"California? That far! Why?"
"Is there anything you want to get off your chest? I'd hate to leave us on bad terms."
"Don't drink the red wine."
"What has he been telling you?"
"There is no secret door, Elena."
"Don't drag her into this family. She doesn't deserve it."
"Tell me about this blue key."
"No, I'm fine. I promise."
The blue key.
My eyes sprung open from a loud knock on my door. Getting out, I made my way to the door and opened it up slightly to see Rose on the other side. "Good morning, Miss." She said with a grin. "Good morning." I replied back. "It has been requested today that all bedrooms have to be cleaned out. I hope you don't mind." Rose told me. Trying my best not to sound suspicious I asked her, "And who requested that?"
She seemed hesitant at first before replying, "Master Klaus did."
I should have known.
"Any particular reason why?" I wondered. "I don't know. We usually clean the rooms on Friday. I suppose he wanted the job done early." She assumed. I nodded and asked her, "How long does this usually take?" "It depends. It's usually about 2 hours, give or take." She stated. "Okay. Give me 15 minutes to get dressed. I'll be out shortly." I told her, before closing the door shut.
Great, now what am I going to do? If Rose finds that key she will turn it over to Klaus or Elijah. I couldn't allow that to happen. Not yet at least. Quickly freshening up and getting dressed in a purple blouse with black skinny jeans, I opened the nightstand drawer to pull out my journal. Inside it, I took out the blue key and placed it in the front pockets of my jeans. I nodded to myself believing this should be fine to keep the key until my room is finished cleaned out. I then opened the door to let Rose in and left, making my way out of the corridor. Without even looking downstairs against the banister, as expected, all the servants were working hard in cleaning and cooking. My father was downstairs eating breakfast. I decided to go downstairs and greet him, seeing as I hadn't talked to him since we first arrived here.
"Good morning, père." I greeted him. He looked over at me with a blank expression and bloodshot eyes as though he hadn't slept at all since we got here. "Are you okay?" I soon asked him, feeling a slight discomfort in his presence. "How have you been?" He then asked me. I didn't expect him to reply and didn't know what to say. "I'm fine." I soon replied, the same way I replied to my mother last night. "Are you sure?" He wondered. "Yes." I informed him. His face was unreadable, but his eyes seemed conflicted. I wasn't sure what they were conflicted about or what they were trying to tell me. What I did know was that my father wasn't in a happy mood.
"So... how was your talk with Klaus?" I decided to ask. He looked at me surprised and almost shocked. He then narrowed his eyes and asked, "How did you know about that?"
"Mom told me last night. And Klaus informed me he'd talk to both of you a while back." I answered him. "Your mother was always one to talk. When did Klaus tell you that?" He asked. "The same day we arrived. He wanted to speak to me alone at night." I told him. His eyes flashed with something, but it dissolved as soon as it came. "Did he say anything else to you?" He wondered. "Nothing too important. He apologized for his odd behavior from that morning towards me. That's all I can remember." I stated.
My father nodded and soon said, "Our room is downstairs. Ask any servant and they'll tell you where. Let me or your mother know the next time Klaus wants to speak with you." He informed me. I wasn't sure why he did so, but I nodded in agreement regardless.
"Is she with him right now?" I asked him.
He only nodded his head in reply.
"What are they talking about?" I asked.
"No idea. I assume it's the same thing we talked about yesterday." He remarked.
"And that would be...?" I tested out.
"Good morning, Mr. Gilbert. It's a pleasure to see you face to face." Damon announced as he entered the room.
Thanks for interrupting me. I couldn't help but think in annoyance.
"And you are...?" My father thought it over. "Salvatore. Damon Salvatore, at your service." He told him. "Ah, yes. Forgive me, I'm not good at remembering names aside from my wife and daughter. It's a habit I should learn to break." My father stated. "No worries. I understand. Miss Elena, can you follow me for a moment?" Damon said. I looked at him crossing my arms and asked, "Why? If I may ask."
"Your boyfriend, Stefan, just called. He wanted to speak with you." Damon informed me. My eyes widened slightly and I glanced over at my father, who only shrugged in response. "Go on. We'll talk more later." He said. I glanced back at Damon and followed him into the next room. As we started walking down a familiar corridor, something soon hit me.
If Stefan wanted to call me, why couldn't he just call me on my cellphone?
Before I could stop and question Damon, he already stopped walking to turn and look at me. Placing a finger up to his lips, he then pointed into a room. I followed his silent command and went in with him, realizing this was the bathroom. The same bathroom I went into before having a one on one dinner with Klaus.
Before bumping into Damon.
Before he told me not to drink the red wine.
Damon took out something from his pocket and a match. Lighting it on fire, he placed it in an ashtray, that he placed on the sink counter. "You can speak now." He told me a few seconds after light smokes started to come out of the ashtray. "What are you doing?" I asked him. "It's called a sage. Burning it will conceal this room up to 2 hours. It keeps this room sound proof." He stated. I looked at him in disbelief, but decided to let that slide. "Why did you lie? Stefan didn't call me." I stated. "He actually did, but not this morning. I lied because I needed an excuse to talk to you." He stated.
"Really? Why would you talk to me for? I thought you wouldn't talk to guests." I pointed out. "I never said I don't talk to guests. Besides, you're more than that." He clarified. "Is that so?" I wondered, finding it hard to believe he suddenly found interest in talking to me after our conversation yesterday. "Enough with the games, Elena. I know you know." Damon stated out. "What do you think I know?" I questioned him, keeping my arms folded. "You know about the blue key and the walled door, don't you?" He tested me.
"Maybe." I simply replied.
"There's no maybe about it. You do and it's been driving you crazy not knowing what it means and why no one is telling you." He pointed out. I sighed seeing he was entirely right. I wanted to know what was the meaning behind the blue key and the wall-door. Someone had to know. Damon probably knew. "Why do you suddenly care?" I questioned him. "I care because... Look, I know you were listening to me and Elijah last night. I saw you." He informed me. I tried my best not to look surprised or shocked by his statement. "What do you mean?" I played it coy. "You know exactly what I mean. You weren't too good at hiding in the shadows, by the way." He stated. I shook my head and dropped my arms down before saying, "Fine. You got me. Now what do you want?"
"I want to know what you heard that night." Damon said. "What I heard? All I heard was you and Elijah arguing about something." I simply told him. "That's not good enough. What else did you hear?" He said. "I don't know. You both kept mentioning me and Klaus." I told him. "Is that all you heard?" He wondered. "Yes, well, actually... you argued about the blue key, but that's about it. That's all I heard." I stated. "So, you only heard the ending?" He wondered. "I suppose so." I said. He looked into my eyes for a split moment trying to find something, but then looked away. He probably wanted to know if I was lying. I never lied before in my life. At least not fully until I arrived here.
