The sound of Elijah opening the door of the Mercedes lulled Elena out of sleep and she turned to watch him slide into the driver's seat with his bounty.
"Well, Good Morning…" he smiled at her and she smirked at his mock enthusiasm, "Welcome to Dodridge, Virginia, population….well, you and me and…" he turned and pointed out the windshield at the small crowd at the calzone stand, "those people."
Elena laughed softly as she watched Elijah set two cups of coffee in the cup holders and rummage through the paper bag on his lap.
"What's that smell?" she asked, sitting up in her seat and pulling his jacket off of her
"Breakfast calzones…"
"It smells like blood..."
"Well, they were made by the feuding brothers from Jersey...so maybe some got in there when I wasn't looking-"
"What?" Elena asked, confused
"Never mind…" Elijah said, "It was a long night...you've been out for a while and seeing as you're still a newborn, everything probably smells like blood. It won't be long before you'll be hungry."
"What time is it?" Elena asked, folding Elijah's jacket up in her lap then rubbing the sleep out of her left eye
Elijah turned his wrist to look at his watch.
"About 8:30," he answered as he offered her a calzone
"Why didn't you wake me sooner?" Elena asked, as she took the calzone in her hands and unwrapped it
"Trust me," Elijah said, unwrapping his own, "You didn't miss anything. Trees…a few cows …two stop lights—"
"Elijah!" Elena chuckled
"Well, it's true," Elijah insisted, digging in the bottom of the bag and pulling out the napkins, handing Elena one
"How come you're only like this with me?" Elena suddenly asked in soft voice, cocking her head to the side to study his face
"What do you mean?" Elijah shrugged, but deep down he knew exactly what she was asking
"You know…" Elena insisted with a smile, "Kind and funny and human…"
Elijah sighed, looking down at his calzone in his hand. He knew if he met her eyes in that moment, he might break.
"You once said that, from the first time we met, I've always been a person, not a vampire, to you," Elijah whispered, "maybe that's why…"
A few moments of silence fell between them as they both seemed to contemplate his words, before he suddenly turned in his seat to face Elena, their gaze meeting, and his face turning serious as he changed the subject.
"Lesson one in being a vampire," he stated, holding up his calzone, "Food."
Elena shifted in her seat and listened intently.
"Blood is essential to a vampire's diet. You find that it's what you'll live for, what you'll fight for—what you kill for, Elena. Bloodlust is just one of the many new and heightened senses you'll experience as a new vampire. It is a constant need and you'll find that it is a feeling that can be intense, overwhelming and hard to control…but we'll get to that later. What you need to know is that human food can be an important ally in controlling your need for blood—a need that you're probably feeling right at this very moment—eating it on a regular basis will lessen the cravings. It will also serve other benefits by giving you a sense of normalcy and will often quiet the suspicions of those who believe you to be a vampire."
Elena eyed her calzone and swallowed.
She suddenly felt a burning at the back of her throat as she realized that Elijah was right—it wasn't for a calzone.
But, surely it was too early for her to have to feed again...
Just then, she heard a noise—a rushing sound filling her ears as she felt her senses open.
She smelled something besides the calzone...it was blood...and it was more overpowering than it had been when she'd first awoken.
It was close by.
She quickly turned and looked out her window to see a mother and her teenage daughter climbing into the car next to theirs—less than a foot away from her door.
Without thinking—without knowing what exactly she was doing—Elena reached for the door handle to the passenger side door of the Mercedes with vampire speed.
But, her hand was immediately stilled by Elijah.
"Elena…" he said sternly as Elena turned back to face him, breathing heavily.
What was wrong with her? What was this new feeling?
Her body suddenly felt like it was on fire—and not just from where Elijah was touching her skin, holding her hand in a death grip—there was an aching in her stomach and in her head…
Elijah swiftly put his calzone back in the back and reached for the passenger side visor mirror, flipping it down so that Elena could see her reflection.
"Look in the mirror," he said and her gaze automatically moved from him to herself in the small glass piece in the visor.
"Oh, my God…" she whispered as she took in the sight of her bloodlust—her eyes dark and her veins prominent, "what's happening to me?"
"It's alright…you're alright…" Elijah soothed as he flipped the visor back up and used the hand to gently grasp her chin, turning his face back toward him, "It's the bloodlust."
"But I've never—I mean, I vamped out before...last night...back at the mansion, but—why isn't it going away?" Elena asked, starting to panic slightly
"Bloodlust is harder to will away than any other emotion. You're new and probably starving after the energy you expelled last night," Elijah said, "Listen to me…There is no shame in bloodlust, Elena. It's who we are…what we are. It happens to every vampire, whether you are a thousand years old or four hours old."
"I want to—"Elena said in a low voice, her head turning back toward the glass and the mother and daughter pulling away in the Jeep.
"I know, Elena…" Elijah interjected in a low voice, "But, listen to me…hear my voice…"
Elena closed her eyes, trying to calm herself as she turned back to face him, her vampire features still prominent.
"Look at me Elena…watch me…" he said as her eyes opened again and he willed his own vampire features forward, "I want you to take slow, deep breaths and close off your sense of smell—"
"I can't," Elena whimpered
"Yes, you can…"Elijah encouraged as he started inhaling breath methodically in between words, "breathe in through your mouth…and out…. like me, alright?"
Elena nodded and closed her eyes, starting to breathe with him
"That's it," he said, "Now focus on the memory of that girl getting into the car just now—"
"What?" Elena asked, opening her still veined out eyes, "How is that supposed to help?"
