Nature of the Dead

Elijah was staring angrily at his phone when Astra came down the stairs that morning, wearing a pair of more comfortable, flat boots with her skinny jeans a lilac blouse. She paused in the doorway when she realized that Elijah was wearing a very purple shirt, a darker shade to match her own top. Looking down at her own appearance she couldn't stop herself from smirking in amusement at the coincidence before stepping in and snatching his phone from him.

"Glaring at it isn't going to change things," she whispered hotly in his ear as her arms wrapped around his shoulders from behind, her lips moving to press a kiss against his high cheek bone. Elijah sighed loudly as he reached up and took one of her hands in his, leaning back against her as she placed his phone on the table. "What's on the agenda for today?" she finally asked, leaning her cheek against his.

"Jenna has invited us to walk the old properties of the founding families," Elijah answered back, his voice returning to a business like tone. "It may give us a chance to locate the site of the witches' burial," he continued, getting a nod of understanding from the blonde behind him.

"I like Jenna, please don't kill her," she requested softly, beginning to play with his hair. It was still as soft as ever and she found it hard not to run her fingers through it, getting a look from Elijah that told her he knew exactly why she was touching his hair. She raised an eyebrow at him challengingly before pulling back, moving to get a glass of blood before they left.

"I have no reason to kill Jenna, especially with her ignorance of what is occurring with her niece," Elijah assured, watching every move that Astra made throughout the kitchen. Her blouse rode up in the back when she leant into the fridge to get the glass container of blood, showing the dimples at the base of her spine. Elijah supressed a growl of approval at the sight, pleased with her choice of tight jeans. When she straightened up again she looked back at him, as though feeling his eyes on her, and smiled softly before returning to her task.

Elijah draped his arm over the back of his chair and leaned his cheek against his knuckles, continuing to watch her move about. The sun streamed in through the kitchen windows and caught her blonde hair, making it glow as though it was spun gold, and brought out her natural Roman tan. She looked like a goddess that had stepped straight from a history book on ancient times; a goddess of the sun that was cursed to the night.

"You're staring," she teased after a moment, looking over to him with that same smile on her lips. She wasn't upset in the least, and instead found his watching her quite endearing. A real, natural smile appeared on his lips, causing her heart to flutter and her cheeks to warm at the sight of it. It wasn't often that he smiled at anyone in such a way and whenever it was directed at her made her feel so whole and honoured.

"It is hard not to, I admit," he answered back at last, getting a breathy laugh from her. She finished with pouring her glass of blood and replaced the container back in the fridge, getting an appreciative glance from Elijah before he turned toward where his phone vibrated from a text. Collecting it, he looked down to see that it had been Jenna who sent the text, not one of the men he had searching for Klaus.

"We should depart soon if we want to get to Jenna's in time," Astra said, guessing the nature of the text. Elijah opened his arm to her and let her step up to lean against his side, his arm wrapping around her hips and resting his palm on her thigh. Sipping at her cup leisurely, Elijah found himself wishing that it could simply be the two of them for the day.

"How are you feeling today?" he finally asked, placing his phone aside again and looking up to Astra. Her gaze—once directed out the window to the back forest—turned to him and her amethyst eyes lightened with her smile.

"Back to one hundred percent," she assured.

"I'm glad." His hand moved from where it was resting on her hip to play with the ends of her golden hair, the curls falling down her back and enticing him to touch them. They were smooth and shining from the oils that he had poured into her bath the night before, the scent of roses wafting off of her skin so pleasantly that Elijah found himself leaning toward her and beginning to breathe more deeply.

"Come on, we'll be late," she stated after she had finished off the last gulp of blood. Elijah released her to go and rinse her glass, grabbing the keys to his truck. She groaned exaggeratedly, causing Elijah to chuckle as he opened his arm for her to walk into him, escorting her from the house. She didn't bother carrying a purse most of the time, but instead kept some money and her phone in her pockets. More often than not she left the wallet business to Elijah and just stole one of his cards.