"Can you tell me what's so special about the blue key?" I soon asked. He turned around to look back at me, stating, "There's nothing really special about it. It just opens to all the secret rooms." He told me. "How many secret rooms are there?" I questioned him. "Hard to say. Did you ever wonder how that key even ended up in your room in the first place?" Damon said. "Not really." I stated. "In case you're wondering, I placed it in your room on purpose." He confessed. I looked at him confused, but then remembered. When I first arrived here and left my room to chat with the servants, I came back finding my door completely closed. I had thought the servants did it to give me more privacy.
"You went into my room?" I tested him, not sure if I should feel irritated or upset with him. "It was the only way I could slip you the key. Now that you know about that and you heard Elijah and I last night, I'm sure that little head of yours is full of questions." He stated as a fact. And he was correct. "Okay, but what do you want in return?" I asked him, sensing he wasn't the type of person who would do things out of the kindness of his heart. He simply smirked mischievously. "I suppose there is... something you could do for me."
I knew it.
"Alright... what is it?" I let out. "Nothing too complicated." He stated. "Okay then, what is it?" I asked. If it wasn't too complicated, he shouldn't hesitate in telling me. "I want you to steal something for me." He told me. "Steal? Why can't you do it yourself?" I questioned his request. "Personally, I would have if you didn't poke your nose in my business and got me in trouble. Now Elijah is breathing down my back and questioning everything I do. You, on the other hand, are an innocent town girl who nobody suspects to do wrong. No one will notice you or even think you're capable of such a thing. You're the perfect substitute." He clarified his logic to me.
Thinking it over, he had a point. "I'm sorry I got you in trouble, but if you had told me what's going on and not dump riddles on me, you wouldn't be asking me to do this right now." I pointed out. "Sure, it's my fault. That honestly doesn't matter to me anymore. What matters to me is can you do the job?" He stated.
"You mean steal?" I reminded him. "You call it stealing, I call it borrowing." He remarked. "Borrowing implies you asked first." I pointed out to him. "Well, things work differently in this family. You'll get it later." He told me. "I don't want to 'get it later'. I want to know now, in fact, if you promise to explain everything, from the wall-doors to Klaus, himself, I'll 'borrow' whatever you wanted me to 'borrow'." I negotiated. Damon thought it over and grinned.
"Deal, but only after you get it first." He pointed out. "What am I going to steal anyway?" I asked him. "Borrow." He reminded me. "Yes, 'borrow'." I corrected myself. "You're going to go into the library, secretly enter Klaus' bedroom and 'borrow' a white stone. I'll explain more when we get there." He told me. My eyes widened in shock. "Wait! You never mentioned I had to go into Klaus' room!" I said. "Oh, relax. He won't be in there. He'll be out for a few more hours. This gives you plenty of time to stea- borrow it right now." He insured me.
"What if he comes back? What if I get caught? What if..." I rambled out. "Stop. Elena, relax. I'll distract him if he ever comes back and buy you enough time to escape. We'll deal with any further interruption as it goes. And trust me... you won't get caught." He said without a doubt. "You don't know that." I said. "I do actually. I know if you really want to know about this household's secrets that badly, you'll do your damn best to not get caught or screw your chances of those secrets being revealed to you." He informed me. I glared at him slightly, but looked away knowing he was right.
"When do we do this?" I asked, not glancing at him. "Now." He said, before walking out of the bathroom, leaving me to reconsider. Was it really worth getting caught by Klaus to know a few secrets kept in this house. Was it really? Thinking back on the bargain I realized how simple it was. All I needed to do was get a stone for him and in return he tells me almost everything I need to know. The blue key, the wall-doors, what ceremony Elijah was referring to, what Klaus told or is telling my parents, why Klaus really sent Stefan away, why a lot of the servants were so young, why Rose seemed trustworthy yet very secretive herself. Why, why, why...
Shaking my head at that thought as I looked at myself in the mirror. It probably is worth it. It's worth having these questions answered, to have my head cleared of these thoughts, to feel at peace in this mansion, and, ect... I needed to do this. Rubbing the sides of my temples, I put on my game face before leaving the bathroom as well.
After leaving the bathroom, I somehow lost Damon. Luckily enough, I bumped into Skylar and asked her where the library was located. I followed her to it, entering corridors and rooms I wasn't familiar with on the downstairs left side of the house. "Thank you." I told her. She bowed in my direction, before going to do whatever chore she was originally scheduled to do. Entering the library, I was stunned by how large it was.
There were giant bookshelves filled with millions upon millions of books. The entire ceiling was painted in a yin and yang style, with a realistic style of the early bright morning and the late dark night. It almost confused and fooled me for a second. Near the far back of another giant connected bookshelf, there was an opening to a stairway that lead upstairs. Presumably to Klaus' bedroom.
As soon as I entered the library, I noticed Damon scanning, or pretending at least, through a bookshelf. He looked up at me and gave me an assuring nod. I did so in return. Just as I was turning to head towards those stairs, I bumped into someone. "Oh, sorry." I let out. "My apologies, Miss Elena." I heard him say. I looked up to see Elijah giving me a comforting and apologetic grin. I did the same.
"What are you doing here?" He soon asked me. Oh no. Quick, think of something... "Well I was talking with Rose last night and she mentioned there was a library in this house. I, for one, am a fan of reading, so I was naturally curious to see the library for myself." I told him. I have never fully lied through my white teeth this much before. Doing so nearly physically harmed me. "Is that so? I enjoy a good book as well. That's one more thing we have in common." He stated. "Oh really? What's the other?" I wondered. "Stefan. We both have Stefan in common. We both care about him." He stated. I could only nod in agreement.
So far, everything was fine. I just needed to get into Klaus' room somehow without him knowing.
"Come. I'll show you around." Elijah insisted. "Oh, no. That's fine." I told him, hoping he wouldn't push on the matter. "I insist." He stated. Great. I grinned softly and followed him as he showed me around the library. I could feel Damon's stare burning on the back of my head wondering how I wasn't capable of avoiding Elijah.
"This library is full of sections. From Biographies and Fictional young adult novels, to Romance novels and horror stories. This library is always up to date on the newest books." Elijah went on. "How many books do you actually have here?" I couldn't help but ask, as I glanced around. "We have quite a bit. In fact, I believe we have every book you could think of." He briefly answered. "You have quite the system here. I wonder how you keep them all in line and in order." I pondered to him "Our servants are quite gifted. Not only is the library always up to date our servants make perfectly sure everything is placed in alphabetical order, that way you'll know which section of books you're looking for. They do it for each row for the different genres." Elijah stated.
