"It's my birthday."
"June 6th."
"Good. At least I know you're completely not brainwashed."
"Is your name Elena Marie Gilbert?"
"Y-Yes."
"Look Elena... there isn't much time."
"You didn't finish."
"It's been too long. I'm sorry Elena."
"You're not perfect. Nobody is."
"See beyond this."
"Don't accept the lie."
"Please Elena... just open your eyes... for once in your life."
"Please believe me when I say, you need to wake up Elena."
"Wake up, Elena."
"Wake up."
My eyes flew open in astonishment as I viewed my surroundings. "Elena?" The soothing voice of my mother ranged out. "Mother?" I called out perplexed on when and why she came into my room. "You were talking in your sleep. You've never done that before. Are you okay?" My mother voiced her concern for me. "I'm fine. I.." I soon trailed off when I noticed something. "Why are you dressed up?" I asked her, seeing she was wearing a long black coat with matching gloves over a relatively appealing grey dress. "Hmm? Oh, that.. right. Well, sweetheart, your father and I wanted to keep this a secret until you had breakfast, but it seems we'll have to tell you now. Or, at least I have to." My mother started out.
I rubbed my sleepy left eye to have a good look at her. She was even wearing light makeup. Where was she going? I nodded my head to allow her to continue. "We're all going to meet Stefan's family today." My mother simply said. I stared at her with mixed emotions and was downright baffled by her statement. "We are going to meet Stefan's family? Why? How did this even happen?" I eventually bombarded her with questions. "Last week your father and I had a talk with Stefan's father. He suggested that considering how long you have been with his son and how serious you two seem that it's time we all finally met each other face to face." She explained it to me.
"Does Stefan know about this... arrangement? Why wasn't I told?" I asked her. "We told Stefan at the party yesterday. I'm telling you this now because, Stefan's father has changed the time. He wants us to come by early." She told me, "So, get dressed. We'll eat on the way there." I kept my eyes on my mother and thought about what she said. Something didn't seem right. I could see it in her eyes. "Okay. I'll be downstairs in 5 minutes." I told her with a grin. She grinned back and placed a kiss on my forehead. "I love you, Elena." She told me. "I love you too." I said as she nodded and left. I watched her carefully as she left.
Perhaps I'm thinking too much into this.
Shrugging the thought away, I got off my bed and walked straight through the bathroom to get dressed. I wore a red plain T-shirt, a pair of black jeans to match with my straight hair down and a pair of black short boots. As I walked downstairs I was greeted with my parents. My father handed me a bagel and some coffee. "Here's your breakfast. I know it's not enough, but it's good until we get there. We already ate." My father informed me. I nodded and looked at them both as I took a bite out of my bagel. Something didn't seem right with them today. They seemed... nervous. They looked seemingly calm, but from their voice I could tell they were nervous about something. Nonetheless, I didn't question them and quietly followed them outside to our car. As everyone got in, I looked back at our house feeling a sense of anxiousness as well. Almost as if I wouldn't be back home any time soon and this would be the last time I'd see it.
After we drove in silence for hours we finally arrived to our destination. I looked out the window and gawked at our destination. When you first enter, there's this sliver gate. As we pulled up close to it, automatically it opened for us expecting our arrival. Then, as you continue driving you soon face a fountain. Behind the fountain is this massive mansion with a grey green colored roof, a red copper exterior, and the outline of the windows and house design were in brown. The house seemed to have two stories but I wouldn't be surprised if it were three, since it clearly had an attic within the roof. In general, the house had an old but classic vintage look to it. It was most divine.
Getting out of the car, my parents went up to the mansion's front. I followed after them as they rang the doorbell. After receiving no respond, my father knocked. The door soon opened to reveal a brunette woman in a surprisingly old 1800's attire. It made her look like the maid. "May I help you?" She asked, looking between the three of us in confusion. "We're here for our 9 o'clock." My father informed her. 9 o'clock? Stefan's father must be serious when it comes to timing things. The woman soon realized something and nodded her head. "Oh, yes. My mistake. You must be the Gilbert family. I do apologize. Please, come in." The woman told us. My parents looked at each other unsure for some reason, but soon headed inside. I proceeded as well. The amount of praise I gave this mansion in terms of its outside appearance can't even be compared to all the praise I wish I could give the inside. Talk about attention to detail. "Follow me." The woman soon instructed us. We followed her straight into the next room. As we walked down the corridor, which also had so much attention to detail in terms of decor, The woman soon asked, "Forgive me for asking but, did any of you eat breakfast this morning?"
