Shadow Guests
Astra opened the passenger door of Elijah's truck and stepped down onto the pavement of the Gilbert driveway. Her heels tapped the ground as she walked, her eyes roaming over the semi-large home. She couldn't help but think about how nice the house actually did look. She stepped around the front of the truck, Elijah meeting her half way. She fell in step beside him as he led the way up the path to the front door of the house, letting him ring the doorbell.
"Anything I need to know before we go in?" Astra asked as she looked over to him in the corner of her eye.
"Just follow along," Elijah answered back simply. She nodded her head, more to herself than to him, and looked over to the door as it opened, revealing a young blonde on the other side. Astra smiled to her as soon as the door opened, Elijah doing the same.
"You must be Elijah and Astra Smith," She said with a smile in return. She held her hand out for each of them to thank, luckily moving outside the doorway to do it. "I'm Jenna Sommers, Mrs. Lockwood actually just called to let me know you'd be coming."
"It's nice to meet you Ms. Sommers," Elijah replied smoothly, his soft smile never faltering.
"Oh, just Jenna, please. Come on in, I've already started bringing out some of the old boxes," Jenna invited as she stepped back to let them in. Elijah opened his arm outward in a motion for Astra to step in first, following after her once she had passed the threshold. Jenna closed the soundly behind time, the 'couple' moving aside to give her room.
"Thank you, Jenna, for helping me with this, I know that there must be better things that you may do with your time," Elijah said as Jenne moved over to where a door was opened under the stairs, several books and boxes already piled beside it.
"It's no problem, really. Can I get either of you anything?" She asked politely, causing Astra to smile. The aunt was actually a very nice woman and she wasn't trying too hard to be overly professional. It was actually a wonderful relief compared to some of the people that Elijah had worked with in the past.
"I would love a glass of water, actually, if it's not too much trouble," Astra threw in quickly, giving a sheepish smile. Jenna said that it was fine and directed the two down the hall to the kitchen, beginning to question Elijah on the book that he was writing. Astra took the opportunity to look around the home, taking note of two other people moving around on the second floor. Elena and Jeremy Gilbert, she would assume.
She smiled and thanked the younger woman when she was given a glass of water, taking a seat at the island and beginning to pretend that she was interesting in what Jenna was telling Elijah about the information that they were picking up. She resisted the urge to correct her on some points as she was speaking, knowing that she wasn't supposed to speak against recorded—thought fake—information. She couldn't very well argue that she knew because she had lived through it.
"Not to be rude, but I'm curious of where does the name Astra come from?" Jenna asked carefully as she looked over to the other blonde in the room, still drinking the water she had been given slowly.
"It's of Roman origin, actually," Astra began, "It derives from the name Astraea, meaning stars."
"That's beautiful," Jenna said in awe, truly loving the name. "Are you from Greece, then?"
"I am, yes. Most people don't pick up on that," Astra said with a smile, looking over to where Elijah was nodded along in fake agreement. Jenna looked between the couple with a smile, probably thinking of what a cute couple they made or something along the lines. It wouldn't surprise Astra, that just seemed like something that the woman would be thinking about from the impression she had gotten from her already.
"Well, let me get the rest of the things for you and you guys can be on your way. I'm sure you have better things to do than sit here with me," Jenna said quickly before she disappeared back down the hallway that they had come, ducking behind the door and into the closet in order to gather the rest of the boxes that were needed. Astra watched her go with a smile on her face before she looked over to Elijah with a look that clearly asked what he was planning on doing now.
"Be nice," Elijah whispered, causing Astra to smile innocently, looking away from him. They both looked up when they heard someone moving around the upper floors, heading toward the stairs. Elijah moved away from the island to lean against the doorframe behind the open door under the stairs, waiting for Jenna to close it and reveal him.
Astra moved away from the island, leaving her empty glass on the surface and moving to step down into the living room, continuing to inspect the place. She could feel a spell in place over the home, but it wasn't meant for her or any other vampires. It was to keep someone else in. She raised an eyebrow in thought, beginning to step through the living room. There was a familiar smell that lingered in the air, a scent that was engraved in her mind. Damon.