"Speaking of which, what type of genre do you favor?" He soon asked me. "Personally, I've been hooked on mysteries recently." I said. "Is that so? I enjoy that genre myself, along with a few others. I suppose being a lawyer makes that obvious." He stated."It would explain a lot." I commented, as I noticed we were nearing the opening stairway leading to Klaus' bedroom. I still needed to figure out a way to get through there without Elijah noticing.
"Have you heard from Stefan?" I asked him. "I haven't heard from the boy. Have you?" He asked me. "Yes, he's doing fine. The connection wasn't clear though so we couldn't talk for long. Has Klaus heard from him?" I started out. "He probably did. Why you ask?" Elijah asked me, with slight suspicion. "I just wanted to know if you or Klaus heard anything from him. Speaking of Klaus, where is he? I wanted to ask him something." I changed the subject. "He's scheduled to have some one on one time with your mother. He should be back any moment now." He told me. Well.. in that case, I need to work fast.
"So, how is your case coming along?" I wondered. "I'm still at a dead-end right now, but I won't allow this to turn up as a cold case." He stated. "You know, I should probably let you go back to working on your case." I said. "There's no need. It's not like I have a deadline of a sort. Besides, I enjoy talking with you." Elijah stated. I grinned slightly, trying to hide the worriness and panic in my eyes. Klaus will be back soon, Elijah won't let me out of his sight, and if I don't get that stone Damon will never explain the blue key to me. I had to do something.
Something.
"What's the ceremony?" I asked him.
"Excuse me?" He said in disbelief.
"I overheard you and Damon arguing a while ago. You mentioned me, Klaus, and a ceremony. So I ask, what is this ceremony?" I pointed out. "The ceremony? What else did you hear us talk about?" He questioned me. "Nothing else. That's all I heard. So, what is it about?" I pressed on. "It's a tradition to say the least." He tried to explain.
"Please, do tell." I said, folding my arms, with a small grin forming on my face. Elijah didn't seem prepared for this and didn't seem to know how to respond. "I'm sure Klaus can explain the ceremony to you better than I can." He started out. "But I'd like to hear your take on it. And also, how do you feel about your 'tradition'?" I went on. "I'm quite indifferent to it. On one hand, it's ingrained in our family, whether willingly or not, and, on the other, it's completely unnecessary in terms of today's modern society." Elijah shared his view on it. "Interesting. Damon told me the tradition was just made up by Klaus and my family and I were basically prisoners here. But I'm sure he was just joking." I let out.
"Damon said that?" Elijah wondered, as his eyes scanned the library to spot Damon about to leave it. "More or less, yes. He did." I lied. "Can you excuse me for just a moment, Miss Elena? I'll be back shortly." He said, before walking off with his eyes still fixed on Damon. I sighed softly to myself in relief, before sneaking through the opening up the stairway.
As I continued to sneak up the stairway, I met up with the front door. Fortunately for me, the door was unlocked and I simply walked through. Klaus' bedroom was as I expected yet unexpected at once. The room was about as big as mine. The walls were painted dark red with a dash of brown. There was a large vintage canopy bed across from me that looked well-made. The rest of the room however, though it was clean, the desktops and tables were a mess, filled with papers, files, and paintings. I knew already I had to be extra careful when searching for this stone.
Wait a minute.. he never told me what the stone looked like!
I guess he did mention it was white, but that's a pretty vague description.
Shaking my head at that thought, I slowly crept towards the canopy bed. Approaching it, I checked the nightstand drawers and table. Instead I found empty drawers and an empty wine bottle on top of the nightstand. I tried my luck and checked under and within the pillows, but came out with nothing.
Time to check the desks.
Turning to go check the nearest desk, I moved the papers and drawings around slowly to find any sign of the stone underneath it. Still nothing. I sighed and crouched down to check under the desk and got back up to do the same with the canopy bed. No sign of the stone yet. I went over to a desk on the other side of the canopy bed near a window. Checking that desk, I looked through the drawers for the stone. Instead, I found something else.
"What the hell..?" I faintly whispered to myself. Within the large middle drawer of the desk, I found what looked like silver dagger lying over a silky purple cloth. Next to it was a dark brown bottle. I wasn't sure what was in there and I wasn't sure if I really wanted to know. I also found many old maps and letters. Curious, I looked through one letter that was already opened. From the texture of it and how it was written it looked over a century old. Why would Klaus keep old letters like these for? Were they passed down to him by his family?
I soon begun to read the letter.
Or at least attempt at doing so, seeing as it was written entirely in Bulgarian. Luckily, for me, I knew a few Bulgarian written words I could translate. The majority was a complete utter mystery to me given how rusty I was. I believe the last time my mother taught me a bit of Bulgarian was when I was 11.
All I could get out of the letter was, that it was written in the late 1400's by a woman named Katerina, who wasn't sure of travelling with some guy named Trevor to god knows where. However, the next letter I pulled out was in clear English.
To my dearest brother Nik,
By the time you read this, I will be gone.
Halfway across the country to be exact.
And before you curse my name to damnation, you must know this. I did it for your own good. Your obsession with Katerina has gone on for far too long. It's time to let go, start fresh, and turn over a new leaf. However, to my continuing disappointment, you won't let go. You won't move on until you find her. Until the day you come to realize that your family is more important than seeking revenge against an old flame, I will not return back to New Orleans. I will be with Damon for the next 2 weeks until I can find a place for myself. Don't try to track us, he's become especially good at covering his tracks since he left home. Take care of yourself, Nik, and try to play nice with Stefan. The boy has been through enough as it is.
Love Always,
R.M
Who the heck was R.M?
Given the context of this letter, this person was most likely a family member. I wonder what happened to that person. Did he or she ever return back to New Orleans?
Another thing I noticed was the date. It was written in 1835.
Now I'm confused. Even more than usual.
Skimming through the other letters, I uncovered a portrait drawing. To my surprise, it was a portrait drawing of me. Or at least it looked like me. The hair style was quite dated in its own timeline and as for my eyes... those eyes seemed to be trying to tell me something. I just couldn't figure out what. Regardless of whether or not those eyes belonged to me, I placed it aside to notice a small box. Taking the box, I shook it slightly to hear a brief thud inside. Unfortunately, the box was locked and I couldn't spot the key to open it. However, I was almost certain the white stone was in there.
It just had to be.
There was no other place it could be in.
Suddenly, I heard footsteps approaching. I froze in place, panicking on what to do. Was it Klaus? Did he return back early? Did Damon not distract him well enough? What am I going to do?
