Damon's Daughter
Chapter 17
Esther's a bit intense.
A/N: I AM SO SO SORRY FOR THE WAIT. I got very busy with my schoolwork and extracurricular activities that I completely forgot this story even existed. But I'm back and I promise I will never have that large a gap between chapters again. (hopefully) Happy reading my lovelies! This chapter is a bit of a filler, but things will start to get exciting again.

When Esther walked through the door Elijah gripped my hand so tight he was cutting off my circulation. I lightly brushed my thumb over his to calm him down, but it only caused his heart to beat faster. It was so quiet in the large room that you could have heard a pin drop. Esther slowly made her way towards a cowering Klaus, her footsteps echoing on the floor. When she reached him, Klaus' eyes were glued to the floor. He refused to look Esther in the eyes.

"Look at me!" Esther commanded in a voice that sent chills up my spine and caused me to grip Elijah's hand tighter.

Klaus slowly looked up at Esther with tears in his eyes.

"Do you know why I'm here?" Esther asked.

"You're here to kill me," Klaus answered, his voice cracking.

Esther lightly shook her head and looked at Klaus with a strange pity. "Niklaus, you are my son, and I am here to forgive you."

My eyes widened and I turned to Elijah, expecting him to look back at me with confusion, but instead he was focused on the scene playing out before us.

Esther took her eyes off Klaus and turned to us. She had a strange melancholy look to her, one that frightened me and intrigued me at the same time.

"I want us to be a family again," Esther said and ran her eyes over her children and me. When she got to Elijah she narrowed her eyes.

"Elijah, have your manners disappeared since I last saw you?" Esther smiled. "Are you going to introduce this lovely creature to your mother?"

My mouth fell open and I looked at Elijah in panic. Esther wanted to speak to me. Elijah lessened his grip on my hand and ran his thumb over it, trying to assure me that everything would be okay. He then took a step forward, cleared his throat and spoke.

"Mother, this is Emma Salvatore, Juliana's daughter."

Esther's eyes widened. "Really? My elixir worked?" She breathed and looked at me in wonder.

I nodded and looked back to Elijah. This woman made me nervous, but I didn't know why. Everything about her just made me uneasy.

Esther took hesitant steps toward me and smiled. "Emma, it is an absolute pleasure to meet you. You look so much like your mother. Tell me, how is she?" Esther took my hand in hers and looked at me with excited eyes. It made me reluctant to tell her of my mother's fate.

Sensing how uncomfortable I was, Elijah cleared his throat and made his way towards Esther. "Mother, I don't know if this is the time to discuss-"

"Elijah, please. I'm trying to have a conversation with Emma," Esther commanded.

Elijah sighed and stepped back, giving me a sympathetic look.

I gulped and looked down at the floor. "Esther, I hate to be the one to tell you this," I began, my voice small and shaky, "but my mother is dead. Mikael killed her. I'm… really sorry."

I suddenly felt two fingers on my chin, lifting up my head. My eyes met Esther's which were filling up with tears.

"Juliana… Juliana is dead?" Esther asked as a tear trailed down her cheek.

The sight of Esther's tears caused my eyes to fill up with the salty liquid and a pit formed in my stomach.

"Yeah," I whispered and suddenly Esther pulled me in, hugging me close to her body.

"I am so sorry, Emma," she breathed.

"Well, that was intense," I sighed as I brushed my hair. I was in Elijah's room, thinking over everything that had happened, and about what Megan had said. Maybe my mom really isn't dead… Before I could continue my thoughts Elijah spoke.

"I'm really sorry about all of that. I should've made you leave with Damon."

I turned away from the mirror and raised my eyebrows at Elijah. "Don't even start that. I would have stayed, whether you wanted me to or not."

Elijah lightly chuckled and sat down on the bed. "You're probably right."

I smirked and started to put my hair in a side braid. "So, is Finn always so bloody serious?"

Elijah rolled his eyes. "Yes, always has been, even before he turned. Now it's just worse. Finn hates being a vampire."

I nodded. "Kol is an interesting character," I smirked.

"You have no idea," Elijah laughed. "Your hair looks nice."

I rolled my eyes and threw myself on the bed. "You're such a kiss up."

"Mmmhmm," Elijah sighed and pulled me closer to him. "I'm really sorry about my mother. She can be very intense at times."

I rested my head on his chest. "Don't be sorry. I like your mother. She reminds me of mine," I whispered.

Elijah nodded, pulled the covers over us, and closed his eyes. "Goodnight, Emma," he mumbled against my forehead.

I smiled. "Goodnight, Elijah."

When I heard his soft snores I quietly and reluctantly slid off him. I then tip-toed to my purse, dug out an old receipt and a pen, and wrote him a note, explaining where I went. I quickly put the note on the bedside table and hurried downstairs. I needed to speak to Esther.

After a long search I finally found the room that belonged to Esther. I brought my hand up to the door and was about to knock when it opened to reveal Esther's worried face.

"Emma? What are you doing up at this hour?"

I gulped. "I uh, I really need to speak with you. It's important. May I come in?"

Esther fervently nodded. "Of course."

