The Dark Side

It was a hot Virginian summer, and for some reason, even if he was a vampire, he felt hot. Usually, vampires don't get affected by the weather, because obviously, they're dead… sort of. Nevertheless, Damon still wandered around the boardinghouse wearing a dark green, cotton, V-neck shirt just because he was comfortable with it. With that said, he wandered around with a tumbler of bourbon even if it was still morning. He took a few swigs as he went up the stairs then straight to his room. Once he opened the door, there he found an uninvited guest lying on his bed.

"I assume that you ran out of places to go?" Damon said with much mockery and sarcasm in his tone, and on his face. Katherine looked at him as she sat up with a thoughtful smile. She was only wearing a bathrobe, more specifically Damon's, and her hair was rumpled. Damon knew she just got out of his shower.

He winced at the thought.

"Actually, I was expecting you." She said. "We've only been back for a week, and I'm getting bored," She added, faking a yawn. Damon rolled his eyes as he chugged down the last few gulps of the bourbon that was on his tumbler. He then proceeded by walking by the table, loudly putting the tumbler down and went by a drawer to get his car keys. He doesn't really like putting his car keys down anywhere, because people might come inside the house and steal his cars – in which he cannot afford to happen, especially with the fact that Katherine comes so unexpectedly that maybe she'll take one of his cars.

If she was interested in them, that is.

"Well, why don't you go out and be crazy?" Damon replied, widening his eyes as he looked at her. If she thinks that she can lure him with her looks and all, well, Katherine should know that he's not really in love with her anymore. Obviously he knew better now. He got his keys and immediately started walking out.

"Wait!" Katherine called.

"Bye Katherine," Damon said, uninterested to even hear a single word she's going to say. He walked down the stairs and once he was on the last step, he suddenly remembered that he forgot his tumbler in his room. He then shrugged off his shoulders, brushing it off, because he can get a new one anyway. And so, before he went out, he made a quick detour to the liquor table.

"Hey," Stefan answered his phone. He was on his way back to the boarding house since he just got back from his morning hunt. Sure, he was sort of trying to get back into the good ole' bunny diet, yet, his stomach grumbled still and that made him uneasy. It was hard to get back into drinking animal blood when he's been pretty much on an ecstasy drinking human blood.

"Hey," Elena said. "How's the morning hunt?" She asked.

"Good," Stefan lied. "I got a deer a while ago, instead of a bunny." He added, trying to sound casual and funny, because he didn't want Elena to know how much he was yearning for a blood bag.

"Great," He heard Elena on the other end, and with the sound of her voice, he knew that there was something wrong. So he waited for her to bring it up. "Listen, I'm a little worried. It's been a week since Damon and Katherine got back here, and do you think that Klaus will be back soon too? Maybe they're tracking down Damon or something?" Stefan frowned.

"Why would they track Damon down?" Stefan asked. "Those two Originals don't really care about Damon, especially now that the two lovers are together." It wasn't really all that hard to figure out. If they were, indeed, tracking Damon down, then they would've been back here in Mystic Falls at the same time that Damon did. Besides, Damon couldn't have gone back to Mystic Falls at all! He'd probably be dead by now, his body lost forever in the dark alleys of Manhattan.

"I don't know…" Elena said. "I'm just worried about Damon too." Stefan was inside the boardinghouse already and just closed the door behind him with a bang. There, he saw Damon. "He liked Elizabeth, and maybe, just as he always does, he's hiding the fact that he's hurting. Y'know, with the Elizabeth and Klaus thing?" Stefan had stopped in his tracks as he saw Damon by the liquor table, pouring some bourbon on his empty tumbler. Damon acknowledged him with a smirk, and a look. Stefan immediately knew that Damon had heard what Elena said on the other end.

"Don't worry Elena, I'm fine," Damon said loudly, loud enough for Elena to hear through the phone. "No need to check up on me, mommy," Damon teased. Stefan glared at him, and Damon only smiled in pleasure as he shrugged and drank.

"Well, I do hope that's true," Elena said, knowing that Damon would hear anyway. "Obviously you don't do well with rejection." She teased back and Stefan saw Damon smirk.

"Correction," Damon raised a finger to make a point at Stefan. "I rejected her, by not following her to Paris. So yes, Elena, I am fine and better than your dear Stefan here, who's obviously hungrier than the deer he just drank." Stefan frowned. How the hell did he know that? But, he didn't say a word, and only watched his big brother drink on the tumbler until it was empty and put it down on the table loudly. "Now if you'll excuse me, I'm out to make some mischief." Damon added, smiling at Stefan and raising his eyebrows playfully. Soon, he heard the door shut with a bang, and Stefan was all alone with a phone pressed on his ear.