"Yes, we did." Both my parents answered her. "Well... actually, I wouldn't mind nibbling on something later." I told her. "Good. At noon we will have lunch served. As of now, you may enjoy our brunch buffet." The woman told us. I chuckled in disbelief. "Wait. You have a brunch buffet? You're serious?" I asked her with a smile. "Yes. We do in fact have a brunch buffet." She informed me. She then turned around to open the leading corridor door to allow us into the main entrance.
There was this large room with a small long dinning table with the so called brunch buffet options on it. There were also three large seats on a pedestal that appeared to be thrones. Behind it on the sidelines were two staircases that at the top ended up entwined. The entire room was basically dark brown with very little light inside from the windows. Most of the lighting came from the lamps or chandelier. And no, I wasn't kidding. There was an actual enormous chandelier hanging from the ceiling with no other reason than to show off. It wasn't even turned on.
"Would you like a cookie?" A blonde woman wearing the exact same attire the first woman had worn asked. It must have been some type of uniform. Seeing as one cookie wouldn't hurt, I took one from her silver platter. "Thank you." I said to her, before taking a bite. I froze in my place stunned by how delicious this simple chocolate chipped cookie was. It literally melted in my mouth leaving this heavenly gooey taste on my tongue. I wouldn't even mention the indescribably good after taste. "Oh wow... did you make this?" I asked her. "No, miss. I only serve." She told me. "Who made this?" I demanded to know. "Our chief. She baked it." The blonde woman told me. "Send my compliments to her. These are amazing!" I stated. The woman nodded and left the scene along with the devilish cookies.
Soon enough an older male in a black suit arrived.
"You must be the Gilbert family. It is a pleasure to finally be in your presence." The man stated. "Grayson. Miranda." He said, after he shook my father's hand and went over to place a kiss on the back of my mother's hand, he came over to me. "You must be Elena." He stated the obvious. "You must be Stefan's father." I said, as we shook hands. "You are mistaken. As much as I care for the boy, he's not mine. I'm his uncle. You may call me Elijah." He clarified the misconception I made. I looked at him surprised. He looked so much like Stefan for some reason.
"I'm sorry, I thought.. I really thought you were his father." I stated with apology. "That would be my brother, who of course is fashionably late. I do apologize for his absent. You'd think given the event he'd be the first to introduce himself." Elijah informed me. I nodded slightly. Just a minute later, I heard a door close shut upstairs. Not a second later, I saw a man with a dark brown leather jacket, a green V necked shirt underneath, black jeans and boot like shoes to match walk through the door behind the three thrones across the back of this room.
"Well, isn't this marvelous? You must be the Gilbert family. My apologies for being 4 minutes late, I had business to take care of." The man informed us all with his thick British accent. "Grayson. You look well." He said to my father as they exchanged handshakes. "Miranda. You haven't aged a day." He complimented my mother as he placed a kiss on her backhand. "And you must be the lovely Elena." He said to me, as he placed a light kiss on my backhand. "You're Stefan's father?" I asked of him, wondering if I was wrong again. "Yes, he's told me so much about you. Good things. The name's Klaus. Klaus Mikealson. I see you've met my brother, Elijah." Klaus stated. "It most likely wouldn't have happened if you weren't late." Elijah informed him. "It doesn't really matter now does it, brother? It's all behind us now." Klaus stated.
"I swear if you took my tie.."
"For the last time, I didn't take your precious tie, Stef. Go look under your bed. In all honestly, I don't see the point of this arrangement. If you actually think she'll go through with this then you're just as mentally insane as your..." I heard two voice trail off as they made their way downstairs. They both stopped to look at everyone in the room. It was Stefan, but behind him I saw...him.
"What are you doing here?" I asked, irked by his presence. "I live here. What's your excuse?" He stated. It was the mystery man from last night at the alley. He lived here? "I wasn't aware you two knew each other." Klaus commented. "We don't..we... we kind of just barely met the other day." I stated. "Barely met? I didn't even conversate with her." He obviously lied. "Would you like to introduce yourself, Damon?" Elijah asked of him. "Why bother? You already did that for me." Damon stated in annoyance. "Elena... what are you doing here?" Stefan soon asked out. I looked at him almost surprised.
