Iris groaned waking up to the shrill sound of her alarm going off, she blindly reached out and slammed her hand down on the shrilling device and was glad when it turned off, she sat up and rubbed her eyes trying to wake herself up and frowned when she saw her hands were covered in dry blood, it took her a moment for her to remember what happened last night, she quickly ripped the covers off and saw that her leg and wrist was fully healed.
"Glad to see you're up" she jumped and looked up, Elijah was casually leaning against her doorway
Iris nodded "thanks-"
"You've already thank me" he brushed it off "so…" he strolled over to her vanity where there was various trinkets laying around, she sighed and swung her feet out of bed but stumbled "Careful" he warned "have you've got any plans for today?"
"Hmm I've got school, and before you say anything I'm going"
He smirked "of course, and tonight?"
"Might hang out with Elena and the others, probably Caroline actually since you know…" she trailed off, he nodded knowing what she meant "What about you?" she asked
"Well now I've got the moonstone, I'm going to go visit my witch"
"Doctor Martin?" Iris asked making her bed
"Yes, but I won't be out too late. And we can have another chat" before she could asked what about he'd left.
"Bloody vampires have to be so damn cryptic" she muttered and proceeded to head to the bathroom. She stripped out of her raggedy clothes she was relieved that Elijah hadn't changed her but now she had the horrible gritty feeling all over her and now wanted to wash it off.
Iris grabbed her wash cloth and rubbed it in her strawberry scented soap, she lathered it up and scrubbed herself clean, she could see the dirtied bloodied water swirling down the drain, she sighed and leant her head back, feeling the hot water on her skin, now she'd come to think Iris felt much better than she had done in a long time, she felt revitalised which was a curious thing. She assumed that it had something to do with Elijah's blood; after all he was an original.
Iris stepped out of the shower and quickly dried herself off, she glanced at the time as she entered her bedroom and saw that she had more than enough time to get ready, she rummaged through her drawer and slipped on a lacy black bra and matching panties. She then moved on to her closet and pulled out a dark blue skirt and a cap sleeve top. She slipped on a pair of ballet flats and brushed her hair and braided it. She grabbed her bag and headed down stairs
"I best be going" Elijah said pulling on his jacket; her attention however was focused on the food that was laid out on the table. He chuckled and zoomed over to her causing her to jump
"I hate it when you do that" she muttered pouting at him, he smirked and kissed her temple
"Stay out of trouble" he murmured against her skin, and ran his index finger down the apple of her cheek "will you?"
"I'll try, but trouble usually finds me" she smiled at him, she was just simply drawn to him
"I don't doubt that, have a good day" and with that he left.
Iris moved over to the assortment of food,
"Chocolate chip pancakes, Merlin that man knows me so well already" she muttered under her breath and then plopped down on the stool and munched down on the food.
She sighed and dropped her fork down letting it clatter on the plate, it was one thing having delicious food laid out before you, but she knew it definitely would be more enjoyable if she had it to share with someone else, she had secretly hoped that since she knew Elijah would be around he'd be here. She finished her tea and dumped the dirty dishes in the sink and washed her hands. She peeked through her netted curtains and saw Elena there, she waved at the brunette, but frowned when she didn't respond back. Iris brushed it off and grabbed her jacket and bag as well as her keys. Iris locked up the house behind her and made her way towards her rusty blue ford.
Iris groaned and slammed her hand against her locker when it didn't open, "Come on" she muttered and swore when she dropped her books "bloody brilliant" she knelt down and started to gather her scattered books. "Oh you've got be kidding me, thanks for that" she replied frustrated when one of the many students of Mystic kicked it out of her reach in passing.
"Having a bad day?" she saw a pair of booted feet appear in front of her,
"You could say that" she muttered "thanks" she smiled as Stefan grabbed her books
"So last night Elijah-"
"Gave me his blood" she cut him off, he was amused to see that she was struggling with her locker, he slammed his hand on it and the door popped opened
"What the hell? I did that…ergh" she shook her head whilst the vampire chuckled "How's Caroline?"
