I'm seriously sorry for not updating! I hope you like it, and if you do, please give me some review. It really helps.

Disclaimer: I only own Vanessa, Cassandra and the Original doppelganger, Tatia's twin, Ada.

Chapter 5: Masquerade

I wouldn't call myself a prisoner, as a prisoner would not get this luxury. I wrapped myself in a blue silk bathrobe, after having a relaxing bath with expensive rose scented bath oil. My used to be empty closet had been filled with clothes, colourful tank tops, black leather pants and jeans and some accessories. This was suspicious. At first, I thought the clothes had been laced with vervain but I was wrong. It was fine.

I chose to sport a baby blue tank top with white cardigan, dark jeans and just white flats. Drying my hair with the towel, I looked outside of the window longingly. I missed the sun very much and Elijah was keeping me as a prisoner by not giving my daylight necklace back. What a jerk. I was still wondering what he was going to do to me. It seemed like he wanted me to stay with him for a little while.

"Hey," Luka said, appearing at the doorway.

"Don't you knock anymore?" I asked and he gave me a sheepish grin.

"Elijah wants to see you," he told and I couldn't help but looked surprised.

"Where is he?" I asked.

"Outside," he told.

"What? I don't have my necklace with me," I told him and he shrugged.

"He's waiting, and you don't want to make him wait any longer," he said and I eyed him suspiciously.

"Just give me the necklace already," I snapped and he pretended to be clueless.

"What are you talking-hey!" he said in protest when I sneaked up behind him and snatched the necklace in his hand.

"You should work on your acting," I said and he rolled his eyes. "Well, see you later. Don't want to keep an Original waiting," I told as I clasped the daylight necklace around my neck. I cautiously held out my hand for the sunrays to touch me and sighed in relief when I didn't feel the fire on my skin. I saw Elijah by the pond, his hands were in pockets as usual.

"Thank you," I said as I reached him. He turned to look at me and I sighed. "What I did was terrible and I want to apologise," I said and the corner of his lips twitched. Was it too obvious that I was trying to get on his good side?

"You're making the mistake that everyone had made, Vanessa. Trusting Katerina would get you into trouble like this. May I know why you are helping her?" He asked and I stayed quiet. Should I just tell him? With him as an Original, he might be able to help me. But then again, he shouldn't be trusted. But that didn't mean I couldn't use him.

"Klaus wants a doppelganger to break his curse. And Katherine's going to hand over my sister if I failed," I told him.

"How did you know Katherine?" he asked.

"I died, she saved me, taught me how to function as a vampire, and asked me to do this crazy thing," I said and he smiled. "Katherine said you used to do anything for Klaus. What changed?" I asked.

"My family is complicated, Vanessa but I love and hold them above everything else. Niklaus has the tendency to be in control and whenever any of us disagreed with him, he would-" Elijah stopped abruptly and I was sure what he almost slipped up was some information that I could use against him and he has yet to trust me. "He would punish us," Elijah said and I didn't say anything for a moment, waiting for him to continue. When he didn't, I looked at Elijah.

"You said you hold your family above everything else. If so, why would you want to kill your own brother?" I asked and Elijah sighed deeply.

"Because he killed my siblings, dropping their bodies across the ocean so that I would never find them. When his action didn't make me return to his side, he sought out the only person that I held dear other than my family," Elijah said solemnly.

"Cassandra," I said and he let out another sigh, reminded of the day that she died.

New York – 1935

Elijah sat in front of the piano longingly. At this kind of time, he felt sad and alone. He missed his family being together, and he missed Cassandra. He missed the time in New Orleans, where his family was whole and Cassandra was there. How long had it been since he last seen her? Since he last saw his brother? Fifteen years? He had lost track of times though.

The sound of the door being knocked interrupted him and he walked to the door. Elijah didn't know what to feel, it was as if God had answered his prayers when he was lonely. Cassandra smiled at him lovingly, her golden locks were pulled into a bun and she was wearing a light blue gown.

