Rebekah and I drove into in comfortable silence as we neared Mystic Falls. I had been fine the whole road trip, even played stupid driving games with Bec, but as we neared my hometown I felt as if I was about to drown in the memories of my past. The small town held so many reminders of people I knew I would never see again. My mother, my father, my aunt Jenna, my biological father, John. And Elena, my twin.
"It sure looks different from when I was here last." Bec commented as we drove past The Grill. She looked at me out of the corner of her eye and I knew she was trying to distract me with silly conversation.
"Last time you were here was a thousand years ago." I reminded her with a smile. "If everything was the same, then we'd have a problem."
"That's true."
"Anyway, I happen to think that it looks better with plumbing and electricity." I joked and she smiled as she pulled into the spot next to the moving truck that Nik was driving. I knew that the coffins that held his remaining daggered family were stored in the back of it and that they currently had Stefan to keep them company. Nik had already been here a day and a half trying to work out what went wrong with the sacrifice.
"How is it that you are driving a sports car and I still bet you here in a truck?" Nik teased me when we stepped up to him.
"Well you didn't have to teach someone who has been dead for 90 years how to drive." I explained before going up on my tiptoes and giving him a kiss. He smiled at me and then turned back to Rebekah with a serious expression.
"I need you to babysit your boy toy, love." He told her. "He shouldn't give you any trouble, seeing as how he currently has a broken neck."
"Fine." She huffed. "And where will you be?"
"I found what went wrong with the sacrifice." He growled. "Apparently the doppelgänger is still alive."
"Elena's alive?" I repeated, shocked. Nik nodded and I frowned and looked away.
"When he wakes up bring him over to the high school." He instructed Rebekah, who nodded and climbed up into the trunk with Stefan's dead body. "Come on, beauty." Nik said as he tugged on my hand.
-––-
About twenty minutes later, I was waiting in the high school gym behind the bleachers. I didn't want any of the students currently filling paper cups with water to recognise me, even though that probably would be been impossible. After I left Mystic Falls I did everything I could think of to change who I was. My naturally strawberry blond hair was auburn and I now wore green contacts over the muddy brown I was born with. I changed my hair and my sense of style and didn't regret a minute of it. I few minutes later I heard the gym doors open and two people walk inside. I peeked around the corner and Nik come in dragging Elena behind him.
"Attention, seniors. You have officially been busted. Prank night is over. Head on home." He called in a faked American accent that made me giggle. He noticed two students that lagged behind the moaning teens. "You two. I remember you." He says in his normal British drawl.
"I'm sorry. Who are you?" the girl asks.
"Oh, don't worry, I wasn't in my right head last time we met." He states. "Lift your foot up, please, Dana." He compels her before turning to the boy standing next to her. "If she drops her foot, Chad, I want you to beat her to death. Understood?"
"Don't, Klaus. You don't have to hurt anybody." Elena pleads with him, uselessly.
"Oh, come on, love. Of course I do." He replies with a smirk. I take that as me cue and walk out from behind the bleaches.
"There's a difference between having too and wanting too." I point out with a smile, which he returns.
"Not really in regards to me, beauty."
"True." I conceded with a shrug. I look over to Elena, who is looking at me with a confused look on her face.
"Do I know you?" she asked me. I smile at her and shake my head sadly.
"No, Elena. You don't know me at all." I answer truthfully. I walk over to the bleaches a sit down so I can watch what's going to happen. When Nik told me that Elena was still a alive I felt a pang of something that might have been relief, but when she didn't recognise me, her own twin, that pang you relief formed into a pit of anger.
"Keep it up." Nik said and I looked over to see who he was talking to. The girl that he had compelled, Dana, was wavering on her right leg. Nik let go of Elena and she moved away, closer to Dana and chad, while Nik came and sat next to me.
"Where's Stefan? What did you do to him?" Elena demanded from her seat on the ground.
"Stefan's on a time out." Nik stated.
"He was a bad boy." I added with a pretend pout, which turned into a smile when Elena glared at me. The doors to the gym opened again and we all turned to see Elena's best friend Bonnie Bennet and her ex-boyfriend, Matt Donavan enter the gym.