I wasn't entirely sure where the approaching footsteps were coming from, but I didn't intend on waiting to find out. Frantically placing all the letters and drawing back in place and closing the door shut, I turned around trying to figure out where to hide.
I looked at the bed.
No, too obvious.
I looked at the desk across the bed.
I don't have enough time.
I looked at the wardrobe.
Hurry!
On instinct, I slipped on the side of the dresser with my front against the wall. Hopefully, he won't come here.
The footsteps soon entered the room and paused.
Oh no. Did he notice something?
They eventually started to move again approaching my direction.
No, this can't be happening. Don't come here of all places! I bit the inside of my cheeks to keep me from making a sound and I tried not to breath too heavily. Sweat started to trickle down my side forehead. I held back a sigh of relief as the wardrobe door was opened up. Seeing as the door was opened all the way out, especially on my side and was keeping me hidden, I peeked through the bent lines of the wardrobe door to see it wasn't Klaus at the dresser. It was Janice, the executive servant.
Just as I was wondering why she was in Klaus' bedroom, I quickly noticed she was naked with only a towel covering her body. She's in Klaus' bedroom naked and there's an empty wine bottle on the top of the nightstand. You didn't need to be a rocket scientist to figure out what happened. After Janice got dressed, she closed the wardrobe and proceeded to leave the bedroom. Once I heard the door closed shut and was certain she was gone, I slipped out of the side of the wardrobe and sighed in relief.
Thank goodness that's over. I thought for sure I'd get caught.
Looking down at the small box I hoped was containing the white stone Damon wanted, I decided it was probably for the best to get out of this room as quickly as possible. Heading towards the bedroom door, from which I came, I froze in disbelief. Turning the doorknob harder and harder, nothing happened. It wouldn't budge.
It couldn't be stuck, it was working fine earlier.
It quickly hit me.
Are you kidding me? She locked it!
I tried not to panic, as I was thinking of ways to get out of this room. While looking through this room for the white stone, I never noticed a key lying around. Janice must have been the only one with the spare key. Klaus most likely had the original key.
Great, not only am I trapped in this room but if I get caught I can kiss my chances of finding out the secrets behind the blue key through Damon goodbye.
That's it.
The blue key... I thought. There had to be a way out of this room through a wall-door. Almost instantly, I searched through the entire room, with my palms feeling against the wall to find a hollow wall. Just when I thought I couldn't find anything, that's when I noticed something off. Really off.
Next to the desk where I found Klaus' odd letters, there was a bookshelf. Nothing too strange about that. Klaus' bedroom was near a library, he did seem like the type of person who'd read quite a lot, and I'm sure every room has at least one bookshelf, myself included. However, that's not why I found it strange. The reason I found it strange was how easily mindless it was. I never once noticed or even acknowledged its existence in this room. Even when I was searching everywhere for the stone, and most likely searched there too, I still didn't pay too much attention to it.
It was practically invisible to me earlier, until now. That's when I knew my way out had to be through there. Quickly approaching it on its side, I tried to move it aside like my bookshelf to find the doorway. The problem, however, was that it wouldn't budge. It was as if it were nailed to the spot. Feeling as though I was ready to give up, I started to mess with the books upon the bookshelf.
It's a long shot, I know. But there had to be a way out, even if it met opening another secret passage through these books.
As expected, I couldn't find one. Yet, to my surprise, I found something else. A key. Could this be another spare key to bedroom door? I wasn't going to hesitate in finding out. Placing the books back the way they originally were, I went over the bedroom door with the new key. To my relief, it was the spare key as I was able to finally get out of that room. I locked the door behind me, as Janice did, and stuck the key in my opposite pocket where the blue key was not placed.
As I descended down the stairway, I started to breathe a little easier, now that that was over. Entering the library, I couldn't spot Elijah or Damon anywhere. I suppose they were still talking. Strange enough, not much time has passed while I was up there. I'd say I wasted at least 5 minutes looking for the white stone, 3 more if you include trying to escape that room. And yet it felt like I was there for at least an hour.
Suddenly, I remembered I still didn't have the white stone, but rather the small box I hoped it was in. Given that both my pockets were full, I needed to place the box somewhere so no one would see me with it. I went up to a bookshelf and took out three large books at random, placing the small box inside the last one. I made sure to carry the books in a way, so it didn't seem obvious that something was in the third book.
Just as I did this, I looked up to see Klaus and Elijah enter the library. Damon was close by outside the library, waiting for me to meet up with him. I was nearly frozen in place just by the sight of Klaus. I was thinking back to what I did in his bedroom and was glad I didn't spend an extra 2 minutes there lollygagging. Thinking of his bedroom, I felt anxious again.
What if he notices that I touched his things? What if I placed something back where it wasn't originally placed? What if I left a strain of hair on his... What am I saying? He's not going to find out. Not unless I freak out and tell him myself.
Placing my eyes to the floor, I tried to swiftly walk past him. To my luck, he noticed me and wouldn't let me go so easily. "Good Morning, Elena." Klaus said to me. Looking up at him, I did my best to not hold direct eye-contact with him for too long. "Good Morning, Klaus. How is my mother doing?" I replied back. Klaus raised an eyebrow at me, almost amused and yet surprised. I, myself, didn't expect that question to come out. "She's quite alright, love. Has a bit of a headache though." Klaus informed me. I nodded my head as well as showed concerned for my mother. I wonder what happened that would have caused her to get a headache. And what were they talking about?
"Darkly Dreaming Dexter." Klaus commented. I looked up at him confused. "Excuse me?" I wondered. "Those books you're carrying. I didn't know you were a fan." Klaus clarified. I glanced at the books I was carrying and noticed I was carrying three books written by the same author. All of them about a sociopath. "It's a great book. One of my personal favorites actually." Klaus told me. "Really? I can't wait to read them." I said with a grin. "Hope you enjoy. Ah, I almost forget, dinner will be served earlier today. You, your mother, your father, and I will be eating together. Elijah isn't guaranteed but hopefully he'll be joining us." Klaus informed me.
Dinner with Klaus again? But why are my parents involved?
"Do I have to wear a weird gown?" I genuinely asked him. Klaus grinned and chuckled lightly. "Not unless you want to. Wear whatever you want. As long as it's appropriate for the evening." He clarified for me. "Okay. See you in a few hours then." I said. Klaus eyed me for a split second, before nodding and walking off into his bedroom up the stairs. I quickly escaped the library and sighed as I approached Damon.
"Took you long enough." Damon pointed out in annoyance. I narrowed my eyes at him, restraining myself from making a scene. "You have no idea what I had to go through to get your stone." I informed him. "And you have no idea what I had to say to distract Elijah and cover for you. I say we're even." He told me. I sighed and soon asked, "What now?"