"Elijah," she said and he pulled her into a deep kiss. He missed her voice, he missed her lips against his, and he missed her touch very much. "I miss you so much," she said, caressing his face with her delicate hand.

"I miss you more, my love. Come in," he said and she shook her head.

"I need to tell you something," she said urgently and he suddenly had a bad feeling about this. He wanted to take her in his arms and brought her into the house where no vampires could enter. Yet, he followed her outside.

"What is it that you need to tell me, love?" Elijah asked and she started to cry.

"I love you so much, Elijah," she said through her tears and he grew wary and worried.

"Are you alright?" he asked and she shook her head, so he pulled her into his arms. He kissed her temple and rubbed a hand on her back, trying to calm her but she only cried harder. "I love you so much, please know that," she told him urgently, desperately.

"I love you too, Cassandra. I wish we could be together," he said, his dark eyes bore into her glistening blue eyes. He really loved her eyes. No, he loved everything about her. She pulled him into a long, desperate kiss. Her hand was behind his neck and another was holding his arm tightly. He placed his hand behind her small back and another was on her neck. She shut her eyes, tears wouldn't stop falling from her beautiful blue eyes. His heart pained, seeing her like this.

"What's going on, Cass?" he asked.

"Niklaus," she breathed and he grew panicked. "I'm sorry, Elijah. He found me," she whispered, her eyes widened in fear.

"What did he do to you?" Elijah asked hurriedly, grabbing her arms tightly.

"I love you, Elijah. Always and forever," she murmured, telling him that for the very last time before removing her bracelet. The bracelet that Elijah had given her on the night he killed her. Elijah could've shielded her away from the sun but he was too stunned to do anything. Her screaming of pain from being burned by the sun tore his heart into pieces. It was a quick death as the sun was shining brightly. But it felt agonizingly long as he could still hear her screams.

"No," he muttered, falling to his knees.

"I'm so sorry," I said sincerely. That explained his pained expression when he tortured me with the sun.

"I would stop Niklaus from breaking the curse. He couldn't be more powerful than he already had, Vanessa. If he breaks the curse, he would be more powerful than he already had." I frowned at that. Wasn't the curse he was going to break was The Sun and The Moon Curse? But then I pushed that thought away and focused on saving Elena.

"Why don't we make a deal?" I asked and he smiled, amused. I hated it when he smiled like that…it was like I was an entertainment to him.

"Enlighten me, Vanessa," he said and I thought of my words carefully.

"You'll keep my sister safe that no harm would come to her, and I'll help you with your plan on Klaus," I said and he chuckled. I scowled as he laughed softly at me, although I seemed to like the sound of his laughter.

"What makes you think I need your help?" he asked and I laughed as something clicked in my mind.

"If you don't need my help, why is Klaus still out there trying to break the curse?" I asked daringly and he smiled.

"You're so much like her," he said softly, looking deeply into my eyes. And I hated it. Really, really, hated it.

"You must have loved her so much. But I don't get it. Why a Petrova? If Cassandra and Katherine are doppelgangers, there must the originals right? The curse must have been-wait," I stopped and let my mind think while Elijah looked intently at me. "No," I shook my head. "I still don't understand why Petrova's blood is needed in the curse."

"A thousand years ago, there were two sisters; Tatia and Ada. Tatia's blood was used to creating vampires while Ada's blood was used to creating the curse. In order for the curse to be broken, the doppelgangers exist. We found Katerina and Cassandra by luck, and we took the opportunity to break the curse," Elijah explained shortly.

"But you fell in love with her," I said and he nodded.

"We can sacrifice one of them, so I chose Cassandra to live, by turning her into vampire so that Niklaus wouldn't be able to use her. She…she found out that her sister was going to be sacrificed and risked her life to save Katerina," Elijah told.

"Where's Klaus now?" I asked and he shook his head.

