Ghost World:
I woke up to the sound of my cell ringing. I rolled over and fumbled for it on the bedside table blindly. My hand finally found the cold phone and I held it up to my ear without opening my eyes to check the caller ID.
"Somebody better be dead or they soon will be." I growled into the phone and someone chuckled at my warning.
"Don't be like that, beauty." Nik said to me through the phone and I smiled a little at the sound of his voice.
"You're interrupting my beauty sleep, Niklaus." I said jokingly as I sat up on the bed. He chuckled in my ear and it brought a smile to my lips.
"You don't need beauty sleep, Ellyse. You are already stunning."
"How are you?" I asked him tiredly.
"I'm missing you. That's what I'm doing."
"That's very cheesy, Nik." I pointed out with a laugh. I heard a noise in the background of the call and Nik growled impatiently at the person talking to him.
"I'm afraid I have to go, beauty. I'll call you later." He told me apologetically.
"It's fine. I miss you, Nik." I said to him with a sad sigh.
"I miss you too, Ellyse." He said before hanging up the phone. I sighed as I rolled over onto my stomach and buried my head into the pillow. I lifted my head up and glanced at the alarm clock on the bedside table. I groaned when I saw that it was seven thirty and I didn't have school today. I knew that once I was awake I wouldn't be able to go back to sleep so I got out of bed and decided to go for a run. I walked over to my closet and got changed into some comfortable running clothes. I was walking downstairs when I heard someone groaning in pain in the living room. I hurried down the rest of the stairs and then burst out laughing when I saw Damon Salvatore tied to chair in the middle of the room. He looked up when he heard my laughing and glowered at me.
"Well, this is kinky, isn't it?" I asked rhetorically as I walked closer to him with my hands behind my back.
"Are you just going to stand there or are you going to help me?" he asked me rudely and I smiled back innocently.
"Why would I help you?" I asked him and he just continued to glare at me. I shrugged my shoulders at him as he tried to intimidate me into helping him. "I'm dating Klaus, Damon, you don't frighten me."
"Help me." he ordered and I glared back defiantly. I crossed my arms over my chest and looked him over.
"Ask nicely." I demanded and raised an eyebrow at him when he scoffed at my request. When he didn't say anything after a moment, I shrugged and turned on my heel. I was at the door when I turned back and smiled at him. "Well?" I asked again but he still didn't say anything to me. I blew him a kiss and walked out the door. At the end of the driveway, I took for in a run. I was heading towards the forest at a brisk pace. I sighed happily as I ran. In Chicago I used to run all the time and it was nice to get back to something at was considerably normal for me. The air in Mystic Falls was different to the big city. It was somehow fresher and crisper. I started to slow down as I entered a small clearing in the middle of the forest. I came to a complete stop and put my hands on my knees to calm my breathing. I heard something move in the trees and my head snapped up. I looked around the clearing, looking for signs of movement. I could feel my heart racing but I didn't know if it was from nerves or from my run. I breathed a sigh of relief when I didn't see anything and turned around. I gasped in surprise and jumped when I saw a figure on the other side of the clearing. They figure took a step closer and I could finally make out their features.
"Isobel?" I asked in a shocked whisper. I shook my head to clear it because I was obviously going crazy. "No. No. No. No." I repeated over and over again as tears formed in my eyes. My birth mother smiled at me gently and took another step closer to me. I knew that my bottom lip was trembling and I was on the verge of crying but I tried to hold them at bay. When I had first left Mystic Falls, Isobel found me in Chicago. We had gotten quite close before she had to go on a business trip and never came back. She had been killed while working. I knew that she was vampire as well but that didn't really bother me. Especially, since I was dating one.
"Hello, Ellyse." Isobel greeted me as she reached up and wiped a tear from my cheek. I closed my eyes at her touch and finally let myself believe that she was real. I couldn't help it anymore so I pulled her into an embrace. I buried my head into the crook of her neck as I sobbed. Isobel chuckled softly and stroked my hair. "I've missed you too sweetheart." She whispered in my ear and I finally looked up at her. She smiled at me gently and I smiled back and choked out a laugh.
"What are you doing here? You died." I said sadly and she nodded in agreement.
"I have to make sure you're safe." She explained and I frowned in confusion.