"Look, we can't talk here. The walls have ears. We'll talk more later." Damon told me, while making a gesture with his hand for me to hand over the stone. I shook my head in response and whispered, "After Dinner."
He looked at me in disbelief and gestured me to hand over the stone once more. I ignored his gesture and walked past him. I could feel him glare daggers on me behind my back. I turned my heels to glance over at him to return the favor. He rolled his eyes at my gesture and walked the opposite direction. I shook my head while heading back to my room.
I swear, Damon is like a child sometimes. First the nonsense riddles, and now he's being an impatient brat.
No matter.
Besides, there was no way I was handing over the stone that easily to Damon. Not until I got my questions answered.
It was around 4 P.M, when I got a text from Bonnie. We haven't spoken to each other since the surprise visit to the Grill. Caroline hasn't contacted me in a while and neither has Stefan, which I found odd. Caroline would usually blow up my phone with text messages almost daily and Stefan would at least call me on my own cell to inform me of his safe travel to California.
Then again, Stefan did have errands to do for Klaus and Caroline was probably busy doing her own thing.
I didn't feel like texting Bonnie at that moment and texted her to call me on her cell. She didn't seem to mind my request.
"Hey!" Bonnie voiced out cheerfully.
"Hey, how's it going?" I asked her.
"I'm fine. I just finished up my housework for today. How are you doing in that big Salvatore mansion?" Bonnie asked me.
"I'm fine, Bon. Stefan's not here though." I told her. A part of me didn't want to lie to her, but a part of me couldn't tell her the truth. Mainly because even I didn't know what the truth was.
"Really? Where is he?" Bonnie asked me out of curiosity.
"He's in California." I told her.
"Cali-wow! Why is he there for?" Bonnie wondered.
"It's a long story. He'll be back in a couple days." I stated.
"So... what else is going on with you? And don't tell me you're fine, I can tell from your voice something's off." Bonnie informed me. Sometimes Bonnie really likes to play up her psychic powers as though they were real. I always teased her about it growing up, but considering the strange things happening in this mansion, being psychic doesn't seem too far-fetched to me.
"Nothing's going on, Bonnie. I'm.. just a bit homesick, that's all." I lied. There I go again with the lies. I hated how much this house was starting to effect me. First it made me paranoid for my life, now it's making me become a liar to one of my longtime best friends.
"Yeah, I'd probably be a bit homesick too in your situation, but you're still in town so you can still go home. This is only temporary. Right?" Bonnie stated.
"Yeah... right." I said, not entirely believing it myself. "By the way, how have you been holding up?" I soon switched the topic off me and the mansion.
"What do you mean? Nothing interesting has been going on in my life. You and Caroline are the ones having adventures daily." Bonnie told me.
"That's not true. How is Caroline doing? She hasn't called or texted me." I asked her. "Her dad came to visit her yesterday. A few hours after you and Stefan left the Grill. That's probably why she hasn't been talking to either of us." Bonnie informed me. "Oh. Yeah. Yeah, that makes sense." I said to myself.
"Yeah. Now, what did you mean by how I'm 'holding up'?" Bonnie questioned me.
"I was wondering how you've been doing since we last spoke. You mentioned you weren't getting any sleep and you weren't eating much. I was just concerned about you." I said to her.
"Don't worry about me. I've been doing better. It was just one of my off days, that's all." She insisted.
"Okay, well, that's good to hear." I said in relief. Though I still felt like there was something she wasn't telling me. Oh, if only I had Bonnie's 'psychic' powers right now. It would probably save me the headache of trying to figure out the truth of this mansion. Of this family.
My bedroom door soon opened up, and I noticed Rose slip into the room. Our eyes locked with each other for at least 10 seconds, before she looked away and closed the door behind her.
"I got to go, Bonnie. I'll talk to you later." I said to her.
"Bye." Bonnie replied as soon as I hung up.
"Can I help you Rose?" I asked her, wondering why she was here. I didn't request for her service today nor was I planning to for the majority of the day.
"Not at all, Miss Elena. Not at all." Rose told me. She took a step towards me and handed me a cloth. I took the cloth to be polite and opened it. I looked up at Rose in shock at what she was handing me.
Poison. Why on earth was she giving me poison?
Rose placed a finger over her lip to imply I should stay quiet about this. "Don't drink the red wine." She whispered to me, before walking out of the room. I stared at her in confusion and shock as she walked away.
Don't drink the red wine... that's exactly what Damon said to me when I first had dinner with Klaus. What is going on here?
And just like that, I realized Damon needed to explain and clarify more things to me aside from the blue keys and this mansion.
Just an hour after Rose had slipped me the poison herbs, dinner was ready to be served in just 10 minutes. I could tell they were poison herbs, because Bonnie's Grandmother collected a lot of them back in her day. She never used them for anything. She just kept them in jars. She was a strange old woman. Strange, but wise.
I was dressed in a red strapless dress with my long hair waving down and with my heeled shoes to match. I was planning on wearing this dress to prom with Stefan in the future, but I felt like I should wear it now just for this occasion.
As I exited my bedroom and went out the corridor, I descended down the staircase to see the dinner table almost all prepped up. All that was missing were the guests.
"You look nice." I heard a compliment behind me. I turned around to notice him standing there all dressed up in a suit. I didn't even hear him walk up behind me. Hmm...
"You cleaned up well too." I told him. Damon didn't think much of my response and gave me a look.
"What?" I asked him. "Did Rose visit you?" He asked me.
I should have known.
He sent her, didn't he?
"Why does that matter to you? It's none of your business." I played along, feeling as though we were being watched. I showed him the small potion of poison herbs that was within the cloth I was clinging onto tightly. I deliberately handed it over to him. As soon as he took it he placed it on his front suit jacket pocket and made it look as though it was just a handkerchief.
I didn't know why Damon wanted the poison or what he was going to do with it. What I knew for certain was that I hoped this dinner would be over with quick so I can finally find out what I needed to know about this mansion.
Damon walked passed me and entered the kitchen. I felt as though I should have followed him. I was, if not for my mother entering the room at the most inconvenient time.
"Elena, sweetheart, you look amazing!" Mom told me, as she walked up to me and gave me a kiss on my cheek. "You look great too, Mom." I complimented her as well. Her dress was quite simple, colored in navy blue. It matched her eyes well.