A conversation began in the hallway, the doppelganger now speaking with Jenna. Astra waited for the moment that Elijah was revealed, smiling to herself as Elena's started gasp. She could hear when a book fell to the floor when the teenager dropped it.
"Hey, I'm Elijah," He introduced, easily keeping up the façade. Elena was silent from her place near her aunt and Astra began to step toward the second doorway that led from the living room back into the main area.
"Elijah's in town doing research on Mystic Falls," Jenna explained as she took the box from the brunet, looking between the two without a single clue of what was going on between them. Astra listened to Elijah step up to Elena and hold out his hand to her, stating that it was a pleasure to meet her. Astra took that moment to step out from the living room, her heels tapping the hardwood flooring. Elijah was just drawing his hand back from the shake, looking over Elena's shoulder to where she was standing.
"And this is my lovely wife, Astra," He said, motioned over to her. Astra smiled as Elena turned around, moving forward and offering her own hand to shake. Elena hesitated even more at the appearance of a new and unfamiliar face, but took her hand to shake very carefully. The blonde did her best not to come off as intimidating, maybe even someone too nice.
"It's wonderful to meet you."
"So, you know, you're welcome to stay here and rummage through this stuff," Jenna said as she appeared once again, her hands free of boxes, "Or, Elena and I could help you load it into your car," Jenna offered, stepping up beside Elena. Astra moved over to be at Elijah's side, her hands sliding into the pockets of her jeans.
"Or, I could come and pick it up tomorrow," Astra offered, looking over to Elijah with an encouraging smile. He nodded his head in agreement and looked over to Jenna for conformation.
"Also a good plan."
"Well, thank you so much for inviting us into your home, Jenna," Elijah said as they began to step around Elena toward the door to leave. Astra looked over to hold Elena's eyes for a moment, the teenager flinching in shock at the vivid violet colour that made up her iris. Looking back to the others once again, she smiled to Jenna as she stepped up beside Elijah.
"And Elena," she began as she stopped and turned on last time, "I hope to see you again soon." The burnet looked panic for a moment before Astra turned away and back over to Jenna. "You have a beautiful home, I'm jealous," She stated carefully, getting a smile from the other woman. "Is there a good time that I can come around tomorrow to retrieve the documents?"
"Any time should be fine, really."
"Excellent," Astra said with a smile, stepping out the door. Elijah put a hand on her back gently, guiding her out of the home and bidding a farewell to the two. As soon as she door closed Elijah ducked to speak into Astra's ear.
"Park the car down the street and meet me in Elena's room," He said, passing the keys to her. He looked back to make sure that no one was looking out the windows before he disappeared from where he was standing beside her, Astra continuing on to the truck. She slipped into the driver's seat and easily started the car, shifting it into drive and pulling away from the curb, driving only a couple of houses down and around a corner to that the truck couldn't be seen from the Gilbert home anymore.
She shut off the truck and stepped out onto the street a second time, looking around quickly as she closed and locked the door before running back to the Gilbert home, easily making it onto the roof. She stepped carefully along the shingles, hearing Elijah's voice and following that. There was a window open with the lights to the room on inside, his voice flowing through to the outside.
"-those that fear him are desperate for his approval. Word gets out that the doppelganger exists there'll be a line of vampires eager to take you to him, and I can't have that," Elijah said, his voice having dropped an octave now that he wasn't pretending to be someone that he wasn't for Jenna's sake.
"Isn't that what you're trying to do?" Elena asked carefully, causing Astra to resist rolling her eyes.
"Let's just say that my goal is not to break the curse," Elijah explained.
"Not for the same outcome," Astra said from outside the window. Elijah had already known that she was there, she wasn't exactly trying to be stealth in a set of high heeled boots. Elena, however, jumped and looked to the window that Elijah had opened once he was in the room, partially blocked from him sitting on the window seat. Astra stepped into view, seeing Elena's eyes widen. "Hello again, love."