I thought my parents told him about this? "They came early. Now Stefan, why don't you give your girlfriend a kiss?" Klaus didn't seem to ask but strongly requested. Stefan looked between me and Klaus. "I'm good." Stefan declined. "Where are your manners? Go give your girlfriend a kiss, Stefan." Klaus stated to Stefan. He looked at Klaus for a split second, before making his way toward me. Our presence only being inches apart, he eyed me from head to toe. Internally I felt embarrassed and under-dressed, seeing as everyone around me seemed to dress so formal except for me who just wore a red shirt and a pair of jeans. "You look beautiful this morning." Stefan whispered to me, before placing a kiss on my left cheek. I grinned softly, but I couldn't help but feel it was kind of forced.
"Where do I take their luggage?" The brunette woman from earlier asked Klaus. Luggage? What luggage? Soon enough, when I turn around I see three suitcases all with the initials G.G, M.G, and E.G on them. "Where do you think you should take them?" Klaus asked her half heartily. "My apologies. I must take it to their rooms, of course." The brunette woman said. "Why do we have luggage's?" I asked anyone in particular that could answer. "Klaus wanted us to stay here for a few weeks to get to know his family." My father told me. "A few weeks? You said we were going to visit and meet Stefan's family. You didn't mention anything about staying here." I said to them both, but mainly my mother. "Forgive your parents, Elena. They did no wrong, it's my brother who forgot to mention our tradition." Elijah informed me. "What tradition?" I asked out of curiosity.
"For centuries, our family has had this tradition that occurs when a boy falls in love with a girl. If they are serious or are engaged to be married, as of now it's the former, the family of the boy would invite the family of the girl's to finally meet face to face. The family of the girl's would live with the family of the boy's under one roof for almost a month. This is so they can bond with the family and decide if they were compatible with their child. If they like every aspect of the girl's family, the couple would remain together or be wed off immediately, of course given this situation and time period it's the former. But, if the family didn't like one of the girl's family members or even the girl herself, they had a right to complain. Since back then it was always the male that was the head of the house, it always came down to him if the couple were to remain together or be separated. He had the final say. By tradition, I have the final say in whether you're what's best for Stefan." Klaus explained to me. I smiled and chuckled slightly.
"That's a very interesting and informative folklore. But there's just one flaw to your tradition." I started off saying. "Do tell what's the flaw." Klaus encouraged me. "It's 2010. It's the 21st century right now. There's no Vikings or horse carriages here. It isn't the middle ages, the Viking ages or even the 1800's. We have cars, we have Iphones, we even have a black president." I started to remind him. "I'm well aware of who our president is as well as this decade." Klaus informed me. "Then you should be aware of the fact that, you don't have the last say. Stefan and I have been together for almost 2 years now. If anything the both of us have the final say in whether or not this relationship will go anywhere. He has the final say in who he falls in love with. You don't." I stated.
"Stefan is my son. Though you prove a point, as long as I am head of this house, as long as I keep a roof over his head and put food on his plate, I have full authority here. I have a right to know if you and your family are good enough for my son, which you both appear to seem, but just to make extra certain you will be staying in my residence for 2 weeks. If these arrangements don't do you fancy, Janice will carefully escort you back home." Klaus informed me. The ending sounded so much more like a threat than an option. Also not wanting to embarrass my family any further by getting us kicked out of this elaborate mansion, I decided to accept his offer. "I accept." I said feeling obstructed. Klaus smiled and clapped his hands together twice to alert his servants.
"Aleksander, take Mr. and Mrs. Gilbert's luggage to their bedroom. Rosalynn, take Miss Elena's luggage to her bedroom."
"Yessir." They both said as they took our luggage's.
"I suggest you follow her, Elena if you want to find your room. I will be seeing you at dinner tonight after you've settled." Klaus informed me. Glancing over at the brunette caring my suitcase, I followed her as she walked up the curved staircase passed Stefan and Damon. As I followed her up, I glanced over at Stefan and Damon for a split second. Stefan didn't seem too happy on me staying here and Damon was in deep thought about something. He quickly snapped out of it in time to catch me looking at him for a second. He gave me a look as if he wanted to say something, but knew he couldn't. Regardless of what he wanted to say, it was probably more nonsense about looking beyond the lie and waking up to the truth and blah, blah, blah.