"What do you mean?" I asked her curiously as I cocked my head to the side, a mannerism I had picked up from Isobel. Isobel smiled at me sadly and caressed my cheek one more time. I took a surprised step backwards as her face transformed in a vampiric mask. I swallowed roughly and looked at her with wide eyes. Using her vampire speed, she rushed at me and bit into my neck. I screamed mostly in surprise and pain as I felt my blood being sucked out of me. It was different to the feeling I got when I offered my blood to Nik. This time all I felt was pain and betrayal and fear as Isobel's teeth latched onto my neck. She let go of me fast and I collapsed onto the ground as she dropped me. I pressed my hand to my neck and gazed up at her with wide eyes. I watched helplessly as Isobel bit into her own wrist and then moved it to my mouth. I protested as she forced me to drink but she was stronger than me. I tried not to swallow any of her blood but I couldn't help it. I felt the metallic liquid run down my throat and I gagged on it. Isobel pulled her wrist away and I coughed trying to get the blood back up but it was pointless. I broke down crying on my knees and Isobel knelt down next to me.
"Why?" I asked her through my sobs. My birth mother tried to sooth me as I cried.
"It needs to be done, sweetie." Isobel whispered to me. I looked up at her and she smiled slightly. The next thing I heard was a snap and then all I knew was black.
"When you see my face, hope it gives you hell, hope it gives you hell. When you walk my way, hope it gives you hell, hope it gives you hell. If you find a man that's worth a damn and treats you well, then he's a fool, you're just as well, hope it gives you hell, I hope it gives you hell." I sang along with you radio in my car. I had just had an argument with Jeremy and had decided to go for a drive in my car. Ever since our parents had died in a car accident, Jeremy had been hostile to me and Elena. It really was driving me crazy that he was being so bratty. It was driving at night and wasn't really watching the road. I looked out to the road and saw a black silhouette in the middle of the road. I leaned forward and squinted, trying to see what it was. I got closer and gasped when I when I recognised the silhouette as a person. The person didn't move as got closer to them. The headlights hit them and I pulled the car over in my shock. I stumbled out of the car and slammed the door.
"Elena?!" I yelled out to my sister. She turned to look at me, cocking her head to the side. She looked different then she did when I saw her an hour ago at home. She was wearing a different outfit and her hair was curly when it was normally straight. I walked closer to her and grabbed her arm carefully. She looked down at my hand and then back up at me. "Are you okay, Elena? What are you doing here?" I asked her concerned. She looked at me and smiled a little.
"Oh, Ellyse. You remind me so much of myself. Well, the human version of myself." Elena said, confusing me greatly. I frowned at her and she smiled at me in pity. "You are so kind and sweet and yet you have the seductive and manipulative streak in you as well. True Petrova fire."
"Elena, you're freaking me out." I told her with a little laugh as I hugged my arms around myself against the cold. I looked around the road and noticed that we were still in the middle of nowhere. "We should move."
"I like you, Ellie. So, I'm going to do you a favour."
"Elena, you're scaring me." I told her sternly.
"I'm not Elena." She told me, and I eyed her in confusion. "My name is Katherine."
"Elena, stop being stupid." I said to her and shook my head. Katherine tilted her head to the side again and smirked. She looked so different from Elena at that moment that I almost believed her. I watched in morbid fascination as her pretty features transformed into the face of a demon. Her eyes turned black and the veins around her eyes became more prominent. Her teeth transformed into fangs and I sucked in a sharp breath as I backed away. "Oh, my god." I muttered to myself as I turned to run away. I shrieked a little as Katherine suddenly appeared in front of me. I knew that tears were running down my cheeks so I wiped at them harshly. I didn't want to be any weaker than what I was. Katherine took a step closer to me and I immediately stiffened at her proximity. She grabbed hold of my face and tilted my head so that I was looking into her eyes. I saw her pupils dilate and I couldn't look away from her.
"You're going to get in your car and drive. You're going to leave Mystic Falls behind and not come back. All you'll know is that you hate Elena and you had to get away from her. She said horrible things to you and you hate her for it. Someday soon your uncle John is going to come and see you. He is going to tell you all about vampire and you're going to believe him immediately. Once you get in the car, you won't remember meeting me." Katherine ordered me and I absently nodded. "Good girl." She said as she kissed my cheek and then she was gone. I looked around for her but she was just gone. I slowly walked back to the car, looking over my shoulder as I did. I climbed in the car and turned on the engine.
"Why am I pulled over?" I wondered to myself out loud. I shook my head and pulled back onto the road. I didn't have a destination in mind but I just had to get the hell away from Elena.
I awakened with a gasped as I sat up.
"Oh my god. Oh my god." I cried to myself. I pulled my knees up to my chest and rocked back and forth as I cried. I looked around for Isobel but she wasn't anywhere to be found. My stomach was growling but I didn't know what I craved and then I remembered. Blood. I wanted blood.
