Hey guys! I know, it's been a month. Sorry 'bout that! Been busy with exams. Just finished them, thank god. Made this one a bit longer than usual for you. Hope you enjoy!
BTW: All of you who have favorited and followed this story, thanks! Means a lot. And those reviews! I'm glad you're as excited as I am about this story. :-)
Elena lay in her room within the mansion, peacefully relaxing on her bed. Her eyes were shut, but the light seeping through the curtains casted a glow over her eyelids. It was morning; breakfast would be ready soon. Elena rolled away from the light, irritated by its intrusion, and collided with another body lying on the bed.
"Rise and shine Cupcake," Katherine chimed from beside her. Elena's eyes opened slowly, already adjusted to the morning light. Katherine gazed down at her, head propped up on her hand, with amusement. It was obvious to Elena that Katherine was in a good mood. That could mean one of two things: 1) she successfully pissed off Klaus, or 2) Klaus was gone. Using her link to Klaus, Elena could sense no animosity or anger coming from his end, which indicated the latter.
"Morning," Elena sighed. "You're in a good mood. Where'd Klaus go?"
"The Quarter to find Agnes, interrogate her, and afterwards, probably dispose of her." Katherine answered. "What're you still doing up here? It's nine."
"Relaxing," Elena smiled slightly, closing her eyes and reveling in the drama-free moment. She flopped away from Katherine and back onto her mattress. Right back into the sun. The morning light was blinding. "Too bright," Elena complained, rolling back beside Katherine, hiding her face in a pillow.
"That's usually a sign for you to get up," Katherine smirked. "Get dressed."
"I don't want to," Elena grumbled into the fabric. "Can't you let me stay in bed all day. I haven't had one of those days since we started our road trip."
"Nope." Katherine denied and raised an eyebrow. "And yeah you have. I distinctly remember we were in Colorado. A big storm had hit."
"Right," Elena recalled, "we were stuck in that cabin for days."
"That was a fun week," Katherine smiled wistfully. Elena caught the tone.
"Do you miss it?" She asked, turning herself so that she faced Katherine.
"Miss what?" Katherine eyed her curiously. "Colorado?"
"No," Elena shook her head, "do you miss being on the road, driving towards unknown destinations."
Many things had happened while they were road tripping. Katherine usually got to choose where they went, and she could've gone anywhere—except near Klaus, but she had resources that kept track of him for her. The lack of not needing to be elsewhere was freeing. The places they'd been, the sights; they were beautiful. She loved seeing the changes in a town she'd seen a century or so earlier, and she had many tales to tell of her previous travels. Elena was a good listener and loved history, so she was happy to listen to Katherine as she rambled on and on about the places they were at—like where the best pubs were, where it was safest to feed, what Katherine had been doing the last time she visited.
Katherine enjoyed sharing her knowledge of the world with Elena; moreover, she liked having someone to share it with. Back then, being alone for so long had been beginning to take its toll on her, so having a companion was a blessing.
Unfortunately, it wasn't all sunshine and roses throughout the trip. Everything has its ups and downs. Of course, the downs were a bit deadlier than what the average human experienced, but they were vampires, doppelgangers too, what else could they expect?
They'd run into some vampires—some hostile, some friendly. They'd made a couple enemies along the way.
Elena had almost gotten herself killed one night in Texas; a vampire hunter had found them, and Katherine took care of him. What they'd found on him was worrying. Apparently, he'd been tracking them for a while. It was the wakeup call that Katherine needed. They were more careful in covering their tracks after that.
"Katherine?" Elena waved a hand in front of her face.
"Yeah," Katherine admitted.
"Me too," Elena responded quietly, agreeing, despite the fact that they'd only stopped traveling about two weeks ago. Katherine placed a hand on her arm.
"One of these days, when we've dealt with the threats against us, we'll continue our road trip." Katherine promised. "I'm thinking Sri Lanka. I never did take you there. Lots of stories to tell."
"Deal," Elena grinned.
"Good," Katherine whipped the pillow out from under Elena's head and smacked her with it lightly, "now get up. With Klaus gone, we have time for training." Elena covered her face with her hands. "Oh, stop pouting. I promise I won't beat you up too badly." Elena peaked through her fingers at Katherine.
"Yeah you will."
Katherine shrugged, not bothering to deny it and stood.
"You need to be prepared for a fight, baby vamp. Especially with this somewhat inconvenient link of ours. Remember that if you die, so do I." Katherine reminded her. "I expect you to be outside in fifteen minutes."
