There was a breeze that ruffled Elena's clothing, and Katherine was gone. Klaus just laughed. "Ah, Katerina. So predictable. Always running at the slightest hint of danger." He turned his pale blue gaze on her, licked his too-red lips. "Not like you, in that way. You never run, do you? Not even when you should."
Elena heard his words, knew how dangerous he was just now, but she still couldn't process all the new information fast enough. It didn't make sense. Why would Klaus send her the dreams? Katherine lived to make those around her miserable, especially if they were a Salvatore. But it wasn't her. And Stefan, with those conflicted emotions he refused to allow himself to feel, it even would have made sense coming from him, as he tried to save her from the "bad" brother. But Klaus? What possible reason could he have to come between her and Damon—in driving her back into Stefan's arms?
And why was he here now, confessing? Shit. He knew. He knew about the spell Esther had cast, knew they were linked now and she was to blame. He'd come to taunt her one last time. Well, if she died taking him out, that would be all right. Damon would find a way to survive without her. They all would.
"Why?" she asked simply.
"Why should you run? Oh, love, do I really need to explain that to you?" he asked, settling himself down in the chair she'd vacated, clasping his hands around his knee.
"Why did you send the dreams, Klaus?" she asked.
"Oh. Those." He shrugged, gesturing for her to take the chair opposite him. "Please, sit. It's long past time you and I had a little chat, Elena."
Elena hesitated, but did as he asked, perching awkwardly on the edge of the chair, her back straight as a ramrod. His gaze made her skin crawl.
"Much better. Now, then. The dreams." He scratched his neck. "I've dream walked...a time or two over the centuries. Always interesting to peer 'round in someone's head, see what images dance behind their eyelids. Always something new to learn there. And you were particularly fascinating. All that fear wrapped up in love, one Salvatore swapping in and out for the other? You made it too easy."
Was that true? No. It couldn't be. He was playing with her again, trying to make her doubt. There was nothing interchangeable about Stefan and Damon. They shared blood, and they shared her love, but there the similarities ended. "Get to the point. No more hybrids if you bore me to death," she gritted.
Klaus' eyebrows raised, but he smiled. "Cocky little thing, aren't you? Ah, well. Here's the long and short of it, Elena: You're right. I do need you. I need your blood. But there's something else I need from you, something you can never give me so long as you're shagging a vampire."
She stared at him blankly. What was he talking about? Why did Klaus care who she was dating, so long as he knew who it was so he could torture them when the occasion called for it? Klaus helpfully filled in the blanks.
"Children, Elena. I need a continuation of your line. Doppelgangers are funny things, you see. They have to be direct descendants. And through the centuries, Katerina's little bastard progeny only produced one direct descendant." He smiled indulgently. "And with the tragic death of dear old Isobel, that descendant is you."
Elena tried desperately to follow the twisted logic here. "So you wanted me to break up with Damon so I'd be able to have a mortal baby...by pushing me back towards Stefan?" This was a little convoluted, even for Klaus.
"No, he was merely an expedient tool to use. I knew you'd never give the younger Salvatore a serious chance again, not after what he did on the Wickery Bridge." He sucked in his breath. "Your screams that night—chilling. What it must have been like, for you to relive your parent's last moments. Haunting."
"Don't talk about them," she snapped. "You don't get to talk about them."
"As you like," he said. "But Stefan allowed me to plant a seed of doubt, with an assist with your crushing feelings of inadequacy towards Katerina, that is. You shouldn't sell yourself short, Elena, you're a lovely girl in your own right."
"So you want me to break up with Damon,you 'know' I wouldn't go back to Stefan, then what? I'd go get knocked up just to make you happy?You think I would actually have children? Knowing what you'll do to them?" Elena asked.
"Come now, Elena, it wouldn't be your child, in all likelihood. It'd be some anonymous descendant a dozen generations down the line. Someone you'd never know. And don't you want children? To hold a new, precious life in your arms? Isn't that one of the reasons you've fought so hard to stay alive, to stay human? I'm trying to help you, Elena. I can help you get the normal life you've always wanted," he said gently. "You'd make a wonderful mother. What about the Donovan boy—Matt, isn't it? You loved him once. I could help you love him again."
Elena recoiled as if she'd been slapped. He was right, of course. Even though she knew that vampires were sterile, some part of her had always held out hope that one way or another, she'd find a way to have children of her own. There were ways, after all. But to hear him using those words against her made her feel ill. Her eyes narrowed. "I think you have bigger problems to worry about than who I'm dating, Klaus."
She regretted the words as soon as she'd spoken them. Klaus didn't snap—not yet. But he grew very still. "Explain yourself."
Elena tried to backpedal, not to let those eyes terrify her into making a mistake. She had to be smarter than he was now, had to give Esther time to work her plan. "You have your mother back after a thousand years, your whole family back. Rebekah still hates you, Kol's crazy—he tried to kill your sperm donor Matt last night, did you know that? And I'm only eighteen—I can't even think about kids. Ric would kill me." She opened her eyes wide, trying to look young and innocent. "Maybe you should put your own house in order before you worry about mine," she said. Would he buy it?
He gave her a long, measuring look, rising from his seat. "I can be patient, Elena. But you're on notice. This obsession with Salvatores can't last. You'll get your time, but I will get my doppelganger, Elena. One way or another." He smoothed the lapels of his jacket. "You will tell Caroline 'hello' for me when you see her, won't you? That's a good girl."
Another breeze, and the room was empty. Elena didn't know if seconds or hours passed as she sat in the little room her hands trembling, her mind blank, but at some point Damon arrived. He looked around the room in confusion. "Where is he?"
"Gone," Elena said.
Damon gave her a quick once-over, apparently looking for missing limbs. Once he'd assured himself she was in tact, his temper exploded. "The hell, Elena? I can't even leave you for one day? First I get a call from Ric who's babbling about you going to see Katherine while toting a crossbow that could kill a goddamn bear. As I come rushing over here to save you from your own massive stupidity, I get a call from Katherine herself telling me Klaus was here to kill us all. What the hell were you thinking?" He loomed over her, eyes twitching across her face.
"It wasn't Katherine. She didn't send the dreams," Elena said.
"What? Look, that's not even the point right now. The point is you can't just run off and confront Katherine, of all people, on your own. We had a deal, Elena. Remember that?"
"Damon. You need to listen to me." She rose, possessed by a sudden and eerie calm. She rested her hands on either side of his face, gazing up at him with somber eyes. "I made a mistake. I screwed up. But I know what I need to do now. I know what we need to do."
"What are you talking about?" His eyes flickered to her wrist, where her vervain bracelet was still tied tightly. "You're not making sense," Damon asked uneasily.
But he was wrong. For the first time in a long time, everything made sense. There was only one solution, one way for all of them to make it out of this alive. More or less.
"I need you to turn me," she said.