I walked around the room, smiling softly to myself when I saw a stack of photos on the counter. I glance over my shoulder even though I knew that Nik was out today. I grinned cheekily to myself as I picked up the photos and skipped over to the bed. I sat down cross legged and got comfortable. I picked up the first photo and saw a beautiful blonde girl around seventeen smiling at the camera. I noticed the similarities to Nik immediately and guessed that this must have been his younger sister Rebekah. I flipped the photo over and saw Nik had written one word on the back, Rebekah, confirming my suspicions. I put that photo to the side and picked up the next one. It was a smiling Nik with a handsome man, both dressed in twenties clothing. I smiled at the picture and flipped it over to read the words, me and Stefan. Setting that picture aside, I picked up the next one and gasped when I recognised the girl in the photo.
"Elena?" I whispered to myself before I flipped the photo over in confusion so that I could read the name on the back, Katerina. I felt my eyes go wide as I read the name because I remembered Nik telling me that the last doppelgänger's name was Katerina Petrova. I dropped the photo in shock as I realised that Elena was the doppelgänger. My twin sister was the key to reversing the curse put on Niklaus by the Original witch and turning Nik into a hybrid.
"No, no, no, no." I muttered to myself as I gathered the photo and stood up to put them back where I found them.
"What's that, beauty?" I heard a charming British voice say from the doorway behind me and I gasped and turned around in surprise. I swallowed nervously and licked my dry lips.
"Nothing." I lied to him, tucking a piece of hair behind my ear. His eyes narrowed at me and I instinctively took a step backwards as he stalked towards me. I hated Elena but she was still my twin sister and I didn't want any harm to come to her. I especially didn't want her to be sacrificed by my boyfriend.
"You're lying to me." Nik accused me and I frowned up at him in confusion, wondering how he had known. I laughed nervously and tried to walk past him.
"No, I'm not." I lied again and tried to get to the door but he stepped in front of me and grabbed my arm toughly. I looked down at my arm where he still had a hold of me in shock because he had never been tough with me before. I looked up into his eyes and he put one hand on my cheek to keep me from turning my head.
"I really hate having to do this, Ellyse." He said to me with a small smile and I frowned at him. I watched as he eyes narrowed into slits and my mind became blank. "What were you just doing?" he asked me and I couldn't help but reply honestly.
"Looking at your photos."
"Why did you lie to me about it?"
"I didn't want you to know that I recognised one of the people in the photo." I stated honestly and he frowned in confusion. He let go of my face and walked over to the photos. I watched him sort through them and bring back two, the photo of him and Stefan and the one of Katerina. He held up the two photos and locked gazes with me again.
"Which one do you recognise?" he asked me.
"Katerina." I told him sincerely and he frowned.
"You know Katerina?"
"No." I said to him and his eyes widened in surprise and once the shock had worn off he looked delighted.
"Who is it?" he asked me excitedly.
"My twin sister, Elena." I told him and he frowned again. He looked away from me and started pacing the room as I just watched him nervously. Every now and again he would look over at me but I just looked anywhere not at him. After a good five minutes, he stopped pacing and came to stand in front of me again. He placed a hand on either side of my head and looked deep into my eyes.
"I never wanted to do this to you but I've been waiting one thousand years to reserve the curse placed on me by my mother. I want you to forget that you found the photos today. All you'll know is that Elena has to die in the sacrifice and you are okay with that. You understand why it has to be done." He said softly and then placed a kiss on my forehead. As soon as he dropped his hands from my face and I shook my head and smiled up at him.
"Hey, I'm going to start dinner. Do you want anything special?" I asked him happily as I walked out of the room.
I cried to myself silently as I packed a suitcase. I needed to move quickly because I didn't want to run into him on the way out. I knew that he would try to stop me from leaving. I grabbed clothes from the closet and stuffed them into the suitcase. I froze when I heard the front door open. "Crap!" I swore to myself and quickened my pace. I threw in anything I could get my hands on. I wasn't paying attention to what I was putting into the suitcase because I knew that I could get new clothing anytime. I took a deep breath and rubbed the tears off my cheeks harshly. I closed the suitcase and picked it up. I walked out of the room as confidently as I could but I knew that my heart was racing. I almost backed out of leaving when I saw Nik standing in the kitchen with his back to me. He turned around when I walked further into the room. His charming smile that normally calmed me fell when his gaze landed on the suitcase in my hand. I took a deep breath and walked towards the door.
"Ellyse, where are you going?" Nik asked me as he walked around the kitchen island and came to stand in front of me. He went to reach for my arms but I took a step back because I knew that if I let him touch me my resolve would fall and I would end up staying with him. I licked my bottom lip nervously and looked up at him through heavy eyes.
"I'm leaving, Nik." I told him, trying to keep my voice from shaking. He took a step backwards and shook his head at me furiously.