Jenna was at the door before they had even knocked, smiling in greeting and stepping out onto the front porch.

"Hello again," Astra greeted as she smiled brilliantly, getting a smile in answer. Jenna had some rolled papers and maps in a bag over her shoulder, most likely for the properties they were going to be looking at that morning. Elijah greeted the other woman as well, his charm showing through. Astra fought the impulse to roll her eyes as red flushed Jenna's cheeks before she started talking.

"So, I'm thinking we'll take different cars and you can just follow me, that way you don't have to worry about coming all the way back here?" she suggested, looking between them. She looked shocked at the sight of Elijah's truck, but then again it was just a guy thing to have a large vehicle. Astra seemed to see the look in her eyes and shook her head in a way of saying 'no, he's not compensating'. The flush darkened and Astra felt proud of herself as she smirked.

"Sounds great, are you ready to leave now? Do you need help with anything?" Elijah asked courteously, getting a sputtering smile from Jenna as she declined. Astra gave him a curious look for his actions but didn't say anything as she walked alongside him back toward the truck. He helped her into her seat and closed her door before he moved around to the driver's seat and pulled away from the curb, waiting for Jenna to get in front of them in her car.

As they were waiting, Astra looked over to him and raised an elegant blonde eyebrow. "What are you up to?"

"Whatever do you mean?" Elijah asked innocently, getting a bark of a laugh from Astra before they were rolling forward, following after Jenna. "Hopefully this tour gives us an idea of where to look," he continued on a moment later, his voice thick with concentration. Back to business. "Getting information that I need while keeping up the façade I need as well."

"Mastermind," Astra teased, seeing his dark eyes look at her from the corner of his eye before turning his attention back to the road. "Is it strange for you? Being back now, when you had been here so long ago? For me it's not even two hundred years, but for you…"

"It is strange," Elijah answered immediately. His eyes roamed around the buildings that they were passing, once nothing but trees and rock. Astra watched his face as he thought back to the past, when his family had sought refuge amongst the long lost and forgotten trees. Turning her eyes away, she felt as though she was intruding on an intimate moment for him. Mystic Falls was a dark omen that hung above both of them, and the members of Elijah's family and the Salvatore family. The town tore people apart and ruined lives. Nothing good happened inside that town.

Stefan stood looking over the lake, the phone pressed to his ear as he listened to his brother tell him of things back in Mystic Falls, with his thoughts racing in several different directions at once. He was still thinking over Astra's sudden appearance the night before as well as the news of Elijah's possible death. There were so many variables appeared that it was hard to decide which was the right course of action to take in the end.

"Killing Elijah," Stefan said, ending his brother sentence as he looked away from the lake and off into the distance, seeing dozens more cottages lined up along the shore. Many were empty, since the families only using them in the warmer seasons. The fall chill made it much more unappealing to stay in the small spaces.

"Exactly," Damon nearly purred through the phone.

"Well it's not going to be easy, he's crafty," he reminded his brother.

"Well I've got a crafty little dagger," Damon retorted, as though that was the best thing in the world, something that would solve all of their problems.

"He's an Original, we don't know what all that encompasses," Stefan stressed more, beginning to pace the length of the end of the dock he had been previously throwing stones to skip across the water to the other shore.

"Oh, trust me, Stefan," Damon was saying, "I'm going to dot all my T's, I don't want any surprises." It was actually more surprising to hear that Damon Salvatore, his elder brother, was being cautious for once since they had turned vampire.

"Wow, Damon. Are you telling me you're actually going to be careful for once?"

"Yes, Stefan, I've become you," Damon mocked, sounding just as smug over the phone as he did in person. "How tragic for both of us?"

Stefan was silent for a moment as he glanced up at the house once more, to where Elena was still sitting by the window, reading the other Gilbert journal that had been found in the weapons closet. "Astra was the one who saved us last night," he said suddenly. When speaking with his brother before, he had refrained from telling him just how it was that had killed the werewolf that ambushed them with Tyler tagging along. "Would she have anything to do with your planning?"