As I continued to follow the brunette, we went past so many rooms. I can only imagine how many rooms there were. From how many doors I've counted so far, it seemed a little over 45 rooms. And that's just from going down one corridor alone on the right side of the house. "Your room, Miss." The brunette announced, as she took out the room key and opened up the door for me. As she placed my suitcase down, I walked into my new temporary bedroom in astonishment. It was twice the size my bedroom was. The closet was vintage black, but abnormally huge. There was a door on the left side of the room that lead to the bathroom which had a roomy size. A bathtub facing a large window having a nice view of the woods and the sky lying against it. Then there's a toilet and sink with a big oval mirror facing the bathtub. Outside the bathroom door on the right, was a large brown bookcase filled with centuries old books that seem recently dusted off. Then of course, saving the best for last was the queen bed with royal brown and white designed sheets with a tapestry to match the bed hanging on top. The overall bedroom was quite a nice touch in making up for what happened earlier. It almost made me forget I was forced to stay here. Almost.
"Is there anything else you'd need, Miss?" Rosalynn asked me. "Can I call you Rose?" I asked for her permission. "Yes, that's quite alright." Rose said with a brief smile. I can't remember her genuinely smiling at all the entire time I was with her. "Rose, can you tell me where Stefan bedroom is?" I asked of her. "Master Stefan's bedroom is on the left side of this house almost the last room in the hallway." She informed me. That far, huh? And Master Stefan? Why did I have a feeling she was paid to refer him as that? "Rose... what can you tell me about Damon. Why does he live here? Can you at least tell me his name?" I asked her. "I... can't say. He's name is Damon Salvatore." Rose told me. "Why can't you say?" I questioned her. "Ask him yourself, Miss." Rose told me.
"Fine. What can you tell me about him? Does he have a mental illness? Is he prone to making up stories to random strangers?" I asked. "No and no. May I be excused, Miss." Rose asked of me, getting uncomfortable the longer she's in my presence. I narrowed my eyes at her and sighed seeing how little information I got out of her. "You are excused." I told her. She bowed her head and left. For some reason, she paused and looked at my dresser with an unreadable expression before continuing to leave. How odd? Deciding to shrug off the idea for now, I looked into my suitcase to find what was packed and what wasn't.
Most of my clothing, jewelry, shoes, and stuff were packed. All except my nightgown, my makeup kit and my favorite shirt. Yep.. great job packing Mother and Father. But in all fairness they did try their best. I turned to look at my dresser. Walking towards the dresser I opened it up to see gowns and dresses for different occasions and days, laying down were jeans to match with my brought tops and shirts. I didn't know whether to find it charming or rather creepy that Klaus planned out what I had to wear for everyday I remained here. Perhaps it was Stefan that arranged the clothing, but considering how they only told him of my upcoming arrival to him just a day before I came proved he couldn't have done this. But how does Klaus know my dress size? As creepy as that seem, it doesn't make much sense on how he could figure that out. I assumed maybe my parents told him, but that was a strict maybe. Not wanting my brain to wonder off even deeper into the matter, I closed the dresser and went back to my suitcase. I'll give him a point though for not including what type of bra and underwear I should wear with those dresses. I'll give him that much.
It only took me an hour to finally settle into my own room and according to the clock it was 10:20. Only 2 more hours until lunchtime. There was really not much to do aside from scan the bookshelf. The amount of books I could read were endless. Oddly enough though, I did notice that my room didn't have a television to go with it. I wondered if the same went for every room in the house or if there was this one room with this gigantic screened theater. The more I thought about it the more I felt curious about every room within this mansion.
Earlier when I was following Rose towards my assigned bedroom, we had passed so many doors and rooms on the way there. I bet it wasn't even half of it. She did mention there was another long corridor on the left side of this house just like the one we traveled through on the right side. I laid down legs crossed on my bed writing in my diary that I was surprised to find my parents had packed somehow. As I wrote down everything that happened today up to the point of every thought that went through my mind, I suddenly paused and looked up from my diary to glance at the door. It was still half way opened as I left it earlier. I glanced around my room before finally making up my mind and closing the book shut. I placed it underneath a pillow and got off the bed. Making my way towards the door, I peeked through the cracks to see if there was anyone nearby.
Nope. The corridor is completely deserted.
I slipped through the door and left it half way opened before looking around the corridor. Behind me the corridor looked even longer than when I first saw it. Luckily enough, walking straight and forward from where my room was didn't take me more than 2 minutes to reach the stairway. I leaned against the banister to look down at where my family and I had first met Klaus. That room was filled with servants running in and out of the kitchen and preparing a lunch table. That's odd, I thought they still have 2 hours? Unless they're early planners. Eventually, I descended down the stairs to see all the commotion up close. Four girls were arranging the table as I came down. One of them I remembered was the blonde cookie servant from earlier.
