealing Katherine in, protecting any curious explorers from the vampires within. But giving Giulia access if she wanted to speak to Katherine.
Climbing up the stone staircase, Giulia rested against a large boulder, draping the jacket over the warm stone, arms crossed loosely over her chest, ankles crossed, idly watching Elijah. "I wrote Elena's name on that paper."
"And I am sure you had your reasons for doing so," Elijah said, eyes glinting as he smiled at her, prowling closer to grasp her hips in his hands, trapping her legs between his knees as he dipped his head to nuzzle her nose and give her kisses. "There would be an entertaining sort of retribution in Katerina being bound to Elena's will… However, you have the imagination to truly utilise such a bond."
"I'd rather earn someone's loyalty," Giulia said quietly. He smiled warmly.
"I know," he said softly, cradling her face in his hands, dipping his head for another kiss as he pushed his fingers through her hair. "Consider it…an insurance-policy." Giulia smiled softly. Katherine bound to her will for as long as Giulia was alive – there were countless possibilities, and the amusement-factor of having Katherine bound to Elena's will had been too good to pass up; she had considered making her subservient to Damon, just to see Katherine get her comeuppance for what she had put Damon through, knowing how Damon would take advantage of it once he figured it out. He would figure out Elijah's compulsion, but Katherine never would.
Katherine would never realise she had had her independence stripped from her. That she had had her will had been bound to that of another.
Giulia had wanted to…to turn Katherine into a better version of herself, but nicely. Binding her to Elena's word was strategic; there was no way Elena wouldn't balk at the idea that someone else was enslaved to her will. She wouldn't abuse it, but she would probably ask Katherine to help her to do whatever was best for a lot of people – to protect them. Place the lives of others above Katherine's own survival. If Elena ever realised the connection, that was, but, well…Elena wasn't that clever.
Elijah frowned thoughtfully at her.
"Why did you write Elena's name?" he asked.
"Because she's not clever enough to figure out that Katherine would be bound to her," Giulia said, sighing softly. "And she wouldn't take advantage of the compulsion even if the boys figured it out for her."
"And why have me compel Katerina, why not just…take matters into your own hands?" Elijah asked. "The simplest course of action, ensuring your friends' safety, retribution for what she did to your relatives…to my family."
Giulia smiled at him, a little perplexed he truly had to ask her. Surely he knew why. She frowned, smiling at the same time. "The game, Elijah. It would be such a waste to kill an enemy such as Katerina. I imagine she has made the last five-hundred years exciting, at the very least… You can always kill your enemies – but you can't bring them back… Never do anything irreparable, if you can help it."
She had killed people – vampires. An entire tomb full of them. She had set them alight while they lay desiccated in the dark. Two Victorian vampires assimilating to modern life was one thing; twenty-seven vampires tearing through Mystic Falls on a vendetta fuelled by supernatural rage and hunger was not something she had wanted to clean up after. And only Anna had come for her mother. Whether anyone else had known the vampires were in the tomb, Giulia didn't know; but no-one else had come looking for them, no-one had sought revenge against her for their loved-ones' deaths. So if any vampire still living had lost someone in the fire in 1864, they either didn't know, didn't care, or had moved on. She had done right by her friends, their home. Her own conscience.
The vampires she had killed in the farmhouse owned by Ms Gibbons had been set on torturing Stefan for information on Katherine – they endangered everyone's lives, as soon as they had harvested what information on Katherine they could, possibly captured her, they would have let it be known there was a living doppelganger. They would have been…where she was now – only, they would have been in a worse position, with no time to prepare like Elijah's presence gave her.
They walked hand in hand back to her car, Elijah dangling his jacket over his shoulder, fingers intertwined casually with hers, just thinking. They reached her shining sapphire Beetle, and, gentleman that he was, Elijah opened the driver's door for her. But he stopped her from sliding into the seat, drawing her in for a gentle kiss that was both sweet and fierce.
Because she understood. What was eternity without a little excitement?
A.N.: Whaddaya think, tell me, tell me, tell me! This is where I start laughing evilly.