Elena groaned, already picturing the bruises that'll liter her body after their combat session. Katherine always went hard on her. The younger doppelganger understood why Katherine did it, but that didn't make it suck any less.
"I don't hear you moving," Elena heard Katherine call from downstairs. Elena rolled her eyes, finally leaving the warmth and comfort of her bed.
"Fine, fine. I'm up."
Klaus was in a terrible mood. The witch hunting expedition had failed spectacularly. Apparently, Agnes hadn't been operating in the Quarter for quite a while, according to the various witches he'd interrogated.
Sophie Deveraux had been the most helpful, as she usually was, holding nothing back; Klaus respected her as a good ally. It was all Marcel's doing, of course; Klaus's little investment in the form of his right-hand man has paid off over the years in multiple ways. One being that Marcel bagged him a witch.
Klaus knew that Marcel and Sophie were screwing, and he'd used it to his advantage. Once the girl had fallen, it was easy enough to persuade her to join his side. The perks of joining him were great, and the witch had barely thought twice about it; she was always a thrill seeker, and what was a bigger thrill than spying for the vampires?
Sophie claimed that Agnes disappeared a few months ago—about six or seven months to be exact. The move was abrupt and erratic. It wasn't until that next Elders meeting, though, that the witch community had noticed that she was gone. Agnes had all but vanished by then. Locater spells were absolutely useless; she was completely off the grid.
At his request, Sophie had taken Klaus to Agnes' place.
To his shock, the place's contents had been ransacked. Grimoires lay everywhere—some of the pages looked to be torn out of some of the books. The worst part? The damage looked to have been done recently, much to the hybrid's annoyance. To think that if he'd come earlier, he might've had a clue to where the elder witch had gone.
But all of this brought about another mystery for Klaus.
Who else was digging into this matter? And why?
Were they working with or against him? He'd have to assume against. It's never good to be too optimistic. Always assume the worst, and be prepared for the unexpected. This advice has kept Klaus multiple steps ahead of his foes.
Immediately after a quick search around the premises, Klaus called in his hybrids and ordered them to gather all of the grimoires; they would need to be studied.
"Josh," Klaus called to one of his newer hybrids, "get the car." Joshua Rosza, a young man in his early twenties with short black hair and brown eyes, nodded to Klaus.
When Klaus exited the car, finally back at the mansion, the first thing he became aware of was the sound of a scuffle out back. Assuming the worst, he took the fastest route—around the house—to go see who'd dare to break into his house and harm his doppelgangers. He wasn't sure who he'd be angrier at: the intruder or his hybrids, who were supposed to be guarding his girls.
The sight before him wasn't at all what he was expecting.
His doppelgangers were fighting hand to hand. What would've looked like a blur to other humans was easily discernable to Klaus whose eyes picked up every movement like they were occurring in slow motion. Elena, clearly the younger vampire, was holding her own surprisingly well against Katherine. It was obvious to Klaus that they must've done this often; the two were far too familiar with the other's style of fighting. A couple minutes later, it was Elena who slipped up, misjudging where Katherine's next move would've been and left open a crucial weak spot. Katherine was quick and sharp, sending a swift punch into Elena's stomach, causing the air to rush out of Elena with a whoosh. Elena doubled over slightly in pain; Klaus winced too, feeling the effects of their link as well as Katherine.
Katherine had Elena pinned after another second.
Any other time, Klaus would've applauded dramatically to gain their attention and utter a quip at Katherine's expense, but not this time. Klaus was far too wound up with frustration from his loss with the witch, Agnes. He was on the offense, and anyone in his way was going to get burned.
"What the hell was that?" Klaus sharply uttered. "I've seen corpses put up a better fight." Katherine's head snapped up, still keeping Elena's arms pinned as she glared at Klaus.
"Klaus," she greeted, lips curling downward in a scowl. The elder doppelganger could sense the darkness in his mood and knew that whatever happened next wasn't going to end well for any of them. Katherine braced herself for whatever he could throw her way. Klaus appeared directly in front of Katherine, yanking her off of Elena, earning him a low growl; she didn't like being manhandled.
"Get up," he ordered Elena, tone of steel. Katherine's eyes narrowed at the scene unfolding before her, but she didn't make a sound. What was he up to now? Elena too eyed him warily, sensing the hybrid's mood.