As I walked into her room I noticed that it smelled of burnt sage mixed with other herbs. I narrowed my eyes and sat down on a small loveseat while Esther sat on her bed. She looked at me, waiting for me to speak. I sighed and began.

"Weeks ago I got a text, a text is basically a note but it's sent on a cellphone… Wait, do you know what a cellphone is? You know what, never mind. I got a text from an old friend, asking me to meet her. She said it was important. Anyway, she told me that my mother might still be alive… that Mikael might have just daggered her instead of stabbing her with a white oak stake. And, I figured, since you're such a powerful witch, maybe you could do a tracking spell or something? To see if she's alive, or if she's still in her coffin… I don't know. It's probably really stupid, but there's a part of me that feels like she's still here. Maybe it's just me hoping…"

Esther looked at me as if she'd gotten an idea. "Emma, there is a good chance that Juliana is still alive," she assured me. "If Mikael would have killed her, really killed her, I would have been able to sense it on the other side. It's likely that she is lying in a coffin in the middle of nowhere, waiting to be undaggered."

My eyes widened and I felt a new hope course through my veins. "So you'll do the spell?" I exclaimed.

Esther nodded and jumped off the bed. "Of course. As a matter of fact, I'll start right now, but I need something from you," I Esther said. "I cannot do the spell without a personal belonging of your mother's. If you could bring me one tomorrow, I'd greatly appreciate it."

I nodded vigorously. "Of course," I said and started to make my way out of the room but then I stopped myself. "Esther, thank you so much. You don't know how much this means to me." I smiled.

Esther smiled back. "Oh, Emma. I'm only trying to bring your mother back to you, and if I cannot do that, I pray this will at least bring you closure. Now, it's nearly four in the morning. You should really head home, or else your father will worry."

I suddenly remembered that my dad was probably waiting up for me, so I quickly thanked Esther once more and sprinted to my car. I had a feeling that Damon would be pissed.

"Hello!" I called as I walked into my house. I didn't get a response so I took off my shoes and walked towards the living room. "Damon? Are you here?" I shouted, peeking into the empty room. "Dad?" I asked, starting to panic a bit. Damon was always here, and if he wasn't he always called. I waited a few seconds for an answer before I bounded up the stairs and ran right into Damon.

I had barely stepped away from him before he started in.

"Emma Salvatore, do you know what time it is?" He glared.

"Um… Time to get a watch?" I innocently smiled, praying that his mood would improve. Unfortunately, his frosty expression didn't change.

"Look, Damon, I'm really sorry I'm home so late. I just lost track of time."

"You could've at least called to let me know you weren't dead!" he shouted.

"Sorry, my phone is dead. And you should know what Elijah wouldn't let anything bad happen to me," I replied, starting to get defensive. He was really starting to piss me off.

"That's no excuse! I bet Elijah has a phone," Damon mumbled.

I sighed in defeat. "I'm sorry I didn't call. I didn't know you'd get so worked up over it. But could you not bring Elijah into this?"

"Of course I'm getting 'worked up over it,' Emma! You were in a house with five Originals!" Damon shot back.

"Oh my God! I said I was sorry! Is that not enough for you?" I exclaimed. "If anyone should be sorry it's you," I said, poking him in the chest. "You didn't give a single damn when Klaus took me and used me as a pawn! You didn't feel anything!"

"Emma, that's not how it is," Damon started but I quickly cut him off.

"Oh, save it," I spat, and ran to my room, slamming the door with a loud bang. I then locked the door and walked over to my window seat, watching the sun start to come up. I'd had a good night, and now Damon had to ruin it.

"Em, I'm sorry," Damon called from the other side of the door. "Can you let me in? We need to talk."

"No," I replied and examined my nails.

"Emma, please…" He started again. I didn't even answer him that time. I suddenly heard Damon grumble "Fine. I guess we'll have to do this the hard way," and seconds later he tore my doorknob off my door. I rolled my eyes but didn't turn away from the window.

"Your room is a mess," Damon said as he stepped over a pile of clothes near the door.

"Don't try to make conversation, just get to the point please," I mumbled.

"I'm very sorry if you think I didn't care about Klaus holding you hostage. I did care, more than you know, but I couldn't let Klaus know that. It would just give him more incentive to hurt you."

I nodded. "I know, I know. I just wanted an excuse to yell back at you." I mumbled.

Damon lightly chuckled and sat down on my bed. "So. How's Elijah?"

"Good," I replied. It was quickly getting very awkward.

Damon nodded. "Good…"

I smiled and turned around to face him. "You can go now. I'm not mad anymore, and I promise I'll call next time I stay out this late."

Damon breathed a sigh of relief and hopped off the bed. "Thank God. It was starting to get weird. You'll have to tell me all about Momma Original in the morning, though."

I laughed and shooed him out of my room. "I will, I will. But now all I want to do is sleep, so goodnight Damon." And then I slammed the door in his face.

"Night Em!" Damon shouted.

I rolled my eyes and got into bed, trying to avoid thinking about my mother. "Tomorrow," I whispered. "I'll think about that tomorrow."