"Hi." I called out. All the girls looked over at me and bowed their heads. They all looked really young. I suppose this was their summertime jobs. "May I help you, Miss?" The blonde woman soon asked me. "No need. I was just looking around. What's going on here?" I told then asked her. "We're organizing the table for lunchtime. At 6 P.M, we will have dinner. Then later at 11, you are..." One of the other girls spoke out. "Skylar, what did I say about interrupting me? No one was talking to you." The blonde woman informed her. Skylar looked down and twisted a piece of her uniform shirt with her fingers. "I'm sorry." She apologized. "As I was going to say, we are prepping for lunchtime. You can still catch brunch through that door. The buffet will remain there until noon. You can also request any servant you would like to bring you snack or meal to your bedroom at any particular time. You come to me first if there's any delay." She told me. "Good to know. By the way, what's at 11?" I asked her. The blonde woman glanced over at Skylar for a brief second, before turning to me and announce, "At 11, you are scheduled to have dinner with Master Klaus."
I looked at her for a moment before stating, "But what if I'm not hungry? You said at 6, we'll have dinner. What if I don't want to eat anymore by 11?" "I didn't say that, though it is true. As for whether or not you'll eat at 11 is up to you. Regardless, you'll still have dinner with him. A servant will also be sent to your room around mid 9 o'clock to prepare you for dinner." She told me. "Prepare me? What's that suppose to me?" I asked her. "You want to look presentable for your private dinner, don't you?" She insisted. "Fair point." I eventually gave in. "I hope you don't mind showing me the kitchen. You seem to be a bit busy." I soon added. She grinned at me. "My pleasure." She said, before leading me to through the kitchen door.
The inside looked even more chaotic than on the outside. All the pots were boiling and steaming, the chiefs were cutting, twisting, and grinding all types of vegetables with their cooking instruments, and all the pans sizzled the meat with fire. I looked over to count 3 sinks in this kitchen alone. I felt sorry for the poor saps that had to do the dishes after everything was settled. "Cody! Didn't I tell you to take out the trash?" She told a young blonde haired brown eyed boy. He looked to be about 15 at most. "John wanted me to help peel the potatoes and Beth wanted someone to help her remove the shrimp skins." Cody informed her. "Take the trash out this instant. After that, you'll wash your hands and continue helping Beth. Next time you finish your first assignment before doing anything else. Understood?" She directed him. Cody nodded and whisked off to take the trash out.
"Are you in charge of everything here? You know, aside from Klaus." I asked her. "I'm the executive amongst all the workers of this mansion. Master Klaus is still of high authority. He lets me know what should be done and how it should be done. I then instruct all the workers to do the same. I can't do all the work, so I made Holly second in command. She mainly works with the children." She told me. "The children? How young are most of the employees here?" I asked her. "Our employees range from the ages of 15 to 25. The oldest we've ever employed is 25. Anyone under 15 is considered a child and is put under training. We do not condone child labor if that's what you're concerned about. The youngest employer we've ever had was 12, and she along with many others her age only work for temporary reasons. Some of us make it a full time job, most of us keep it as a summertime job." She assured me, "Anymore questions?"
"Yes. What is your name?" I finally decided to ask. "Janice." She simply replied. "Seems like you have everything under control Janice. How long have you had this position?" I wondered. "I've been an executive for 5 years." She answered. "And how old were you when you got the position?" I asked. "I had just turned 20." Janice told me. "So, you're the oldest employee that you mentioned a while ago?" I stated. "Yes. Me alongside my brother." Janice commented. Oh, she has a brother? "Where is he?" I soon asked. Janice glanced at me oddly for a second, but quickly blinked it away. "He's not here. He works somewhere else. I think he moved to... Atlanta a few years back." She answered me. There was a weird daze in her eyes that I couldn't figure out. It was as if she was almost lying yet at the same time she really didn't know something.
"Anymore questions?" Janice said, breaking my train of thoughts. I blinked and looked up at her. "No. I think I'm good. Where did you say the buffet table is?" I said and asked. "Out the door to your left. Again you can request any servant to bring you a meal to your room if you'd like. Think of it as a resort that you're staying at for a couple weeks." Janice stated. "Thanks." I said, before turning around to find my exist. Eventually I got out of the kitchen door to only see Skylar still organizing the lunch table, but by herself this time. She gave me a quick subtle smile before going back to her job. I grinned slightly, before going up the staircase towards my room. My bedroom door however wasn't the way I had left it. Instead it was closed shut. I opened it and looked around my room to see nothing was moved, takened or changed. Perhaps one of the servants closed my door to give me privacy. After all, every door I passed upstairs was closed shut. My door being slightly ajar probably looked out of place.