"Hmm, I think she needs some cheering up" Iris nodded she didn't blame the blond vampire after what happened last night
"I might go round" she murmured and grabbed the books she needed "Well see you later Stef I got English" she went to move forward but he gently gripped her wrist
"Iris you are ok though aren't you? I mean-"
"I'm not traumatised or anything" she chuckled "I'm a survivor Stef, I'll be fine" he smiled and watched her go. Yes he knew that she was a survivor after all she had lived with her abusive relatives for the majority of her life, yet she turned out to be such a warm wonderful person.
Iris dropped down besides Bonnie, it was lunch time and Stefan, Elena were also there
"Iris?" Bonnie asked surprised seeing the raven head
"That's my name" the petite teen smirked,
"I'm surprised that you're in today after what happened last night" Elena said frowning
Iris simply shrugged "well I'm all better now, so how's Caroline?"
"She feels guilty about biting you and-"
"There's no need for that, she lost control, I wasn't exactly helping" she smiled and bit into her sandwich "I'm thinking of going around seeing her" she looked up and frowned when she saw the looks on both girls faces as did Stefan,
Before she could ask what was wrong Jeremy joined the group
"Iris, hey"
"Hi Jere" she smiled at the teen "You wanna come-"
"Erm the thing is Iris, me and Bonnie were planning were planning on seeing Caroline tonight"
"Well that's good than we-"
"The thing is" Bonnie uttered out "we thought that since Caroline feels guilty about last night that she…erm…well….it be best if you didn't come"
Iris felt a pang go through her, feeling rejected and disheartened
"Iris we can do something tomorrow or-"
"No" Iris plastered a smile on her face "it's fine", she grabbed her bag and glanced down at her watch so she wouldn't have to look at them in the face "I've got to go. Haven't seen Rose in a while and I promised I'll help her out" with that she swung her leg over the bench
"Iris-" Stefan called having witnessed the incident but she hurried away.
"Aw I feel terrible" Elena muttered frowning
"You should" Stefan snapped surprising her "don't you think she's been through a lot as well?" without another word he also left irritated knowing that they didn't perhaps know Iris as well as he and Damon did.
"What was that about?" Elena muttered
Jeremy rolled his eyes "what you two did was not cool"
It was after school and Iris decided to head to the grill since she had nothing better to do. She entered the grill and looked around and saw that there was an empty booth in the corner. She slid into the seat and scanned through the menu
"Iris" she looked up and smiled seeing Jeremy
"Hi"
"Mind if I join you?" he asked she nodded and he slid in "so about earlier-"
Iris rolled her eyes "nothing out of the ordinary, they didn't want Caroline to be hurt or whatever"
"Gives them no right" Jeremy snapped and leant forward to grab her hands "Iris from what Stefan said you were also tortured-"
"But perfectly fine now, Jeremy this isn't the first time I've been hurt" Iris smiled and shook her head, there was a moment of silence as Iris studied the menu whilst Jeremy scanned her over
"Who hurt you in the past?" he asked, she looked at him startled
"What I-"
"Iris, please you can tell me anything" she saw sincerity in his eyes and sighed
"Well Damon and Stefan know, there method though sucked of how to get it out of me" she licked her lips "erm…..well I've never actually told anyone before…" he could see that she was nervous and was becoming even more flustered, he gave her hands a gently squeeze causing her to look at him
"It's fine"
She smiled shakily and looked down "I…it was my relatives in England, they…weren't nice…they were abusive" she murmured, Jeremy paled he always knew Iris had a rocky past but never imagined this "but I got accepted in a boarding school…..they were the happiest six years of my life….i had friends the for the first time" she played with the stray thread of her jacket "but now…..I don't keep in contact with them, I-I…I did something and…after that they saw me in a differently and so I came here, for a fresh start"
Jeremy leant forward and cupped her chin "Iris you're one of the most genuine nicest person that I've met ever. And I'm glad that you came here"
"Can you not tell Elena or the others it's I just don't want to bring up any bad memories and-"
"It's fine I won't" he smiled at her and glanced at his watch
"You've got somewhere to be?" she asked, he saw her face and shook his head
"Nowhere important" he said "let's order"
Iris wiped her mouth, Jeremy had left a couple of minutes ago she heard her cell buzz and dug through her pockets and finally pulled it out. She saw that she had a messaged from Damon
"Heard what happened from Stefan,
Come to the boarding house" it read.