Elijah stood up and turned to the blonde outside the window, offering her his hand and assisting her through the window without damaging anything that Elena had set on the seat. Soon the second vampire was standing in the room with them, looking around at the interior. How adolescent, she thought.
"So what is your goal?" Elena asked, desperately trying to get the conversation back on track.
"Klaus' obsessions have made him so paranoid that he's become a recluse, he trusts only those in his immediate circle," Elijah explained, Astra taking the place where he had been sitting as he remained standing at her side.
"Like you?"
Astra could tell that the question bothered him and answered for him quickly, "Not anymore."
"You don't know where he is, do you?" Elena finally asked, Astra flinched dramatically, cursing in Latin. Elijah gave her a warning look to behave before he looked back over to where Elena was waiting for her answer. Astra schooled herself once more, turning to look at the brunet. She was so much like Katarina. But there were differences the made it easy to tell them apart, things that most people would usually miss. For Elena, it was her eyes. She had soft eyes that seemed incapable of hate or malice, while Katarina seemed to feed from it.
"To do that I need you to stay put and stop trying to get yourself killed." Elijah's voice drew her back into the conversation, forcing her to pay attention to what was happening before her.
"How do I know you're not telling the truth?"
"Well, if I wasn't being truthful all of your family would be dead and I'd be taking you to Klaus right now," Elijah answered simply, not seeming to care of the mental images that that would bring to the supernatural being on the other side of the room, standing in a insecure pose of her arms crossed before her chest.
"Instead, he's going to offer a deal," Astra threw in, leaning her head against the wall and looked over to Elena. Said girl looked over to Elijah in return, seeming reluctant before asking what the deal entailed. "Do nothing," Astra answered easily, looking down at her pants and brushing off imaginary dust.
"Do nothing," Elijah agreed, nodding his head. "Live your life, stop fighting. And then, when the time is right, you and I will draw Klaus out together and I will make certain that your friends remain unharmed," Elijah continued to explain, stepping over to where the vanity in Elena's room was and began flipping the pages of a book that sat there, not really reading it.
"And then what?"
"I kill him."
Astra listen to the doubt in Elena's voice, but she could also hear that she was beginning to give way to their plan. She didn't want to have to worry about having Elijah as an enemy, so she was considering taking him as an ally. It was as the saying went, it you can't beat 'em, join 'em.
"How are you going to be able to keep everybody safe?" Elena finally asked, acceptance coating her tone. Astra smiled to herself and nodded her head, knowing that they had her.
"You know I noticed that you have a friend—Bonnie, is it? She seems to possess the gift of magic. I have friends with similar gifts," He explained in an offhand way. Elena didn't take the news exactly well, seeming more disturbed to know that he had magic on his side as well.
"You know witches."
"Astraea is also a very powerful vampire that can provide the protection that is needed should spells not be able to be used, I too will be of assistance. Together, we can protect all of those that are dear to you." Elena looked over to where Astra was sitting, the vampire suddenly holding a very serious look on her face. Her violet eyes were watching Elena carefully, waiting. She didn't look old from the looks of her, but neither did Katherine and she was over five hundred years old. "So, do we have a deal?"
Elena took a moment, letting herself think through what she could very well be agreeing to. She glanced over to Astra one more time, thinking about how Katherine could probably take her out if she wanted to. That was when she realized that this was an opportune moment to remove Stefan from the tomb. "I just need you to do one more thing for me."
Elijah looked surprised at the request, looking over to where Astra had one eyebrow raised up toward her hairline. He turned back to Elena with a cynical smirk on his face, "We're negotiating now?"
I had a feeling that people would be looking to read something Vampire Diaries related after the show tonight, so I'm going to update now and later tonight as well, after the show. Please review! I know you're all eager to see Damon's reaction, it's coming, I assure. Hope to hear from you all! :)