"No." he said matter-of-factly and I frowned at him as he started pacing in front of me.
"It's not up to you."
"No, you aren't leaving." He growled at me and my calm demeanour cracked and I started to get angry that he was trying to control me.
"It's not your decision! I'm leaving!" I yelled at him and he stopped pacing to glare at me. His hard gaze pierced into me and stood up straighter. "I can't keep doing this, Nik." I said softly.
"Doing what, Ellyse?" he asked me and I could hear the anger in his tone.
"Coming second best." I said plainly with a shrug of my shoulders. I could tell that he knew exactly what I was talking about because his lips pressed together in a hard line.
"You can't leave me!" he screamed at me and took a step forward in anger.
"What are you going to do, Nik!? Put a dagger in my heart? Trust me, I won't wake up like your siblings!" I yelled straight back at him. I took a deep breath to calm down and frowned when I saw tears trailing down his sculpted cheeks. "I'm sorry." I said to him softly and I turned around. I had just reached for the doorknob when I roughly turned around to face him. My gaze locked with his before I could look away from his hypnotising blue eyes.
"You can't leave me, Ellyse. I love you. I know that it is selfish to let myself love you. I know you are human and deserve a human life but I am selfish. You already know that. I want you to forget that you were leaving. You are going to remember that I love you more than anything and you will stay with me." he said softly and I blinked rapidly as he looked away. I frowned in confusion as Nik took a step away from me. I looked down at the suitcase in my hand.
"Why am I carrying a suitcase?" I asked my boyfriend in confusion.
I gaped as I woke up from another memory and I shuttered at the sensitivity of my skin as a leaf flew past me. I groaned as my stomach cramped up and I keeled over onto myself. I didn't know what to do. I was in transition to be a vampire. I didn't know whether or not I even wanted to be a vampire. I took a deep breath to try and calm down. I fumbled to get my cell phone out of my pocket. My hands were trembling as I searched through my contacts. I found to number I was looking for and hit the touch screen with shaking hands.
"Hello?" a familiar British voice said over the line.
"Rebekah? I need help." I admitted in a small voice.
A couple of minutes later Rebekah arrived at the clearing and approached me slowly. As soon as she was in arms reach, a collapsed into her, sobbing uncontrollably. She stroked my hair and made cooing noises to calm me down. The next thing I knew I was at the boarding house in my bedroom. Rebekah laid me down on my bed and sat down next to me as I explained to her what had happened to me.
"Are you going to turn?" she asked me softly and I wiped my cheeks now that I had stopped crying.
"I don't know." I admitted equally as soft. My friend just smiled gently at me and held my hand in silent support. "Can you please get me some water, Bek?"
"Sure, I'll be right back." She replied as she kissed my forehead and left the room.
"Damon?" I heard a familiar voice call out from down stairs and I cringed at the volume because I wasn't used to the sensitive vampire hearing yet. I closed my eyes against the pain. I took a deep breath through my nose and instantly regretted it. A froze as the smell of blood hit me. my jaw started aching and I knew that it was because of my new fangs. "Damon?" Elena called out again and gripped my fingers into the bed sheet to stop myself from going to her and sinking my fangs into her neck. I heard her footsteps get closer to the room I had taken over and turned to see her stopped in the doorway. I saw her eyes widen in shock and then her lips started moving, shaping words but I couldn't hear her. All my attention was on her jugular. I watched intently as the blood pulsed through her veins. I so was hungry in that moment. I couldn't help it any longer. I used my new vampire strength to run over to my twin sister and push her up against the wall next to the door. I sunk my fangs into the thick vein along her neck. I savoured the delicious taste of blood as it hit my taste bloods. I moaned in delight as I experienced a kind of euphoria I had never experienced as a human. I felt someone stronger than I pull me away from Elena and I struggled against them, wanting to go back to feeding. Someone grabbed my shoulder to keep my still and tilted my head up so that I had to look them in the eye. I focused on the green eyes peering at me.
"Take a deep breath through your mouth." Stefan demanded softly and I did as I told. The pleasure I had taken in the feeding was immediately replaced by guilt and I broke down sobbing in his arms. He wrapped strong arms around me and I sunk it the floor with him. I felt someone sit down next to us and stroke my hair out of my face. I looked over my shoulder and saw Rebekah sitting there so I smiled softly at my friend and she returned it. I glanced over at Elena, who was standing over pressed up against the door in Damon's arms. She had her hand pressed against her neck to stop the bleeding but I couldn't focus on that right now. I saw the fear and hatred in Elena's eyes a broke down sobbing again.
I was now a vampire but I had forever lost my twin sister.