She texted back "For what?"
"I've got some of your favourite chocolates"
Iris grinned and shook her head; Damon did know her well, she text back stating that she'd be over in fifteen minutes.
Iris placed her cash on the table and pulled on her jacket and waved goodbye to Matt.
She felt somewhat better having in confiding in Jeremy Iris almost felt lighter. It was true she didn't want to add anything more since she didn't want to drag up the past. She unlocked her rusty ford and slid in; she buckled herself in and revved the engine pulling the car out of park.
Iris pulled up to the boarding house and saw that the lights were on, which wasn't surprising since Damon said he was in. she climbed out of the car and made her way towards the boarding house and rolled her eyes seeing that Damon or Stefan had left the door open
"Damon?" she called out the boarding house was eerily quiet making her on edge, usually Damon would zoom up to her and surprise her. "Damon?" she walked further into the house her frown became more pronounce when she got no response. "Damon, I'm going to kick your arse where are you?" she demanded she roamed the corridors not knowing where she was going, she tripped over something and landed on the floor "Oww" she whined but gasped when she saw what she tripped over
"Ric" she saw his eyes wide open but unseeing "oh Merlin Ric" her hands roamed his face her eyes darted to his hand and was relieved when she saw that he had his ring. She sagged in relief but tensed, Damon was nowhere in sight causing her to become fearful for the elder Salvatore "DAMON?" she scrambled on to her feet
"IRIS RUN" she heard him shout, she didn't need telling twice and ran knowing she wouldn't be any use on her own, she needed to get help, Elijah had immediately sprung to mind.
As soon as Iris took off however someone jumped in front of her, before she could blink she was grabbed from behind and tackled to the ground
"Get off" she hissed struggling in the man's grip; she winced when they grabbed her arms she felt the coarse rope bounding her wrists. Iris was then lifted from beneath her arms as the man who was tying her up stood in front of her and went to grab her legs, Iris however kicked out and couldn't help but smirk when she kicked him in the crotch causing him to land on his knees, she then booted him in the face, and went to hit kick again but the man behind her grabbed her hair and pulled it hard causing her to cry out
"You're a fucking moron" Iris spat as he tied her legs, the man behind her grip hadn't relented in fact it tightened
"Told you she was feisty" he sneered,
"Hmm, and oh so pretty" she heard the other man
Iris struggled as they carried her into the parlour and dumped her on the floor causing her to land with a thud, she groaned and pulled herself up so that she was in a sitting position she was leaning back against the couch, her eyes widened when she caught sight of Damon, who was sporting a collar that had wooden spikes in it stabbing him in the neck which was drenched in blood he was strapped to the chair
"Oh my god Damon" Iris muttered
"Let her go" he hissed causing the cluster of wolves to chuckle
Jules stepped forward with a smile on her face "I don't think so, I've got her and now I need to moonstone"
Iris gulped knowing that Damon didn't have it, it was with Elijah
"So where is it?" the blond demanded
"If you only knew the irony of this situation" he smirked in reply, Iris rolled her eyes thinking that was a typical Damon comment.
"Damon don't be an arse" she muttered, his eyes narrowed having heard what she said
"I'm currently being tortured yet still you call me an arse?" he questioned
"Well duh" she said "you're currently tied up and being as you said tortured why are you antagonising them?"
"Well that's the way I am honey" she couldn't help but smile; he was alleviating her worries and fear.
But it quickly all came back when the guy who was holding the chains pulled on them causing Damon to hiss in pain "Enough with this crap, where's the moonstone?"
"He hasn't got it" Iris shouted out but was ignored
"Let me tell you how this is going to go, you're going to torture me and I'm not going to talk, someone loses their heart, last time it was your buddy Mason" he drawled, Iris really wanted to slap him, really she thought that it wasn't exactly good idea for him to be goading them.
"This time it'll be you" Jules replied and nodded towards the man, who again pulled on the chains Iris cringed at the sight, she saw the blond grab a shot gun off from one of the guys and let a shot off causing Iris to jump "You wanna know what's the best thing about a buck shot?" she paused then continued "it scatters through the body, maximum damage" she then lifted the shot gun and pointed it at Damon who could hear Iris's heart beat fasten "where's the moonstone?" she asked again.