Damon was quiet for a moment, not even his breathing sounding through from the other end. "He has to be compelling her."

"I don't think he is, Damon," Stefan began regretfully. "When she was here, she didn't act as though she was being compelled. She defended him; she said that he holds loyalty in very high regard. In her words, 'crossing him is signing for your own death'."

"She wouldn't help him," Damon nearly yelled into the phone, unwilling to see reason on the matter. "Astra was taken from Mystic Falls while everyone was distracted. He took her from me, Stefan. Who knows how long after we died that she followed? Now, I need to go so I can plan how to drive a stake through the bastard's heart."

Going through his past with Elena wasn't something that he really wanted to do, but that was also something that he knew he needed to do. She listened calmly as he told her everything, not a single lie leaving his lips. He told her about Damon, how he had been the opposite of what he was then, and how he left Stefan because of his ripper qualities. Lexi was the harder subject to talk about, and he was relieved when Elena changed the subject; even though that subject wasn't much easier.

"I want to know about Astra," she said softly, sitting on the chair across from his and leaning forward, her coffee mug in her hands, as she rested her elbows on her knees. "You look like…you really care for her."

Stefan smiled sadly as he looked down at his hands, sitting in much the same position as Elena, before he considered his words. "Astra was a dear friend of mine. I admit that, in the beginning, I was jealous of Damon for what he had with her, but she would always speak to me and show me a friendship that I still cherish so that I didn't feel left out. She always had such a kind heart and I wanted to…kill Damon when I found out that he was cheating on her; not only because of my feelings for Katherine at the time, but because she didn't deserve it." Elena reached forward and took one of his hands in hers gently.

"Is she really that different?" she asked softly.

"I," Stefan started, looking from Elena to the windows, unseeing. He thought back to the look of her the night before, her eyes and her voice, the feel of her lips on his cheek before she disappeared. Just like it had been in the past. "In a way, no. She always used to kiss my cheek and tell me how dear of a friend I was. Last night she told me that she hadn't changed, but simply that I had never seen that side of her. It's true, too. She never had any reason to be hostile when she was near or around me.

"Damon fully believes that she's being controlled by Elijah, because Originals are able to compel vampires." Elena nodded her head, remembering Katherine stuck inside the tomb because of the ancient man. "It's exactly like things were with Katherine. He's determined to save her but she doesn't need or want to be saved. I truly think she loves Elijah."

Elena's eyes widened at the words, thinking back to when she had seen them together. They had always looked very close, even when there was no one around for them to act for. In her bedroom they had touched discretely, showing affection to the other for no one to fall for an act. It was just the way that they were. "I can believe that, actually."

"Is it bad of me to be happy for her?" Stefan asked, almost sounding as though he was in pain. Elena sat up straighter at the question, looking startled. "When she found out about Damon's cheating, she had come to the house. As soon as I told her that he was with Katherine, she looked so absolutely destroyed that I hated my brother in that moment. She didn't deserve it, she didn't. But Elijah, he's honourable. He wouldn't do that to her. If they've lasted thing long together-"

Elena moved over to sit beside him, wrapping an arm around his back and leaning her chin on his shoulder. "It's not bad of you, Stefan," she assured softly. "You want her to be happy, you don't want to see your friend in pain."

Elena didn't know how painful it was for him, though, because he knew that his brother wanted to kill Elijah, and take him away from Astra. He wanted to break her heart all over again, crippling her for a second time. Was he supposed to stand by while Astra's heart shattered all over again, all because of his brother? Could he let her go through that again? A thought suddenly struck him as he thought back to what she had said the night before.

"I think…I think she was a vampire before she met Damon."

How old do you think I am?

Astra was walking ahead of Elijah and Jenna, playing with a leaf in her fingers as she looked about the properties. She was glad that she had chosen the proper footwear for the day and found herself enjoying the tour more than she had thought she would. It was wonderful to be surrounded by greenery again, she always detested the cities. The Industrial Revolution was an absolute nightmare.