"Do you remember this?" He asked, smiling. It was a gloomy day, but that never stopped them from roaming around before. He held her delicate hand into his as they walked around the Palace of Versailles, specifically by the courtyard. Tourists spread, and took photos everywhere, admiring and remembering Marie Antoinette and the palace's remarkable history. The wind blew softly as the sun was blocked by clouds.

So much for a summer day…

"I do," Elizabeth replied, smiling at the palace. "We had a lot of fun memories here." She added, smiling now at him, and he smiled back.

"When Marie Antoinette used to throw a lot of soirees, parties, in every part of the palace, nights full of dancing, champagne, debauchery…" Klaus added, and Elizabeth gave him a giggle.

"Yes," She nodded. "Marie knew how to have fun, didn't she?"

"She certainly does," Klaus laughed. "Unlike her husband… You know, I never liked him."

"Me either," Elizabeth said as they continued walking. They were now on their way to the garden, when all of a sudden a guide came towards them.

"Bonjour!" She said, waving at them with a sunshine smile on her face. They stopped in the tracks, still hand in hand, and acknowledged the girl by only looking at her. "The tour will start in a few minutes; we'll start over there by the main entrance." The guide said to them in her native tongue, and still gave them a persisting smile.

"Thank you, but we're not tourists." Elizabeth replied in French with a kind smile. The guide looked at them as if in surprise – as if she didn't believe that they weren't. For all the guide knew, just because they wear stylish clothes, have accents, and wear their hair in a different way, means that they were tourists. It is a pity how this guide can just generalize like that, Elizabeth thought.

"Oh?" The guide said. "Are you sure? Because you do not look French." She persisted, and Elizabeth had to squeeze Klaus' hand in irritation. Klaus looked at her and gave her a soft smile, saying, "I've got this."

"We may look like tourists, but we're not. We've been here couple of times before." Klaus said, giving the guide a gracious smile, and so, the guide smiled back and nodded.

"Enjoy then," She replied, and Elizabeth and Klaus gave her a courtly nod. Soon, the guide left and Elizabeth turned to Klaus, rolling her eyes.

"I thought she'd never go away." She commented, and Klaus laughed. They made their way to the garden where the maze was, and where the tourists took tons of photos with the maze and the lovely plants in the background. Elizabeth watched them as they made their way, seeing how much has changed in this world. This was what Klaus wanted to show her – and that this was what Damon can't show her. Truly, he knew at some point or another, that his dear Elizabeth was falling for that pest, and he was sort of afraid. Afraid that Elizabeth will turn away from him without remorse. He was afraid that he would leave her for good even though her revival wasn't even part of his plan. "I remember Marie Atoinette used to have tea time in the middle of the maze." Elizabeth happily remembered, and they were now walking in the maze, trying to find the middle. Klaus was only following Elizabeth since it seems that she knew it perfectly well. "And we used to go here all the time. It's amazing that even though I had been practically dead for centuries, I can still remember perfectly."

"It is," Klaus agreed, imagining Elizabeth in her old day gowns back in the day. How her skin radiated in the sun with her bare shoulders look so soft and smooth, that it was tempting to touch. How her dress fluttered as she ran. "We have had such wonderful memories here in Paris…"

"We did," Elizabeth said, looking back at him then away again. "Vampires used to live happily without anyone trying to catch them and kill them because humans were so afraid." Klaus smiled and nodded. It was nice to see her happy this way, and he knew that if he wanted to keep her on his side, he'd better keep her that way.

But then all of a sudden, Elizabeth stopped in her tracks. She looked from her left to right, so he did as well. "What's the matter?" He asked. She suddenly looked at him with a darting gaze.

"A vampire is following us." He heard Elizabeth's voice inside his head. He then frowned as he looked sideways again, and there, he can smell the vampire, trying to sneak up on them. He narrowed his eyes as he walked beside Elizabeth, and held her elbow. "I can smell him," He said with a menacing snarl. "And he's near; I can read touch his mind now." She sent to him. Klaus gave her a look and a nod, ready if ever that vampire suddenly begins to attack. "He's right behind us, let us continue to walk and lure him in." She added. So, they began walking slowly again. And in a few moments, a vampire flew behind the bushes, shouting and took Klaus down.

"You killed my brother!" The vampire shouted. He was strangling Klaus' neck, and quickly, Elizabeth took him by the neck, and held him up, strangling him. Klaus stood up and tried to fix his clothes as he breathed smoothly now. Although, the vampire didn't really have much strength as he did, Klaus was barely affected by the weak vampire's strangling. Obviously, he was new.

"You dare attack us?" Elizabeth asked, looking up at the vampire and tightening her hold, causing the vampire to look afraid at them. "My boy, we're the Originals. We're a lot stronger than you think!" She tightened her hold even more and the vampire shouted in pain.

"L-let… me… go…" The vampire begged. His face turning white, his hands trying to put away Elizabeth's hold, Klaus only smiled.

"Not a chance, mate," Klaus said, enjoying this.