"Just trust me, Elena," Elijah insisted
Elena narrowed her brow in confusion but closed her eyes again, willing herself to focus as Elijah continued.
"The girl in the car is now…your brother, Jeremy. Think of Jeremy..."
"Jeremy…" Elena whispered automatically and by the way she said it, Elijah could see that Elena had brought the image of her brother to her mind immediately.
"Keep breathing…focus on Jeremy…" Elijah said softly
"Jeremy…" Elena whispered again between breaths, "Jeremy…"
And Elijah watched her swallow back her blood thirst.
She was ready…
"Open your eyes," he said, himself still breathing along with her
She immediately obeyed
"Watch my face," he said as he took in a last deep breath and drawing his own memory, willed his vampire features away.
Elena kept breathing and gave it a try herself, but nothing happened
"It's okay...Just think of Jeremy... you don't want to harm him...you are going to pull back and push the bloodlust down and out of your body…" Elijah encouraged as Elena's eyes dilated, still focused on him, then blink rapidly as she continued to breathe.
Finally, after a few moments, it happened.
Elijah smiled as he watched Elena's eyes suddenly return to their normal color and the lines underneath them slowly fade, her fangs receding.
"Well done," he commended as he released his hold on her, his eyes still meeting hers
"I—I did it?" Elena gasped, stunned as she immediately brought her hands to her face to make sure her vampire features were truly gone.
"Yes, you did," Elijah said as he pulled the passenger side visor down again so that she could see her reflection.
She took it in for a few moments then sighed as she flipped it back up again and laid her head back on the seat.
"Alright…" Elijah said, taking in a breath as he reached back into the back for his calzone, "back to the lesson—"
"Thank you," Elena suddenly said, turning toward him with soft eyes
Elijah stopped and turned to her, meeting her gaze
"It's what I'm here for…" he smiled gently, then nodded toward the calzone still sitting in her lap, "Now, are you going to eat that?"
Elena smirked as she raised her head and looked down to her lap, taking the food into her hands once more.
"It will help…" Elijah encouraged as he watched Elena suddenly examine the calzone intently
"Hmmm …is this properly cooked?" she stated, wrinkling her nose.
"I see I have a picky eater on my hands," Elijah smirked as he took a bite of his own calzone "You're worse than Kol…and I never thought that was possible."
"Do you think I'll be picky about blood too?" Elena asked before tentatively taking a bite of her breakfast calzone
"Well, most vampires like certain types of blood when they feed from blood bags, but when it's straight from the vein…beggars can't be choosers, unless you're a type-caster."
"A type-caster?"
"A vampire who looks for 'just blondes' or 'just men over fifty'—things like that. They think certain types of people taste better than others. It's juvenile really..."
"Are you a 'type-caster'?" Elena asked curiously
"No," Elijah shook his head as he took another bite, "But I have my standards. I only feed on humans when necessary and I never, under any circumstances, feed on children."
"So, what blood type do you like best?" Elena continued
"You're just full of questions, aren't you?" Elijah smiled, wiping his face with a napkin
"I'm sorry. I'm just really trying to focus on something other than all of those people outside the car right now…" Elena answered, her voice tinged with guilt, "And the smell, again."
Elijah took this in for a moment before turning toward his driver's side door
"Well, there is an easy solutions for that…" he deadpanned as he pushed the button to lock the doors to the Mercedes and turned on the child safety lock.
Elena laughed when she realized she was trapped
"You just have a solution for everything, don't you?" she finally said, coming down from her laughter
"I try." Elijah smiled, "Now what else did you want to ask? We don't want you lose focus, Miss Gilbert."
"Alright...since you successfully dodged the blood type question-"
"I didn't dodge anything, Elena," Elijah insisted, "If you wish to know, I like all kinds of blood. I grew up on a farm and was not raised a picky eater...unlike some people."
He winked at her and handed her her cup of coffee.
"Okay..." Elena rolled her eyes, then her face turned serious, "why did you have me think of Jeremy to make my bloodlust go away?"
"It's called a touchstone," Elijah said, taking a sip of his own coffee, "It was something Misha told me about, when I was a newly turned vampire, that helped me to control my bloodlust. Later, when it worked, I tried using it on my siblings to help them, too. It didn't work on Kol, but it did on Finn, Niklaus and Rebekah."
"And it sure worked on me..." Elena affirmed
"It's a simple mind trick-something you use to calm yourself in a moment of overwhelming emotion, like bloodlust, when you feel yourself losing control. It can be anything, usually an image or a memory or a song or a saying, just as long as it is something so important to you that you can condition yourself to react to it when you feel like you are going over the edge. You see, when you call it to mind, it should invoke such strong feelings that it pulls you back because your brain is conditioned to know that if you take that extra step and act on your impulses, you will lose it forever."
Elena nodded in sudden understanding as Elijah continued
"There are probably many important people in your life, Elena, and memories or cultural references you could always fall back on, but in the heat of the moment, I just had you focus on Jeremy. He was the one thing-the one person- I knew was important enough to you that you would never risk hurting him or losing him. That made him the perfect touchstone."
Elena smiled, her mind trailing off in thought, "When I saw him, it was a memory of when we were children at the lake house...we were fishing..."
Elijah nodded with smirk, then took another bite of his calzone as Elena pulled herself from her thoughts and studied him.
When he didn't say anything else, Elena spoke up first
"So, may I ask what your touchstone is?" she inquired
Elijah took in a breath as their gaze met.
"You may," he smiled, "but I think that you know the answer to that question already, Elena."