"Why do you say it like that?" Jenna was asking from behind her when Elijah discretely mocked the founding families. She turned around where she was standing, only a couple of yards ahead, and waited for them to catch up.

"My research showed me that this area was actually settled almost two full centuries earlier," he explained, his eyes meeting those of Astra's as she waited for them. She had slipped her hands into the dark jacket she was wearing, looking as close to a model as someone could get without already having the job. "There was a migration of townsfolk from the northeast-uhm, it was Salem, to be precise."

"Massachusetts…as in the Witch Trials?" Jenna asked in disbelief.

Elijah and Jenna had caught up to Astra by that point, the blonde moving to Elijah's side as he wrapped an arm around her waist in greeting. "Which means that the founding families, didn't actually found anything," she finished for him, smiling up to her 'husband' endearingly.

Jenna let out a disbelieving laugh as she shook her head, looking to the leaves beneath their feet as she tried to wrap her head around what they had told her. So much for truth in history. "I bet it was the men that made a big deal about being founders back in 1860," she finally said, looking to Astra for agreement. She smirked and nodded her agreement, understanding what Jenna was saying.

"Men are very territorial," she agreed, seeing Jenna smile as she played along. Astra felt Elijah's arm tighten around her waist, drawing her closer to his person, and looked to him curiously.

"Yes they are," he drawled, looking ahead and away from both women. They followed his line of sight to watch as Alaric Saltzman made his way toward them. Jenna visibly deflated slightly at the sight of the other man while Elijah seemed intrigued and almost amused at the appearance of Damon's wingman. Astra wanted to growl, though, because the appearance of 'team Elena' was beginning to get tiresome very quickly.

"Uh, Elijah, Astra, this is my friend Alaric Saltzman," she introduced, pausing on the world 'friend'. Astra actually felt a swell of pity for the man.

"Yea, I got your message about walking the Smiths here through the old property lines; I thought I'd tag along. You know, being a history buff and all." Jenna looked only too displeased at the sight of him being there, but didn't say anything to him. "Where to next?"

"Oh, you were talking about the freed slave property owners this morning," Astra said suddenly, placing a hand on Elijah's chest and drawing his eyes down to her. The staring contest that he had been having with Alaric was broken, but he wasn't overly upset with that one.

"Yes, that's right, I almost forgot about that." He looked over to Jenna and Alaric briefly, continuing on, "Some say, you know, the descendants of the slaves are the true keepers of America's history."

"Well I only brought the surveys," Jenna said as she motioned to the various rolled up pages of paper protruding from the bag over her shoulder. "I got that list in my car, I'll be right back." As she was speaking she reached out and placed a hand on Elijah's arm in a friendly gesture that had Alaric's eyes narrowing at the sight of it. Astra knew that Elijah would rather speak with the other man alone and quickly volunteered to walk with Jenna.

"We'll let the men talk," she whispered as they were walking away, not really needing to since Elijah could still hear her anyway. Looping her arm through Jenna's, she looked to the other woman with true sympathy in her eyes. "What's with the tension?" she asked carefully. Jenna's eyes fell to the ground for a moment before glancing up to Astra's strange, beautiful eyes. She found herself gushing about what had been happening recently, Astra lending her a careful ear as she picked through things that Elijah might want to know while simultaneously wanting to help Jenna.

I forgot to write something my last authors note…

PLEASE STOP SKIPPING CHAPTERS!

I looked at my story stat's and most chapters have a relatively even number of reads, until about half way through when the past chapters suddenly started dropping to half as many reads as regular era chapters. Please, if you're going to read this story, don't skip the past chapters. They may seem boring to some people, but that tends to be the time when a lot of shit goes down. You don't need dramatic meetings or hearts being ripped out for a chapter to be good. Skipping chapters is like reading a book and deciding you don't like a character, so you skip all of their lines and parts. You're missing half the book!

Anyway, I'm done ranting. Sorry, hope you enjoyed the chapter!