"He always has witches by his side, and that prevented us from knowing his location."

"He can't know about Elena. Seriously Elijah, please." I looked at him intently and he turned to meet my eyes.

"Your sister will come to no harm as long as you help me kill Niklaus," he said and I nodded although I wondered how can I even help in the plan. But the deal was made, Elena would be under Elijah's protection. "There's just...one more thing," he spoke up after a while.

"What is it?"

"Where's Katerina?" he asked and I looked at him calculatingly. "Vanessa," he called my name dangerously, hinting that I need to tell him this.

"She's in Mystic Falls. She's retrieving the moonstone," I told him.

"Ah, alright then. You are to go to Mystic Falls and tell her I had forgiven her. Her freedom would be granted should she hand me the moonstone," Elijah said and I nodded.

"That's simple," I said before I thought about it again. I was going back to Mystic Falls! "But," I said and grimaced. "I'm pretty much dead to them. I can't just come back.

Elijah looked over at me and simply smirked. "If you can lie to my face, I'm sure you can manage that," he said and I rolled my eyes.

"I'm sorry, okay?" I said exasperatedly, throwing my hands up in the air as I followed him back into the house.

A few weeks later

Katherine still didn't know that I was back. And with this Masquerade party, it was easy for her to not recognize me. I had to admit, I really, really, really missed going to party like this. It was really good to be back. I had fun searching for dresses and dressing up for this night. The short and strapless blue dress was tight and decorated with elegant lines of beads and I matched it with black heels. The blue mask covered half of my face so it wasn't like someone was going to recognize me but oh well. I grabbed the glass of champagne as I move to the corner, searching for familiar faces.

"Vanessa?" What in the world?

I recognized the voice as Tyler's, how can he even recognize me. Besides, the voice was coming from behind me. Surely there were other blondies in Mystic Falls.

"Tyler, you must be drunk!" One of the girls said, giggling.

"Yeah, I guess," Tyler mumbled a little bit unsure.

"Let's go, Aimee must be waiting for us," she said and I heard she dragged him away. Sighing, I sipped on my champagne to relax my nerves. I had to spot Katherine before the older vamp spots me first. I had guessed that Katherine would be wearing black or something dark, and I continued my search for the woman with curly dark brown hair.

I was blending in with the crowd, watching a man performing whatever it was that involved a rope and a fire, when I heard a conversation behind me.

"Do you see her?" I recognized the voice. That…must be Damon.

"Nope. You're sure you can do this?" Stefan asked his brother. Do what?

"Who are you talking to?" Damon asked, bewildered.

"Oh, I had the chance to kill her and I hesitated," Stefan said and that caught my attention. Kill who?

"Well that is the fork in the road between you and me my friend. I don't hesitate," Damon said snidely.

"You spent 145 years loving her, it could happen," Stefan said and I knew it instantly. Katherine.

"I won't hesitate," Damon said firmly.

"Okay," Stefan said and I heard him coming down. So what should I do? Although Katherine had become a sister to me, she being gone would be the best for each of us…I guess. But would I just stand aside and watch the Salvatore brothers kill Katherine?

Stefan stopped at his tracks and turned to his right. He narrowed his eyes at the familiar blondie. She was wearing a blue mask so it was hard to tell if she was who he thought he was. Could it be? Katherine was here, so why wouldn't Cassidy? However, before he could walk up to her, the blonde grabbed a glass and walked away.

That was pretty close. I decided to just stay away for the meantime and enjoyed the night. Or I could get myself some snack. Hmm…

"Dance with me?" My head snapped up at Katherine's voice. I tried to find and focus on her and blocked the noise. Where was she? Even as a vampire, it was hard to distinguish her among the crowd. Not to mention that everyone was wearing a mask. After a while of scanning, I heard her again, this time with Stefan.

"I don't want anyone to get hurt tonight," Stefan said.

"Okay," she agreed easily. "Then give me the moonstone and nobody will," she said. No wonder I couldn't find her. She was posing as Elena.