"Get over it honey you're never going to get it" Damon drawled sounding almost bored of this situation.
"Oh I know you're a vampire, you'll heal and you lived long enough that even the thought of death becomes appealing, but this is where your friend comes in see her as a sort of an incentive" she smirked "we're lucky that she has awful timing"
Iris eyes widened
"Don't touch her" Damon snarled
"You can't kill me" Iris snapped "you need for the whole crappy ritual"
"You'll be correct in that we can't kill you at the moment, but we can hurt you" the man sneered
"Let's give her a bit of shortness of breath" Jules smirked and before Iris could blink Jules zoomed in front of the raven head and grabbed her by the throat and lifted her off the ground, Iris gasped as she was cutting her air supply off
"LET HER GO" Damon yelled and struggled against the chains that were bounding him, Iris eyes watered and groaned. She was then dropped on to the ground gasping for breath. She didn't have time to recover as she felt the barrel of the shot gun against her shoulder "now tell me Damon, where's the moonstone? Or there'll be a hole in her shoulder"
Iris eyes met Damon's icy blue, he could see her fear, he violently shook his head "I-"
"Looking for this?" a familiar voice called, Iris looked towards and saw Elijah leaning against the doorframe. His eyes briefly glanced over to Iris but then shot back to the others, she could see he had the moonstone in his hand "here take it" he said placing the moonstone on the table in front of them
"Go ahead" he urged, Iris brows furrowed at this thinking what was he doing? He was willingly going to give it away, after all the trouble to get it in the first place, but then that shot out of her mind when she saw what happened next.
One of the werewolves shot forward intent on getting the moonstone, but Elijah rushed forward plunging his hand into the other man's chest and ripped out his heart, causing Iris to gag. Another two wolves blurred forward but they'd received the same treatment from the Original and had their hearts torn out.
Iris managed to catch sight of Jules blurring out of the room, the raven head had to give her that, she was smarter not to go against the Original.
Iris was a bit miffed when she saw the guy who'd been torturing Damon crouching on the ground she couldn't help but snort when he pulled his jacket over his head
"He still can see you, you know?" she drawled causing Damon to snicker but then winced as it aggravated his wounds. Both raven heads watched as Elijah walked towards the last wolf
"What about you sweetheart?" he asked pulling the guy on to his feet, he rested his hand on his shoulder holding him in place, Iris could tell that the man was frightened as he didn't want to meet Elijah's gaze "want to take a shot?" he asked the guy shook his head "Where's the girl?"
"She ran" Iris answered
"Well it doesn't really matter" Elijah shrugged his shoulders, Iris gasped as he punched the guy in the face with enough force to break his neck.
Elijah then walked over to Iris and knelt down beside her, and began to untie her bound feet and ankles, as he untied her wrist he saw the abrasions on her dainty wrists and placed his hands over them rubbing them soothing the slight ache
"Are you ok?" he murmured using his other hand to brush away a lock of her raven curl.
"Yes thank you" she sent him a small grateful smile, he gave her a close lipped smile
"You weren't kidding when you said trouble usually finds you"
She grinned at him and nodded "I know" he easily pulled her on to her feet, Damon had watched the scene surprised at how well Elijah treated the petite teen, he was completely a different person towards her, and Iris unlike Elena wasn't frightened at all by the Original. He then strolled over to Damon and easily broke the chains off of him
"You do realise that this is the third time I saved your life now?" he smirked, Iris rushed forward
"You ok?" she asked cupping his face, seeing the gory wounds
"I'll be fine" Damon assured her "you?"
"Fine as well"
"I heard you" he smirked "kicked him in his family jewels?"
Iris blushed and bashfully nodded "You should get clean up, I'll see you later"
Damon mutely nodded and stood up, and ruffled her hair causing her to roll her eyes and swat her hand at him
"Not the hair" she muttered he chuckled and nodded. "bye" with that iris left the room and nearly jumped out of her skin when Elijah appeared in front of her
"Bloody hell" she muttered thinking that the Original had left with the moonstone
"Come" he held out his hand towards her, this time Iris didn't hesitate taking it she oddly trusted him
"Before you say a thing I'm driving" she unlocked the car, he smirked amused by her
"By all means" he opened the car door for her, she couldn't help but smile he was a true gentlemen.