Closing the door fully behind me, I went over to my bed to check on my journal. I added a few things I had noticed from Skylar's timid behavior to Janice's mystery brother. Once that was taken cared of, I decided to pick out two books from the bookshelf to read in the meantime until lunch and dinner time.
10 hours had passed and I had finished As I Lay Dying and just started reading the first few pages of The Count of Mounte Cristo. In between reading, I left my room to ask one of the servants to bring me lunch and dinner at a particular time. Just when I was about to turn the next page, I heard knocking behind the bedroom door. I folded the page I was about to read before closing the book, got off my bed and walked up to the door. I opened it slightly to see Rose holding a bucket full of bottle supplies and a towel.
"May I come in?" Rose asked of me. "What's this?" I asked her, confused on why she's here. "I've been assigned to prep you for your private dinner." She reminded me. It then hit me. "Yes, I remember now. Come in." I said, opening the door wider for her. As she walked through, I closed the door behind me. Rose placed the bucket outside to the side of the bathroom door, then made her way to my closet. She pulled out a midnight velvet antique gown that looked over a century old. "Do I have to wear that? I mean, with the amount of ruffles on the gown I don't believe I'll look pleasant in it." I commented. "He insists. It's just for tonight." Rose stated. Just for tonight? I shrugged off the urge to scoff as Rose led me towards the bathroom. She runs the bathtub water and turns to look at me.
"Do you want to do it or should I help?" Rose asked me, referring to my clothes. I nodded my head and started to undress. Rose simply handed me a towel to cover up in case I felt uncomfortable. Once the bubble bath was nice and warm, I removed the towel and went in. Rose grabbed the supplies from outside and started to wash and shampoo my hair. I grabbed a loofah and started to scrub as she did my hair. After a good 40 minutes, we had finished and Rose handed me a bathrobe to wear and some lotion. Once the lotion aspect was finished, I allowed Rose to do my hair and makeup.
She added blush on me, placed on some lipstick and did my eye shadow. After drying up my hair, she started to style my hair into a curly bridesmaid style. "Rose, can I ask you something?" I asked of her. "You can ask me anything, miss." Rose answered. "How long have you worked here?" I wondered. "I've been working here for 3 years." Rose told me. "How old are you?" I asked. "I'm 20." She said. "That young?" I wondered. "You say it like it's a bad thing." She quipped with a smile. "No, it's just... I thought you were maybe 24 or something. You look a little older." I stated. "I guess I peeked early with puberty. That's why I look so old." She chuckled out. "I didn't say it like that..." I said. "That's fine. All is forgiven." She said.
"So, is this your full time job?" I wondered. "I guess you could say that. It pays well and the company is nice. I've made many friends here." She told me. "I heard Janice is an executive over all employees. What position do you have?" I questioned her. "I'm... I'm just an employee." She simply replied. "So, what's it like working for Klaus?" I asked her. She tugged slightly on my hair and quickly recovered. "Ow, is everything okay back there?" I commented. "Yeah, sorry. Your hair was a bit tangled." She apologized. I was still awaiting her respond. "I... can't really say." She soon said. "Why can't you say?" I questioned.
"I just... I'm indifferent. Working for him makes me feel indifferent." She answered. "Does Damon work for him?" I asked her. "No. He doesn't really work for him." Rose said. "What can you tell me about him?" I asked her. "Mind me for asking, but didn't you ask me this earlier?" Rose asked. "Oh. Sorry. I didn't mean to repeat myself. I'm just really curious about his connection to this place." I stated. "As I said before, you could ask him yourself. We have a policy here. We don't give away private information of our clients unless we wish to be fired." She informed me. Well, that explains a lot. "Am I considered a client?" I asked out of curiosity. "Anyone who lives in this house is, so I believe so. You're our temporary client." She stated, "There. All done." I looked at myself in the mirror in awe. "What time is it?" I soon said. "I believe it's past 10:30." Rose commented. "Okay, can you hand me my dress and give me some privacy please?" I requested. She nodded in silence and left the bathroom to pick up the gown off my bed. She handed it to me and closed the door slightly.