"How are you?" I asked her. "Oh, I'm good. Why'd you ask?" She wondered. "I was just wondering. Klaus told me you had a headache this morning." I told her. My mother's smile faltered slightly, yet she tried her best to maintain it once more. "Did he now? When did he say that?" Mom asked me. "I said it was this morning. In the library." I told her. "Oh, I didn't know you were visiting the library." Mom said, trying to change the subject as subtle as she could. I give her an A for effort. It probably would have worked on me if I didn't have my guard up.
"Well, you know I do like to read so..." I purposely trailed off as my father, Klaus and Elijah entered the room side by side. My father was in between them and was dressed in a nice dark suit that matched well with my mother. He glanced over at my mother with a look that only she could understand, before glancing over at me to give me a grin.
"Well, isn't this lovely? Two families having dinner together. Two families from different backgrounds. Together at last." Klaus commented on the scenery. "Our backgrounds are not as different as you think, Mr. Mikealson." Mom told him. Klaus gave her a sheepish smile, before turning his attention to me.
"My, you look stunning Elena." Klaus complimented me. All I could do was nod and grin. I felt a very uncomfortable tension in this room. One that I couldn't identify or bring up. I glanced over at Elijah and noticed the intense look he was sending behind Klaus' back.
"Oh, and I forgot to mention, Elijah finally decided to join us after all. Isn't that splendid?" Klaus said to me in particular, since I was certain I was the only one who he mentioned that too. Soon Damon entered the room, but not through the kitchen. I suppose he used a secret passage with the blue key.
"Elijah." Damon let out.
"Damon" Elijah let out as well while keeping his intense stare. It was as though he was trying to read everyone's minds.
"Damon, I was afraid you wouldn't show. Come now, take a seat. Dinner is about to commence." Klaus insisted. Like obedient pets, we listened and took our seats as the servants came out to serve us. Damon sat across from me, my mother sat on my left across from my father, who was seating next to Damon. Both Elijah and Klaus were at the ends of the table facing each other from across.
"It's a shame Stefan couldn't be here for dinner. He would have loved this." Klaus commented, as he was prepping his own plate with mash potatoes. Kind of odd considering he had his own servants to do that for him. "Maybe he would if you didn't send him away..." I muttered to myself.
"What was that, young lady?" Klaus said to me. I looked up to him almost ready to repeat myself, but didn't to see what he would say if I didn't respond or react. "If there's one thing I can't stand, aside from lying, is muttering. It's an annoying habit, I'm glad Stefan broke. He use to mutter and mumble a lot as a child." Klaus informed me. "My apologies. I was just saying, Stefan could have been here if you didn't send him away to California." I told him. "Fair point, but a job needs to be done first." Klaus stated, before moving onto another topic. "By the way, have you two had a sexual relationship together?" He soon asked me. As soon as he asked, I nearly choked on the glass of water I so happened to be drinking at that moment. Luckily enough, I didn't make any mess and gulped it all in while clearing my throat.
"Niklaus..." Elijah said harshly and quickly.
"Excuse me? That is none of your business!" My mother bursted out, more upset about that question than I was.
My father simply pretended as though he was deaf and proceeded to eat his roasted chicken.
"What? I was just curious. My son talks about you quite a bit, yet never answered that question for me. You two have been together for quite a while... I just assumed.." Klaus started off, but I stopped him. "No. In case you're wondering, no. We haven't." I informed him. Damon simply remained silent during that awkward encounter for obvious reason.
Surprisingly enough, my family and Klaus survived the first course. The fact that they were starting to drink probably helped. I, on the other hand, didn't drink. Not just because I was underage, but because the only drinks they were serving, aside from water, was red wine. My parents didn't hesitate on drinking it alongside Klaus. Elijah took a few sips here and there but never fully indulged in it. Damon and I were the only pure sober ones. This was because we knew what would happen if we drank it. Or at least one of us did. I at least knew better than to ignore a warning, especially if it's told to me twice within the same week.
The second course was finally over and dessert was now available to all of us. I was too stuffed to eat another bite.
"Don't you want dessert, Elena?" Mom asked me. She was pretty drunk at this point, as she was grinning at me for no reason while twisting her hair. She started to chuckle lightly. I looked over at Damon, who remained calm throughout the entire dinner courses. "You know... we may have started on the wrong foot here. Why don't you and I start fresh tomorrow?" My father said to Klaus. He only smirked in response and nodded. "I'd love that very much." Klaus told him.
"Would you look at the time? It's sure getting late." Damon pointed out.
"It's only 8. I'm sure there's another time for a fourth course." Klaus told him. Damon glanced over at me swiftly with a look that demanded my help. "No, that's fine. I should really start to go to bed early. Great dinner as always, Klaus." I told him. "It was a pleasure." Klaus said with a smirk before giving me a subtle wink.
Just as I got up and was about to head upstairs to my bedroom, my mother started to cough. It started getting worse to the point that she was coughing up blood.
What the-
"Mom!" I exclaimed in panic as I ran to her side. Four servants immediately dashed into the kitchen for help. Three male servants came out and pushed me away from her.
"That's my mother!" I informed them, finding their behavior towards me rude. "We know. You must give her some space to breathe." A tall dark skinned slim servant told me.
"What is the meaning of this?!" Klaus demanded an answer.
"She's been poisoned. We need to take her to the care room now." One of the boys told Klaus. He was very pale with short blond hair. One of his eyes were cloudy and bright as though as he was blind in one eye. The three boys took my mother and disappeared into another room, most likely taking her to this 'care room' they mentioned.
I proceeded to follow, but Damon grabbed me by the arm to stop me from following. I pulled my arm back glaring at him.
Did he poison my mother? If so, why would he do that? I thought I could trust him.
"Is she going to be okay?" I asked Skylar, who was one of the girls that went to get help in the kitchen for my mother than came back. "I don't know. I've never seen anything like this. She was fine and then... she wasn't." Skylar said, then suddenly teared up over something personal I didn't know. "I'm sorry. I shouldn't be saying that. I'm sure your mother will be okay." Skylar tried to make things better and grinned at me. I only sighed in response and walked away from her. I didn't mean to come off as rude or mean to her. I just needed to get away from this dinner as fast as possible.
It was midnight and exactly 4 hours after my mother was taken into the care room. I still haven't heard an update on her well-being and was hoping I would tomorrow first thing in the morning. I was now upstairs in my room dressed in my night gown. The box I assumed the white stone Damon wanted was in, was in the drawer along side my journal and the blue key. All I had to do now was stay up and wait for Damon. He knew I probably wouldn't go to him. He needed to come to me if he wanted his stone. If he came, like I knew he would, I would hand over the stone, but only if he explains to me what I want to know.
And as far as I'm concerned, there's a lot he needs to explains.