The look in his eyes, Elena noted, hinted trouble. She rose off the ground cautiously, eyeing him as she brushed the dirt off her bottom. Once Elena was on her feet, Klaus stepped away from her until they were five feet apart. His stance changed too: his feet were shoulder with apart, his eyes were alert, his muscles disarmingly relaxed. He lifted a hand, motioning Elena towards him with his middle and fore fingers.
"Attack me," he stated simply, eyes gleaming brightly. Adrenaline surged through Elena's veins at the demand. She didn't move, and she shot Katherine a nervous glance. As for Katherine, she looked on with unrestrained intensity, nodding at Elena to go on. "Your opponent won't wait on you," came Klaus's chiding voice. "You'd be dead—"
Elena lunged, not waiting for him to finish, using the element of surprise to her advantage. Klaus, not expecting the maneuver, barely managed to dodge, and Elena was fortunate enough to land a glancing blow to his side, sending him back a couple feet. Her victory was short lived as her attack left her vulnerable. Klaus, faster than her, had her pinned to the ground once again in under five minutes.
"You're weaker and slower than any vampire older than yourself. That makes you vulnerable Elena. It makes you an easy target for those conspiring against me," he said harshly, lips right beside her ear. Elena tried not to notice how it felt to have him pressed so tightly against her back, and she nearly forgot how to breathe with how close he was to her. She was pinned to the Earth so firmly that she could hardly draw in a breath, worsening her predicament. "With the way you seem to attract trouble, you'll get us all killed. Like you did your family." He added. Elena froze at his words. For a moment, there was no movement. Everything was completely and utterly silent around them. It was a stillness that could only be achieved by solitude and was rarely found in groups. A couple beats later, with a strength she didn't think she possessed, Elena flung him off of herself.
In a blur, she was gone, and Klaus could smell the saltiness of tears left behind.
"You fucking prick!" Katherine spat without missing a beat, storming up to him. "I get that you're pissed off, but that doesn't mean you get to take it out on Elena."
Klaus clenched his jaw, forcing back the guilt. He knew he'd gone too far, but he refused to apologize. He was far too prideful for that. "Oh, come off it Katerina—" He heard the sickening crunch of his jaw breaking as Katherine's fist made contact. White hot anger pulsed through his veins. He advanced on her with narrowed eyes burning with fury. "Hit me again, Katerina, and you'll spend the rest of your days running once more. As for Elena. I told her exactly what she needed to hear. She needs to know that if she doesn't try harder, we'll be the ones paying for it." Katherine ignored him, kicking him in the groin. A groan left his throat, and he fell to his knees in agony.
"And if you try anything like that again, I'll become your worst nightmare. The devil doesn't have anything on me." Katherine left Klaus in the yard in favor of her room, knowing Elena would need to blow off some steam, alone for now.
Klaus didn't follow.
It was many hours later. Katherine sat with Klaus in the library, and they were both studiously ignoring each other. Katherine had a book in hand. Every page was illuminated by the sunset streaming through the windows, bright colors dancing across the sky in a beautiful array. Katherine flipped the page idly every couple minutes, not really reading at all. In truth, she was worried about her little doppelganger. Katherine hadn't heard from her in hours—a rarity. It didn't help that she'd been upset when she'd left, only causing Katherine's nerves to grow. What if Elena did something to get herself into trouble? What if she was hurt? Did a bunch of witches find and abduct her? Or worse, did Elena lose—
Stop, Katherine groaned inwardly. She really needed to stop her worrying.
Worrying was more Elena's thing.
Elena would get back to her. She always did.
Sure enough, a couple minutes later, Katherine's phone vibrated in her pocket. Her lips quirked upwards in a smile. See? Elena was fine.
Katherine answered, "Cupcake—" She was cut off.
"Katherine," she heard Elena gasp into the phone frantically. Klaus's ears perked up at the sound of Elena's voice. If Katherine didn't know any better, she would've thought she saw concern flash across his face. But she refocused back on her priority, Elena.
"Elena?" Katherine voiced, getting to her feet swiftly. She had a bad feeling. "What's wrong?"
She heard more sounds enter the receiver. Was that a growl?
Elena was panting heavily. She was clearly running, but from what?
"Katherine, please." she articulated. "Help me."
Ah a cliffhanger. I feel really devious right now. On that high note, I'll see you guys next time. Send me a review with what you think is chasing Elena. I'd love to hear your theories. ;-)