"Bonnie, get out of here!" Elena calls when sees them.
"Ah, I was wondering when you'd show up. Now we can get started." Nik said as he blurred closer to the young witch. He looks at Dana.
"Ah, Dana, why don't you relax? You and Chad sit tight." He compels them and they crumble to the ground in tears. Nik turns back to Bonnie for an explanation.
"I assume you're the reason Elena's still walking around alive"
"That's right. If you want to blame someone, blame me."
"Oh, there's no need for blame, love. Just your witchy interference seems to have caused some undesirable side effects. And since you caused the problem, I'm going to have you find the fix." He chuckles. Just then the doors open once more and Rebekah enters with Tyler Lockwood. I immediately sit up straighter because Tyler and I used to be friends and I had no idea he was a werewolf.
"I'd like you all to meet my sister Rebekah. Word of warning... She can be quite mean." Nik says, gesturing to Bec.
"Don't be an ass." We both say at the same time. Rebekah throws Tyler into Nik's arms and Elena calls out.
"Leave him alone!"
"I'm going to make this very simple... Every time I attempt to turn a werewolf into a vampire hybrid, they die during the transition. It's quite horrible, actually." Nik says to everyone in the room, ignoring Elena. Then he bities his wrist and makes Tyler drink his blood. "I need you to find a way to save my hybrids, Bonnie. And for Tyler's sake... You better hurry." He says to the young witch and then snaps the werewolf's neck. Elena, Matt and Bonnie are shocked at what just happened.
"He killed him." Matt state lamely from next to Tyler and I roll my eyes.
"He's not dead. Klaus's blood will turn him into a vampire." Elena explains.
"And if Bonnie's successful, he'll live through his transition. Go on, then. Go and fetch your grimoires. and enchantments and what-not. I'll hold on to Elena... For safe-keeping." Nik said with a smile at the witch before grabbing Elena arm. Elena nods bonnie and her and matt quickly leave the room. I walk up to Nik's side at Tyler dead body.
"If he dies, you're getting the silent treatment for a week." I say casually. Nik turns to me with a frown.
"And why is that, beauty?"
"Because he was a friend once upon a time." I state and move back over to my spot on the bleaches while Nik just frowns at me and Elena looks at me curiously again. I smile at her and she fidgets uncomfortably. Rebekah looks at Elena and circles her like a predator.
"So this is the latest doppelgänger." She states of obvious. "The original one was much prettier." She says, making me laugh out loud.
"Enough, Rebekah. Take the wolf boy elsewhere, would you?" Nik asks her and she nods. I jump down from my seat and walk over to Bec and Nik.
"I'm going to go too." I tell him. "As much as I'm okay with her dying, I'd not watch you kill my twin." I say as I walk out the door with Rebekah and Tyler's body. The last thing I hear is Elena's questioning voice call out.
"Ellyse!?"
Rebekah and I are sitting in one the hallways at the high school and Tyler's dead body is lying next to the dead body of Caroline Forbes. Rebekah is playing with Caroline's cell phone and she's surprisingly good at it. Especially considering I only taught her how last night.
"We'll need to get you your own phone." I comment as I play Angry Birds on my own iPhone.
"We didn't have mobile telephones in my day. Would have made life a whole lot easier, I suppose." She admits to me with a smile. Rebekah aims the phones camera and we take a phone together just as Caroline wakes up.
"Where's Tyler?" is the first thing she asks us.
"He's dead. Ish." Bec tells her matter-of-factly. Caroline looks around and spots him lying a few feet away.
"What did you do to him?" she cries as she rushes to his side.
"Think of it as he's having a nap. When he wakes up, he'll be a hybrid." I explain to her with a smile. I never really liked Caroline. Rebekah giggles and looks through the photos on Caroline's phone.
"Ugh. Vomit." Rebekah comments and I look over her shoulder and see a photo of Stefan and Elena together. I scrunch my nose up at the phone, in silent support of Rebekah. Bec looks at the photo intently. "Is that my neck..." she drifts off and zooms in on necklace around Elena's neck. She gasps and shoves the phone in front of Caroline.
"Why is that doppelgänger bitch wearing my necklace?!"