"Well, you see…I don't have the moonstone on me. So you and I will have to go get it together," Stefan told. I shook my head, Katherine could easily see their plan on killing her.

"Hmm, I have a better plan. You go fetch it and I will try not to kill anyone in the meantime," Katherine bargained.

"My way, or you don't get it."

"Hey Stefan, I can't find Matt. Oh my god Elena! You look so pretty. I love that dress. You look gorge!" Ah, that was Aimee. I unfortunately saw her life ending pretty soon.

"Thank you, I love your necklace," Katherine said kindly. I could have totally mistaken her as Elena. Hmph, I guess here she was fooling everyone to be my sister. "Oh, it's twisted. Here, let me, here we go," she said before I heard a gasp from Aimee.

"Paralyzed from waist down, and dead," Katherine said. She pushed Aimee's body to Stefan and said, "The moonstone, Stefan. Tick tock."

"Wow, that was too much, Kathy," I said dryly. "How desperate are you?" I muttered to myself.

Jeremy received a text from Damon, telling him it was his turn. He got up, searching for Katherine when he saw a girl who looked too much like Vanessa. He narrowed his eyes but she was gone among the crowd and he bit back a sigh. He must be imagining things. His sister was dead. But he couldn't shake the feeling that the girl with golden locks was his sister. He shook his head, trying to clear his mind. He got work to do.

"Oh my, that was close," I muttered, seeing Jeremy turned to a different direction. "Please don't tell me that he too, is involved in this 'Let's kill Katherine' plan," I muttered as I followed him. The way he walked told me that he was a man on mission. I sighed. I watched my distance this time and made sure I could eavesdrop on their conversation.

"Elena," Jeremy called. "Hey sorry, could I…could I talk to my sister?" he asked to a woman in front of Katherine.

"What is it Jeremy?" Katherine asked with her Elena-ish tone.

"I have a message from Stefan," Jeremy said and Katherine looked surprise. "He and Damon want you to meet them at the edge of the lake by the woods. They brought the moonstone," he told.

"And why are you their little messenger?" Katherine asked.

"Because they know I'm not afraid of you," Jeremy said and I mentally face-palmed myself. That was very brave and stupid, Jer.

"Hmm, you Gilbert men…so courageous. How's John by the way? Were they able to sew his fingers back on?" She said playing with his tie and I stood there nervously. 'Please don't harm him or I'll kill you myself,' I thought bitterly. Thank God Katherine left him alone, and Jeremy was texting when someone grabbed him. I was about to go to him when I realized it was Elena. Elena, Jeremy and Bonnie were talking when Elena suddenly gasped in pain. I couldn't risk going any nearer as they would have seen me.

"What's going on?" I heard Jeremy asked in panic as another scream erupted from Elena.

"Jeremy, it's Katherine. She's linked to Katherine. Get them to stop! Now!" Bonnie ordered and Jeremy dashed to wherever Stefan and Damon were. Katherine, always with the backup plan. The woman with Katherine…she must be the witch. I searched for the witch, trying to find her. I had started to hate the masquerade theme. It wasn't like I remembered her scent or her voice. This was getting frustrating…

"Oh, there she is," I spotted her when I was about to give up. She seemed to feel my presence as I walked toward her. "Whatever spells you put on Elena, undo it."

She stopped at her tracks and turned around. She scanned me from head to toe, and realized who I was. "You're Vanessa. I thought you side with Katherine," she stated with a wicked smile.

"Undo it before I rip your heart off your chest," I threatened. She was tall, like freakishly tall but that didn't really faze me since I've got the speed and–I gasped in pain as my head, it felt like exploding. I really, really, really hate this witch trick. The pain was gone suddenly when the witch left in hurry.

I saw Bonnie walked past me, chasing after the witch and I sighed in relief. "Go and save the day, Bonnie," I told, walking out of the mansion.