After spending a good 4 minutes figuring out how to put the dress on, I came out the bathroom. "You look stunning, Miss Elena." Rose complimented me. I grinned slightly and nodded my head. "Thank you, but can you help me tie this knot?" I said in return. Rose didn't hesitate to help tie the knot and lead me outside the front door. As we walked down the corridor, we downstairs to where the dinner table was. We walked passed the thrones, where a large door was casually behind. Rose opened the door, which lead us through another corridor. Once we got to the end, we turned right where I noticed 5 different doors at a far distance. I soon paused in my place. Rose took notice and stopped as well. "Is everything alright, miss?" Rose asked of me. I looked at her and nodded. "No. I'm fine, I... I just really need to use the bathroom." I told her. "There's one back near the corridor's exist. I'll wait here for you if you'd like. Or would you like me to inform Master Klaus of your delay?" Rose asked. "No. That's fine. Just wait here. I'll be back shortly." I told her, before turning to face the other direction. I kept walking until I made it towards the bathroom. Inside I closed the door behind me and turned on the sink water. I knew I couldn't wash my face or else I'd ruin my makeup. Instead, I looked at myself in the mirror and took a few deep breaths. Relax, Elena. You've never been nervous about presenting yourself before. You're not going to start now. You'll do fine. Klaus will like you. Believe me, he will.
I shook that thought away before deciding to leave the bathroom. Just as I turned to walk in the other direction, I bumped into someone, stumbling me back a bit. I quickly caught my balance and looked up at the person.
"Damon?"
"Elena?"
We both let out in confusion. I glanced at him from top to bottom.
Why on earth was he wearing a jet black suit?
"What are you wearing?" He asked me, almost perplexed. "I should be asking you the same thing." I admitted. "It's none of your concern. Now, why are you dressed up?" Damon demanded to know. I almost didn't want to tell him, but since I didn't have a clear reason to not trust him, I quickly pushed that idea aside. "I'm scheduled to have a private dinner with Stefan's father, Klaus." I answered him. He looked at me as if I had lost my mind. "You can't have dinner with him. Why are you having dinner with him?" He rambled out. "He scheduled it, and it didn't seem like "no" was an option. Besides, how bad could it be? Why are you looking at me like that?" I let out and questioned him. "Look, it doesn't matter. I don't have time for this. Just... don't say or do anything stupid and don't drink the red wine." Damon warned me, before walking off.
"Wait. Where are you going? And what's that suppose to mean?" I asked, puzzled by his warning. He kept walking straight ignoring my question. Irritated, I decided to subtly follow him as quietly as possible. He made left turn to a corner and I sped up my walking just a little bit. I paused at the edge of the corner and saw him facing a wall. I made sure to keep myself hidden so he wouldn't notice I was watching him.
He placed his hand on the wall and removed a small part of the wallpaper to reveal a keyhole. He took out a blue colored key and placed it into the keyhole. Turning it, he opened up a part of the wall, as if it were a secret door. He took the key out and placed it in his shirt pocket. He sticked the removed wallpaper back over the keyhole before going inside and closing the wall door shut behind him. I looked at the wall in amazement with my jaw nearly dropped. This mansion was so huge it even had secret rooms. And I was certain there was more than one. It made me wonder what Damon was even doing within that room. What secret plan was he cooking up? He was obviously up to something and for some reason keeps popping up in my direction to warn me of something that didn't make sense.
Turning the other way, I quickly walked back to where Rose was waiting for me.
"Are you okay, miss?" Rose politely asked. I nodded my head, worried that if I opened my mouth I'd somehow give away the secret wall-door I saw. I almost pondered if anyone else knew about that door or if it was only Damon's secret alone? Rose opened the door and lead me inside. The room was relatively dark and full of dim-lighted candles and one large fireplace. There was a large long table and two chair at each end. The one Klaus was seated on looked much more antique than mine. "Master Klaus, I present to you, Miss Elena Gilbert." Rose presented me, before leaving the room, closing the door behind her. I calmly made my way towards my chair, but didn't sit down. Instead I glanced at all the food on the table. It looked simply delicious.
"Please, take a seat." Klaus insisted. I nodded and took a seat. I looked across the table to face him. It was so dark in this room that I couldn't see half of his face. I probably appeared the same to him. "You look breathtaking, Elena." Klaus suddenly complimented me. I was taken aback by that statement and tried to recover. "Um, thank you. You look charming as well." I tried to say something nice back, despite the fact I couldn't really see him. "Well, aren't you hungry? There's plenty of appetizers and meals to choose from." Klaus told me. "I'm not that hungry." I informed him. "That's quite alright. Now do tell me what you think about your room?" Klaus soon changed the subject. "It's very nice. The bed feels very comfortable, there's plenty of closet space, the bathtub is great and I loved the variety of books on the bookshelf." I told him. "Good. Stefan told me you had a lust for reading. In case you're interested we have a library right here downstairs. It's behind one of those doors you walked past out in the corridor." He informed me. "That sounds great. I will check that out one day." I told him.