Rebekah and I leave Caroline and Tyler's body and rush back to the gym where we see Stefan feeding Chad and Dana's dead boy. Rebekah ignores all of that and runs straight at Elena, still wielding the cell phone.
"Where is it?! Where's my necklace?" she screamed to Elena.
"What is she talking about?" Nik asks me as I walk up next to him.
"She has my necklace. Look." Bec says before I have a chance to explain the situation. She gives him the phone so he can see the picture of Elena and Stefan.
"Well, well. More lies." Nik says to Stefan.
"Where...is it?" Rebekah asks Elena again menacingly.
"I don't have it anymore." Elena stammers but Rebekah takes another step forward.
"You're lying!" she screams before vamping out and biting Elena on the neck. I take a step back, not wanting to be involved the dispute. Nik throws Rebekah off of Elena and the doppelgänger falls to the floor.
"Knock it off!"
"Make her tell me where it is, Nik!" Bec demands and I have to control myself from laughing because seeing a thousand year old vampire throwing a tantrum. I thought Bec might have even stamped her foot. Elena had her hand pressed up against the bite on her neck and I can see the fear in her eyes as Nik crouches down to eyelevel.
"Where's the necklace, sweetheart? Be honest." He asks her pleasantly.
"I'm telling the truth. Katherine stole it."
"Katerina. Of course. Well, that's unfortunate." He replies as he stands back up. "If we had the necklace it would make things a whole lot easier for your witch, but since we're doing this the hard way, let's put a clock on it, shall we?" he asks rhetorically as he walks over to the score board and switches it on and the number 20.00 appeared on the board. He directs what he says next to Stefan. "20 minutes. If Bonnie hasn't found a solution by then, I want you to feed again. Only this time, I want you to feed on Elena. You know you want to."
"No, Klaus! Don't do this to him!" Elena cries. She turns to me. "Please! Make him stop, Ellyse."
"I would, but I really don't care either way. So why bother?" I say with a smile and walk over to a smirking Rebekah.
"You're my sister!" Elena calls out and I feel rage flood my veins.
"Sisters?" I scream at her. "When you want something we are sisters, but when I needed help where were you?"
"Why are you acting like this?" she cries and I really want to hit her. Bec puts her hand on my back and its only then I notice the tears running down my face.
"No one leaves. If she tries to run, fracture her spine." Nik tells Stefan and then the three of us walk out the gym door. Once we're far enough away, Nik turns to me with a concerned expression. "You okay, love?"
"I'll be fine." I say with a smile and I confident nod. Nik smirks at me and kisses my cheek.
"Rebekah go find the werewolf and put him in a classroom. Don't any unwanted attention."
"Fine, but I'm taking Ellyse with me." She compromises. Nik gives her a sceptical look and she continues. "I don't want her in there with the doppelgänger bitch and I'll be bored if I'm alone." She explains and I laugh at her assessment of Elena but entwine my arm with hers and we stroll back to where we left Caroline and Tyler. When we reach them we see that Tyler is still dead and Caroline is still crouched over his body. I open the nearest classroom door and make sure that it's clear before signalling Rebekah. She pushes Caroline in first and then strolls in carrying Tyler's body as if it weighs nothing. As soon as Rebekah puts Tyler down on a vacant table he sits up and gasps. Caroline rushes over to her boyfriend and Bec and I get comfortable on the teacher's desk.
"Where am I? What happened?" he asks, gasping for breath.
"Tyler…" Caroline starts warily.
"Don't be shy about it." I say and Rebekah laughs.
"What's going on?" he asks again.
"Klaus is turning you into a vampire. A hybrid. You're in transition." Caroline tells him sadly.
"Don't leave out the hard part, sweets. You'll only survive if your witch is successful. If not..." Rebekah informs him.
"You're pretty much dead." I finish a little sadly and Tyler starts to panic.
"You're going to be ok. Ok? It's going to be ok." Caroline tries to calm him down.
"I wonder how she's doing." I say offhandedly and Rebekah looks at the time on Caroline's phone that she still had.
"Tick tock goes the gym clock." She comments, making me smile. Tyler looks at me curiously.