Time was ticking, I was getting tired, and Damon wasn't showing up. I checked my phone repeatedly to see how much time was passing. By 12:30, I felt as though I was stood up and Damon wasn't coming.
I guess he didn't want that white stone as badly as I thought...
Just as I had given up on him, my bedroom door soon opened, revealing my awaited late visitor. He placed a finger over his lips to keep me hushed as he slipped into the room and closed the door shut behind himself. He then walked over to my dresser and opened it up wide. He rummaged through it in search of something. I felt like asking, but remembered he wanted me to remain quiet. Eventually, he found what he needed and set it on fire with his lighter, placing it in an ashtray as well. It was the same thing he did in the bathroom this morning. After 20 seconds past of the ashtray holding the light fire, Damon turned to me.
"Do you have the white stone?" He asked me.
"Yes." I lied. Well, half lied. I still wasn't entirely sure if that box had the stone or not. But that didn't mean there wasn't a slight chance of there being one.
"What are you burning?" I asked him.
"I told you this earlier. It's called sage. It conceals the room for a couple hours." He reminded me. "Okay. If that's the case then, why was there sage in my wardrobe dresser?" I asked him. "I made sure Rose placed some in there before you moved in." He told me.
"So, it's true. You and Rose are working together." I assumed.
"You could say something like that." Damon said with a smirk. "Now, I have questions and I need you to answer them for me. It's really simple. You answer my questions honestly and truthfully and I'll give you the white stone." I told him.
"No." Damon responded.
"Excuse me?" I asked him, wondering why he refused my offer.
"There's too much for me to explain. Too much for you to handle in one night. Here's the deal. I'll answer say... 5 questions for now and you give me the white stone. I'll answer more if you do me some favors." He insisted.
"No deal." I said, narrowing my eyes and folding my arms.
"Then these lips are sealed." He pointed out. I sighed in frustration seeing as he had me again. Or did he?
"You know, I could easily turn you over to Elijah right now. I could tell him that you stole from Klaus and used me to do it. He'd believe me and tell Klaus himself." I started off. "Are you blackmailing me?" Damon asked me in disbelief.
"Oh, you call it blackmailing, I call it... a warning." I said sheepishly. Damon grinned at me saying, "You're not serious are you?"
"If you want to play dirty, I can play dirty." I warned him. "Come on, Elena. You think that whole tough girl act is going to scare me? I know you're not going to turn me in. That would be stupid of you. Look, just take the deal. It's the best one I can give you." He informed me.
"10." I negotiated.
"5." He stated.
"7." I negotiated.
"5." He stated firmly.
"6." I told him.
"5." He repeated
"6." I repeated .
"5." He repeated in annoyance.
"6." I repeated once more.
"Fine, 6. That's it." He stated, ending the dispute once and for all.
"Okay then, first question, Why did you poison my mother?" I asked him. "I mixed the herbs in with the red wine. That's why I made sure to have Rose tell you beforehand to not drink it in case you were tempted. Your mother will be fine, though. Those poison herbs are only temporarily poisonous. Rose and I made sure of it." Damon informed me.
"My father and Klaus were drinking the same wine as my mother. Yet... they weren't effected?" I pointed out, seeing as it didn't add up. "Your father either built up a tolerance to poison or he's having a delayed reaction to it. I'd go for the latter. As for Klaus... poison won't do anything to him. It'll just irritate him and give him indigestion." Damon stated.
"Why won't it effect him?" I asked him.
"I... can't tell you. Again, it'd be too much to take over one night." He reminded me. "You said you'd answer 6 questions. Now we're down to five. I don't care about taking it all in one night. You don't know me. You don't know what I can handle." I told him. "Trust me, I've been down this road before. All you humans are alike. So predictable." He stated. I raised an eyebrow at his odd sentence.
"Okay... the blue keys. Explain them." I asked Damon, ignoring his comment at the end. "This house was built a century ago during the early 1900's. I know every room within the walls and I made sure only the blue key could unlock them all. Originally there were 7 keys, but most of them are gone. Now there's only three keys left. The one I have, the one you have, and the other Klaus has." Damon explained.
"Wait... Klaus has a blue key?" I let out, surprised I couldn't figure that out myself. "Of course he does. Next question." He insisted. "Fine. What is Stefan really doing in California?" I asked him.
"I honestly don't know. And I could care less what Klaus sent him off to do. Next." Damon stated. "Why are there no electronics in your household. Like televisions or computers. Everything here is so old fashioned. The closest thing to modern in this house is the WiFi." I pointed out. "Klaus has his mind set in the past. He enjoys the dark ages. When anyone could get away with everything without worrying much about the law. When life wasn't so easy to live." Damon said.
"Where do you get these sages and why do we need them?" I asked him. "I get them from Rose. She makes them daily when she gets the time. We need them because the walls are always listening. This keeps Klaus or Elijah from overhearing us. Next. Last question." Damon informed me.
"What is up with this family? You, Elijah and Klaus... something is off about you three. What are you? Who are you really?" I asked him.
"That's... an even longer thing to explain. I'll tell you all about it later. For now, answer me this... Do you believe in the supernatural?" Damon said out of the blue.
"The supernatural?" I questioned.
"The supernatural. Things that are unusual and abnormal. The paranormal." Damon tried to break it down. "I know what you mean. You mean folklore and fairy tales. No, I don't believe." I said.
"Then this is going to be hard to comprehend." Damon pointed out. "Just answer the question already." I reminded him.
"Vampires. Do you believe in vampires?" He asked me.
"No. I don't. They're just a myth. Alongside the Tooth fairy, Santa Clause, the Boogieman and many others." I stated. The fact that he kept changing the subject with something this surreal was obnoxious. Why was he avoiding the question? I needed an answer. This wasn't it.
"Actually, it's not a myth. Well, the Tooth fairy and everything you mentioned afterwards are fictional. Vampires aren't a myth." He told me.
"Stop saying that! Why do you keep saying that?" I asked him. "Because it's true. Witches exist too." Damon stated. "Yeah, I'm sure they do. Next you're going to tell me psychics are really legit." I joked out.
"It's rare, but it does happen. In fact, most psychics end to be witches who never used their full potential before or were even aware of their lineage." Damon informed me.
That made me think back to Bonnie. Since we were kids she would always claim she was psychic. Sure the things she predicted did happen at least 4 out of 5 times, but those were probably just lucky freak guesses. Besides, that's not enough to make someone a witch. If Bonnie was a witch, I'd know. She would have told me.
"Werewolves are a thing too." Damon added. "Really? Is that all?" I wondered. "Nope, there are others I'm sure but those are the main supernatural creatures on their own. The others are just a hybrid mixture of the two. I'll explain that later." Damon told me. "There's a lot of things you need to explain to me later." I took notice. "Look, I don't like this as much as you do, but trust me. You'll thank me for not dumping it all on you at once later." Damon insisted.