"P-please!" Elizabeth shook her head in fake dismay. The vampire suddenly revealed his true features, and tried to bite Elizabeth in desperate attempt. He was shouting as he struggled.

"New vampires are such pity." Elizabeth said as she now revealed her vampire features, causing the new vampire to stop and look at her in surprise. She then withdrew her hold, caught the vampire as he was about to hit the ground and dug her fangs on his neck. Soon, the struggling vampire turned into a lifeless figure as his blood was drained dry and Elizabeth only tossed his body into the bushes, wiping her bloody mouth with the back of her hand. Klaus clapped his hands.

"I was definitely entertained." Klaus commented. Elizabeth turned to him with a smirk.

"I am certain that you were…"

It was night time, and Elizabeth and Klaus was in the grand ballroom of the Ritz hotel, wearing fancy clothes. There was a formal party and even though they weren't really invited, they ought to join them just to have fun.

"These are the perks of being in a huge city," Elizabeth said, raising her glass of champagne towards the crowd of people wearing expensive gowns and tuxedos. She, herself, is wearing a black tube gown made of silk with layers of tulle made of organza. Her shoulders wear bare, and she was wearing long black silk gloves. "The wonderful parties that we can sneak into, always a thrill…" She added, smiling. Klaus smiled at her, and then clinked his flute with hers.

"I couldn't agree more." Klaus said and they both drank. "Now… I'd like to ask you something."

"What is it?" She asked. But before Klaus can say something, they were interrupted.

"Mademoiselle," A man wearing a tailored tuxedo with his hair slicked back perfectly in place, and with fine French features came over, took her gloved hand and kissed it. "I cannot help but notice how stunning you look," Elizabeth's eyebrows arched as she noticed how well he spoke in English. It is definitely obvious that he is from a wealthy family. She then graciously smiled.

"Merci," She said. "You do not look awful, yourself." She added, and then she looked at Klaus who only looked bored, even though she knew that this man absolutely irritated him, especially because he was interrupted.

"Do you mind if I ask you to dance?" The man asked. Elizabeth looked at him and smiled, because she was about to turn him down. Who was she kidding? Klaus was there, she would never forgive him if she danced with this man.

"Thank you, but I already have a date," She said.

"Actually, I do not mind at all." He suddenly interrupted, and the man's face lit up. Elizabeth only frowned. What the hell is going on?

"Are you sure?" She asked in disbelief. And Klaus only shrugged as he chugged down what was left on his flute then looked at her.

"Yes." He said. "We are to have fun, didn't we? So yes, have fun all you want." He then leaned in to whisper. "He's a human anyway, I'll have him later…" He then winked at her and she gave a smile as she turned to the man.

"Well, I'd love to then…" The man gave them a courteous nod as he took her to the dance floor and danced.

Soon when the song was over, the man bowed and she graciously curtsied and then went back to the table where she found Klaus talking to a girl wearing a tacky pink gown. She arched her eyebrows as she took her seat and Klaus turned to her, smiling.

"Finally," He said. "Elizabeth this is Miss Vaughn, she is the hostess for tonight."

"It is a pleasure to meet you," She said and stuck her hand, and Vaughn shook it lightly.

"Pleasure to meet you too," Vaughn replied, smiling bright. Elizabeth noticed that she was in her thirties, for there are fine lines showing on her face. "You both turned heads tonight. Just lovely," She commented. Both Klaus and Elizabeth smiled, even though she read Vaughn's mind and knew that the comment was false.

"Why, thank you," Elizabeth replied.

"You are most certainly welcome.' Vaughn said. "Now if you'll excuse me, I have to attend to my other guests. Being a hostess is such an exhausting task!" She added then fled. Klaus turned to Elizabeth who only arched her eyebrows.

"That woman's eyes do not match what her mouth was saying," Klaus commented, and Elizabeth laughed.

"Her compliments are rather, false. Even a normal human can notice." She replied, sipping some champagne. Klaus nodded and shrugged. He leaned closer to her looked at her directly in her green eyes.

"Now that I have you all to myself," He asked. "What mischief are we going to do now?"

"I thought you were taking the lead?" She asked, cocking an eyebrow. Klaus shrugged.

"But being the lead can be quite boring," He said, smirking. "You should take the lead now."

"Well if I do take the lead," She said. "I'm not quite sure whether you'd like it." She added, and thought that this was true, especially now that she has thought of something to do. It was the appropriate thing to do. The mischief she and Klaus will cause together and to finally satisfy her emotions.

It was perfect.

Juxte parfait.

"Well then, what is it?" Klaus asked, and shrugged eagerly. "I am all ears, love. You have put up with me leading all the fun, now I am quite certain that I will have to put up with you and all the fun you want to do." Elizabeth smiled warmly as she laid her hand on top of his.

"If you insist…" She replied, and then squeezed his hand with much affection.