"Speaking of days, for the next few days I will be spending some quality time with your parents. At least one at a time. Just an FYI." Klaus informed me. I nodded my head, not knowing how to really respond to that. "Ah, where are my manners? Would you like some samples? They're small but really tasty." Klaus asked me, as he snapped his fingers. A boy came out from a dark corner holding up hors d'oeuvres on a sliver platter. How long he was standing there in the dark was beyond me. "No, thanks. I'm not hungry." I told him. "Then perhaps you would like something to drink. How about some whine?" He insisted, snapping his finger again. The boy descended back into the darkness as a girl came out holding a bottle of wine and two wine glasses on a sliver platter. If my eyes weren't mistaken this was red wine. "I would..." I started out, but paused to remember something.
"Don't drink the red wine."
"I would... but unfortunately I can't. I'm underage." I soon finished. "Nonsense. Anyone 18 and over is considered an adult in my eyes. I insist." He stated. "Thanks, but I'm not much of a drinker. The only time I'm allowed to drink is on special occasions and one time on my birthday since I am 18 and should be able to hold my liquor. But I rather not and just wait until I'm 21." I explained. Klaus remained quiet and snapped his fingers to send the girl away. "I see." He commented then remained unusually quiet for a few minutes. For a moment, I thought he wasn't going to say anything. But of course he proved me wrong. "I have confession to make to you, Elena." He suddenly spoke out, "I apologize for my... loud behavior this morning. I was a bit drunk and had to take care of some unplanned business that only stressed me out more. I felt it was best to let you know."
"You were drunk?" I questioned, recalling he didn't look intoxicated to me that morning. "Well, I suppose "drunk" is a heavy word. I was more a little tipsy. I had taken a few shots of whiskey and I was definitely stepping over a few boundaries. I apologize to you and your family if I made any of you feel uncomfortable or unwelcomed. That was never intended." Klaus told me. "Okay." I simply said. I couldn't forgive him on the spot, nor did I want to give him any more wrong ideas about me. Instead I just nodded and understood what he was trying to get across. "Those dresses in my closet... do I have to wear all of them?" I asked him. "You don't like them?" Klaus questioned. "No, I like them. Most of them are really nice and they all fit my size. It's just not really my style." I explained. "You don't have to wear them. You could wear them when requested to or for a special event being held. Aside from that, you can wear whatever you wish." Klaus told me. "Requested? Like right now?" I wondered. "Yes, I requested you to wear that for this dinner. You didn't disappoint." He simply stated. I was going to ask him why he wanted me to wear this for our first dinner together, but I decided not to push my luck. "Is there anything else you'd like to ask me?" Klaus said. I thought over to the wall-door and soon asked, "How many rooms do you have in this mansion?"
"Is that a trick question?" Klaus said, chuckling slightly. "No. I'm being serious. How many rooms are there?" I firmly stated. "I'm well sure over 150 rooms. At least from what I can remember? I swear this house gets renovated every month. There's always a new room to be explored in this house. You can't exactly say you've been in all rooms. No, that's near to impossible." Klaus said. "Wow. How do you not get lost in this mansion?" I asked, simply out of curiosity. "After a while you know your way around. Besides, I have servants to help lead me. They're great at directions. Ah, look at the time. You should be off to bed by now. It was a pleasure talking to you, Elena. I do wish we could do this more sometimes." Klaus said, as he got off his chair.
"Thank you. Goodnight, Mr. Mikealson." I said, getting out of my seat as well. "No, please. Call me Klaus." Klaus insisted, as he placed a light kiss on my backhand. We departed ways and I went outside into the corridor surprised to not find Rose waiting outside for me. Perhaps she was summoned for another servant duty. I sighed and tried to figure my way out of the corridor, eventually turning left walking straight, going out the door and going up the staircase as I walked past the thrones. I then went to my room and quickly tried to remove everything from my dress to my makeup to my hairstyle. Soon enough I looked like me again and placed on a nightgown, before slipping into my bed. It really was comfortable, yet at the same time it felt weird being away from my old bed and my bedroom in general.
I turned to my side and pulled out my diary to write down everything that had happened tonight. I also added in the part about the secret wall-door in case I woke up tomorrow and forgot about it or if it was just part of my imagination.