"If you say so. Wow. Vampires, Werewolves, Witches, and here I thought I was insane." I said. "I'm not making this up. They exist. You still don't believe me, do you?" Damon said, when he noticed the look I was giving him. A look that showed I wasn't taking anything he was saying seriously anymore. He looked down and sighed before looking up at me.
"Do you want proof?" He asked of me. I nodded my head and voiced out, "Yes. I want you to prove it."
"You asked me what I was. Who I was. My name is Damon Salvatore. I'm a vampire." He claimed.
"And I'm the Queen of Switzerland." I added to myself. Damon ignored my comment and his demeanor changed in a more serious tone. I stopped smiling and looked at him.
"You want proof of me being a vampire? Here's your proof." He informed me. He took a slight step towards me and something in him started to change. I couldn't tell what it was at first given how dark my bedroom was and how the lanterns were the only things lighting up the room and even they were dimly lit. I remained sitting on the foot of my bed as I tried focusing on Damon's face. I soon noticed a change. His eyes got darker and soulless.
For whatever reason, I blinked. This made me realized how much his face had changed in a matter of seconds and this terrified me. I felt like screaming, but no sound could come out. Instead I jumped out of bed and ran to the side of it, where my nightstand was that contained my journal. I knew I couldn't leave this room and I knew I couldn't stay there.
Who knows what could happen?
I blinked once more and he was now in front of me. Just a few inches away from me. "Don't scream." He warned me. I nodded my head and tried to swallow my fear. Up close he looked even more horrifying. His skin was always pale, yet since his face changed, his skin looked even paler. His eyes were nearly pitch black with a touch of dark red. He had dark red veins flowing under his eyelids stopping by his cheekbones.
Damon took a step away from me and sat on the edge side of my bed. I sat down next to him, still analyzing his face in curiosity. "How did you...?" I started to ask. "I told you I was telling the truth." He answered me already. I nodded my head, seeing he did prove me wrong. He really was a vampire. It was the only explanation as to why he face changed right before my eyes. I just never thought in a million years a creature like that would actually exist.
Closing my eyes, I forced myself to turn my head in his direction. I opened my eyes slowly to face him and look him directly in the eyes. My own eyes started to tear up due to fear and the intensity of his dark eyes. Inhaling a deep breath as well as exhaling, I held my hand up and had my fingers slowly touch Damon's face. It was quite cold. My fingers traced over the veins under his eyelids in curiosity, and my finger tracing stopped once I got to his mouth. Damon opened his mouth to flash his fangs at me. I lightly touched one on the bottom that was as sharp as a knife.
"Does it hurt?" I couldn't help but ask, regarding his fangs.
"It did in the beginning. Eventually you get numb to it." He told me. "How did you become this way?" I asked him. He chuckled lightly, but soon answered, "Let's just say becoming a vampire is a long process. You need to die with vampire blood in your system in anyway. When that happens you come back undead. You're then left with a choice. Feed and become a vampire or refuse to feed and die as a human. You only get one day to decide." He told me.
"Feed? Feed on what?" I asked him, though a part of me already knew the answer, I wanted to hear him say it.
"Blood. Vampires need blood in order to survive." Damon informed her. "Is Klaus a vampire?" I asked him. "He's a.. special kind of vampire. More special than Elijah." He told me. "So, Elijah's a vampire too? God, I should have noticed this sooner." I said to myself. "What else should I know? How can you walk in the sun? Do you have any special powers? What are they?" I asked him.
"You see this silver ring on me. This ring has a special stone on it. It's called the Lapis Lazuli. It keeps vampires from burning to death from the sun. Only witches can make them." Damon told me. "So, there are other vampires. How many?" I asked him. "I don't know. It's not like we all keep in touch with each other at a pub. Let's just say they're everywhere. They're in Mystic Falls, overseas, on the outskirts of town, in space... everywhere." Damon informed me.
"We do have special powers though. We can see well in the dark, smell things better than an average human can, we can use a form of mind control that I like to call compulsion, we can hear things very well. Which is why I always say 'the walls have ears'." Damon told me. I nodded my head, while keeping my eyes locked alertly on him.
"Do you always have to feed?" I wondered. "No. Not always. In the beginning, it's almost impossible to resist. Everyday is a struggle. Others indulge with no conscience and others fight it daily to live a normal human-like life." Damon stated. "Which one are you?" I asked him. He looked closer into my eyes while saying, "Would you believe me if I told you I was a happy middle?"
My breathing started to ease the more he was trying to make me smile or laugh.
"I can hear your heartbeat. I've always heard your heart beating. It's at a fast past now. If I focus I can hear the blood circulation throughout your body." Damon pointed out.
And... there goes my ease. I was starting to feel uncomfortable again.
"Elena... I could easily kill or feed from you right now. I could do both of it at any time and anywhere. But I didn't. I didn't do that because I have control. You don't need to be afraid of me. I'll never harm you. Remember that. No matter what happens, you have to trust me." Damon told me. I nodded my head as his face started to change back in a blink of an eye.
Quite literally.
"That's enough questions for today. Get some sleep. We have a whole day to figure out tomorrow." Damon informed me. I simply nodded in return. I was out of words to use. I couldn't speak. What was it that I could say? I just found out my reality isn't as real or consistent as I thought. Vampire, witches and god-knows what-else exist. As much as I don't like it, I can't find any other explanation to what has been going on in my life lately.
I soon looked up to watch Damon leave the bedroom. I looked over at the ashtray to see the smoke was about to give out soon. Checking my drawers, I was surprised to see Damon didn't take the small box while I was zoned in my own thoughts. Perhaps he figured I'd give it to him tomorrow when my head would finally be cleared.
The thing is... would knowing the truth truly clear my head? So far, I know fragments of the truth. It does make me feel at peace knowing I'm not going crazy, but that doesn't mean danger isn't lurking around the corner for me.
A/N: Man was this a late one! I blame my inability to sleep last night and my inability to stay awake during the day to continue writing this story. There isn't much reason as to why I'm uploading late. Laziness is a key part, but my most major problem is my computer, (again). I swear these constant blue screens are the worse. But I'll probably complain about them on another time or story or profile update. Anyway, apologies for the delay, hopefully this surprisingly long chapters help. Things are starting to unravel at last. Or is the mystery bigger than what Elena thinks it is?
Hope you enjoyed the chapter and had a great day.
Oh and another thing...
Happy Cheesecake Day! (Whether it be early or belated)