Iris had changed out of her clothes and were now wearing a pair of loose flannel shorts and a camisole, she strolled passed the bathroom and could hear that the shower was on, the vampire must be showering she concluded. Iris didn't blame him, as she'd spied some flecks of blood all over him. She padded barefooted downstairs and grabbed herself a drink and made her way towards the porch swing, she placed one foot on the railing and lightly pushed herself, closing her eyes and enjoying the evening air.
It wasn't long before Iris felt the swing dip slightly due to added weight, she opened her eyes and smiled seeing what Elijah was holding out to her, she graciously took the tea, they both sat in silence for a moment.
"Earlier today you said that we're going to talk, are you finally going to tell me how you know me?"
He sighed "I did say that we would talk, you are aware that the sacrifice will most like take place and in turn-"
"Me and Elena will both die?" she placed both hands around her mug "I'd got that, since you said you'll protect the people that Elena loves and I care for, yet you never actually said anything about me nor Elena"
Elijah lips quirk, she was truly an exquisite creature, he idly placed his arm behind her and tugged one of her many curls
"You're smart, do you not fear death?"
"Why would I? I walked in to deaths arms willingly before, to protect those I cared for" she murmured
"Ah, not once in fact twice but yet you kept on coming back" she as confused by that
"No-"
"Iris I know what you are" he reached and gripped her chin causing her to look at him in his oak brown eyes "you were the prophesied child, which nature created since there was so much darkness in the world they needed light thus you was born, you battled against one of the most feared man in the magical community and defeated him when you was an infant, but that was not without consequences was it not?"
Iris carefully looked at him through her thick lashes; he knew everything, literally everything.
"A part of him resided in you for more than fifteen years, but that part was soon diminished when you walked into death's arms" he paused "yet you came back"
"How do you know so much?"
"I'm an Original my dear, you and I have been tied together for more than a century, you see without you I wouldn't have been here, neither would everyone else here you care for, particular the Salvatores"
Iris brows furrowed, he ran the pads of his fingers over the creased skin smoothing it out. "Iris you were brought back not just to defeat him, you are the essence of magic, you're a creature that reeks of it, not just a simple witch you were, but something entirely different. You are the epitome of magic, you can draw it out and dish it out, and you're more powerful than either Miss Bennett or my witch you're something so pure something that is essential for the sacrifice"
"Then what am I?" she asked earnestly, he seems to have all the answers
"Something that binds us all together" he lightly brushed aside a stray curl "you're as noble as I remembered willingly putting yourself into danger, much like your friend Elena"
"I am not trying to be noble" she sighed shaking her head, "What do I honestly have to lose if I leave this world?" he carefully watched her
"So much Iris, the world wouldn't be the same" he said calmly
"I doubt it, you know something else about this sacrifice don't you?"
"I do" he stated
"You're not going to tell me are you?" he simply shook his head causing his chocolate brown hair to go flying
There was another moment of silence, she had finally found out why she was needed for the sacrifice it was for her magic. Elijah watched her as she contemplated his words, it was true even though a witch was needed to carry out of the task of the ritual the raven head's blood was needed, and like Elena she needed to be drain to the point of death, if Klaus wanted to break the curse
"You know what annoys me?" she murmured "you say Elena's being noble by being heroic but I find that she's being tragic. She so willingly to sacrifice herself for those she love but yet doesn't she see that by doing so she would be hurting those she cares most for"
"Iris you've done that-"
"And I learned from my mistake, Elena has something that I never have" she leant back. Elijah shifted closer to her
"And what is that?" he asked quietly, his heightened hearing picked up her steady heart beat it sped up a tiny beat
"People that genuinely love her" she whispered a lump forming in her throat "they love her so much, that they would risk everything, and I mean everything to save her. If I was Elena I wouldn't give up so willingly, I would fight to stay with those I love"
He smiled she did fight beforehand, yet Iris was cruelly taken away from him and the others.