"Ellyse?" he asks. I smile in response and Caroline's head snaps around to look at me.
"Hi, Ty." I say with a grin. "I really hope you don't die."
"Thanks." He says with a smile his own and Caroline just glares at me.
"What the hell happened to you?" she snaps. I just shrug in response.
"People change, Caroline. Hell, you're a vampire. Tyler's a werewolf. Slash maybe vampire." I finish with a confused frown and Bec and Tyler both laugh with me. Caroline just scowls at me and I shrug my shoulders, not really caring about her opinion.
Nik walks into the classroom not long after that and I was thankful because I was getting sick of Caroline scowling in my direction.
"Well, the verdict's in. The original witch says the doppelgänger should be dead." He announces and Rebekah jumps down from the desk.
"Does that mean we can kill her?" she asks happily and I smile at her enthusiasm.
"No, I'm fairly certain it means the opposite."
"What?!" Rebekah asks, put out that she doesn't get to kill my sister.
"Call it a hunch..." Nik drifts off as he pulls out a test tube filled with blood. Nik walks closer to Tyler and Rebekah grabs hold of Caroline when she tries to protect him. "Elena's blood. Drink it."
"No! No, no, no, Tyler, don't!" Caroline cries from Rebekah's grasp.
"If he doesn't feed, he'll die anyway, love. Consider this an experiment."
"If he does die, I'm going to silent treatment your ass." I remind him and he frowns up at me while Rebekah laughs in delight. Tyler struggles in Nik's grasp but finally drinks the vial of Elena's blood.
"There we go. Good boy." Nik practically coos as if talking to a puppy not a werewolf and I can't help a giggle. Tyler suddenly jumps from the table and rolls on to the floor in pain. He screams and groans and writhes on the ground while we all watch in awe. He holds his head and screams but his face finally changes. His eyes are yellow, he has fangs and veins under his eyes. "Well, that's a good sign."
Nik, Rebekah and I are waiting out the front of Mystic Falls hospital where Elena is 'donating' her blood.
"So the doppelgänger isn't the problem. Her blood is the solution." I comment from my spot in Nik's arms.
"Seems so." Nik says as he kisses my cheek. Rebekah is sitting on the hood of a car and frowns down at us.
"How did you know?" she asks her brother.
"Well, you know how much the original witch hated me. Do you honestly think I would do anything other than the opposite of what she says?" he explains to us.
"A thousand years in the grave and she's still screwing with you." Rebekah laughs out loud at her brother expense.
"Well, it makes sense if you think about it from her perspective. It was her failsafe in case I ever broke the hybrid curse. The doppelgänger had to die in order for me to become a hybrid, but if she was dead..."
"Then you couldn't use her blood to sire yourself a new species." I finish for him when he drifts off.
"Leaving me alone for all time."
"Is that what this is about? Your obsession with hybrids. You just don't want to be alone?" Rebekah asks incredulously. I look at the ground because I've already asked this question before.
"What I want is to take my girl, take my doppelgänger, and take my hybrid the hell out of this one pony town. You know, why don't you, uh, why don't you get the truck? I'll get Elena." He tells her avoiding answering the question, just like every time I had asked him. Rebekah slides down from the hood and frowns at him.
"I'm going to go with, Bec. She's not the world's best driver yet." I explain with a chuckle. Before I leave I turn around to face him and kiss him passionately.
"So, where are you heading now?" I ask him with a coy smile.
"Portland." He answers me with a smile of his own. I scrunch my nose up at his answer and he laughs at me. "Oregon not your cup of tea, beauty?" he asks.
"No way." I say as I wrap my hands around his neck.
"Going to head back to Chicago?" he asks as he walks me backwards into the bedroom.
"Think I might stay here in Mystic Falls." I reply after thinking about.
"Why?" he asks, confused. I smile up at him.
"Because it will annoy Elena and all her friends." I say with a chuckle, making him laugh as well. "Plus, Stefan and Tyler are here so it'll be safe." I assure him. Nik just nods and lifts me into his arms and threw me onto the bed, making me laugh out and reach out for him. If I wasn't going to see him for a while, I was going to make the time we had together count.