"I know you would so why would you go along with this?" he asked,
Iris looked at him and sent him a small smile "because I trust you"
She saw a true smile come across his face, not a smirk or one of his half smiles no but a true smile. "I'm honoured that you do" he laid a gentle kiss on her temple and cupped her cheek "thank you Iris, for being so accepting"
"You make it easy Elijah" she placed her hand over his one which was cupping her cheek and gave it was light squeeze
"No matter what happens Iris, you will be fine" he assured her
"Yeah up until the sacrifice" she muttered, he pulled back and chuckled an all knowing smile appeared on his face. Elijah saw her shuddered as a cool breeze ripped through the air "Come we don't want you to get ill" he pulled her on to her feet and stepped aside allowing her to enter the modest house first. He picked up his mug and gently closed the door behind and waited
"You can come out now" he called out, and sure enough Damon stepped out of the shadows with Stefan by his side "now what are you two doing here? Don't you have a doppelganger to be fighting over?"
Damon snarled but Stefan gripped his arm
"What you said about Iris-?"
"Was all true, you young vampires are too ignorant to see true power when it resides right under your nose" Elijah smirked
"Iris isn't some shiny toy you can-" Damon didn't get the chance to finish that sentence as the Original rushed forward and plunged his hand into the younger vampire's chest and gripped his heart, Damon groaned, Stefan went to help but Elijah's cold voice stopped him in his tracks.
"Do not assume that my intentions towards Iris is not less than honourable, you do not know how much I value her, understand?" his gripped tightened
"Yes" Damon choked out and with that Elijah released him
"What is Iris to you?" Stefan asked just as curious of the Original's intentions towards his and Damon's closest friend.
"She is far more important then you realise" Elijah uttered and stepped back and looked at both brothers
"How is she the tie that binds us all together?" Damon asked, Elijah was aware that the Salvatores had managed to catch the last few sentences that was shared between the Original and Iris
"I am not required to answer all your questions, now if you excuse me" he turned his back and smirked knowing that both vampires were most likely sharing stunned looks
"Then how can we trust you?" Stefan called out
"Who said I needed your trust" Elijah replied and without another word entered the house shutting the door behind him.
His heightened hearing could pick up Iris upstairs on the phone to Elena.
"So what John's back in town for what though?" Iris asked lying down on her bed staring up at the ceiling, Elena had called her earlier, and the brunette was with Caroline and Bonnie at the blond vampire's house
"Yes" Elena sighed "look Iris I wanted to apologise about earlier-"
"It's fine" she yawned and glanced at the time "how-" she stopped talking when she could hear a scuffle "what's going-"
"Iris" she smiled recognising that voice as Caroline
"Hey, Care" she uttered softly
"Hi, look I didn't have a clue that Bonnie and Elena were coming over, but I wish you were here, I really am sorry-"
"Caroline forget about it, I don't blame you" she was secretly relieved that the blond didn't bring up what the she had done to her, perhaps Caroline was too out of control to realise that Iris had used her magic "anyway I had quiet an interesting evening myself"
"Oh?"
"Hmm, Jules made an appearance at the boarding house with her wolves, they were torturing Damon and killed Ric, but they're both fine"
"How'd you got involve?"
"Well Damon text me, insisted I come over for some food and ergh…..I didn't have great timing, I was supposed to be used for leverage, since Jules wanted the moonstone"
"Are you ok?" Caroline asked worried, she was secretly angry at Bonnie and Elena ditching the petite teen, she would have preferred it if they brought her over with them
"Yes I'm fine" she let out another yawn and crawled into her bed and pulled the covers over herself "Elijah came to the rescue" she murmured
"Elijah?"
"Hmm, he's not all that bad you know, he's actually nice"
"Sure" Caroline said into a tone that caused Iris to chuckle
"I'll see you tomorrow I'm exhausted" Iris reached out and turned the lamp off
"Yeah I can tell, goodnight" Caroline replied, Iris gave her incomprehensive response and hanged up, her emeralds orbs slowly drifted shut, she succumb to the blissful darkness.
AN:Thanks so much for the last batch of reviews I really do appreciate them.
Lot has happened in this chap, Elena and Bonnie weren't being considerate to Iris at all. Iris confided in Jeremy about her past. Damon resorted to bribing her with food to cheer her up...and finally we now know why Iris is needed for the ritual
please REVIEW