Summary: All Celia Saltzman wanted was her mother back in her life. Moving to Mystic Falls and making new friends had never been part of the plan. Neither was finding new family. After finding out the truth about what happened to her mother, Celia soon discovers that it wasn't the only secret that lies within her family.
Disclaimer: I do not own anything you recognize here. TVD belongs to L.J. Smith and the CW.
Setting: TVD AU
Notes:
Eight
The girls were quiet as they sat in the Lockwood mansion waiting for Elijah. He returned to them in a fresh suit that had belonged to the late Mr. Lockwood. They weren't sure how they felt about Elijah compelling Mrs. Lockwood to get it, but they weren't about to complain either. They sat down to tea which helped settle the girls' nerves a bit.
Elijah set his cup down for a moment and looked at them. "I suppose I should start at the beginning. Niklaus and I are brothers. He is my younger half brother. We lived here in Mystic Falls back when it was just barely villages. Our mother was a witch. She had an affair with the leader of a nearby werewolf pack and fell pregnant with Niklaus. It was easy for her to hide this as my brother wound up with the same coloring as our parents. We were always told to stay inside during the full moons. One night Niklaus took our youngest sibling, our brother Henrik, out to see the wolves. Henrik wound up gravely injured by one of the wolves. Father was furious with Niklaus. There was nothing that could be done to save our brother Henrik. Mother feared that Father might retaliate against the wolves and she didn't want to lose any more of us so she turned us into the first vampires."
"Wow. I'm sorry for your loss." Elena commented and took a sip of her tea.
He nodded his head at her. "Thank you. So we became the Original Vampires as did Father. Now what Mother hadn't anticipated was that in order to trigger the werewolf side of him, Niklaus needed to kill someone. Well we became vampires and being unable to control our bloodlust at first, we regrettably killed some innocent people. That triggered my brother's curse and he became the first hybrid which in turn made Father realize that Mother had cheated on him. Anyway, the whole werewolf pack was killed and Mother decided that she had made a terrible mistake. So she devised the ritual to bind Niklaus into just being a vampire. It needed three sacrifices though. A vampire to represent his vampire side, a werewolf to represent his werewolf side, and Tatia."
Celia gave him a curious look. "Tatia? As in Tatia Petrova. Katherine's ancestor. Our ancestor."
Elijah smiled slightly at her. "Exactly. Niklaus and I both fancied her. Mother thought sacrificing her was rather poetic. So the ritual happened and Niklaus was back to being just a vampire. It wasn't until afterward that we learned that it was Tatia's blood that turned us. We believed for the longest time that there was no way of undoing the ritual. Then around 1492 we were living in England as lords. We discovered that magic had allowed Tatia to become a doppelganger. Well that immediately excited my brother and a search for the doppelganger ensued. We had even drawn up the ritual as a joke."
She gasped slightly at that. "The Sun and Moon curse."
He chuckled at her. "That's the one. Anyhow, we received word that a woman named Katerina Petrova would be headed our way from Bulgaria. I wasn't sure that I fully believed in the whole doppelganger thing, but then I saw her face and I knew it to be true. We had the ritual all set up. We just needed to wait for the full moon. Then I fell in love with Katerina. I was determined to save her and made the mistake of telling her the truth. It spooked her and she ran. We discovered later that she had turned herself into a vampire. In a fit of rage, Niklaus massacred her family. It was only when he calmed down that he realized he had just lost his only chance of getting another doppelganger. We had no idea at the time that Katerina had previously given birth."
"So you had no idea there was another one until me. How did Klaus even find out about me?" Elena asked.
Elijah shrugged his shoulders. "Certainly not from me. Vampires do talk, Elena, especially if it will get them on my brother's good side."
Celia sat up a bit straighter. "How do we know that we can trust you? You already lied your way into Elena's house. You were more than willing to just whisk us away."
He studied her for a moment then sighed. "You are correct. Trust is earned, I believe. I have been completely honest with you though. I do want to protect your sister. You must be asking yourselves why I would want to go against my brother. He knows where our siblings are and I wish to be reunited with them."
She narrowed her eyes at him. "Fine. You can help us protect Elena, but so help me if you double cross us, it will take centuries for your siblings to even find all of you."
Elijah looked at her impressed. "I can respect that. You really do have that Petrova fire, huh?"
Celia shrugged at him as she finished her tea. "Your brother said the same thing. I'm just fiercely protective of the people that I love."
The sound of water running in his shower caught Damon's attention as he finished helping Stefan put the groceries away. He vampire sped to his room only to stop in the doorway of his bathroom completely stunned when he saw Elena showering. She turned around to face him and that was when realization hit him. Damon rolled his eyes just as Celia walked into the room.
"Katherine, what the hell are you even doing in my shower? Shouldn't you be rotting away in your tomb?" He asked clearly annoyed.
She smirked at him as she finished up. "Well you see despite the spell, Elijah compelled me to stay in the tomb. Then Elijah was daggered which broke the compulsion and then Bonnie died which ended the spell. So now I'm free."
Celia grasped his hand moving him away from the bathroom. "When I said you could come in, I didn't say you could use this shower and flirt with my boyfriend, Kat."
Katherine turned off the water and shrugged as she wrapped a towel around her body. "I know. I'm sorry, but I just couldn't resist."
"Just put some clothes on. Wait you let her in?" Damon looked at his girlfriend in shock.
She shrugged her shoulders. "I know you guys hate her, that she's done terrible things, but she's family and we need all the help we can get against Klaus."
Stefan suddenly appeared in the room looking very concerned. "Elijah's gone."
"Celia Grace, what the hell?" He looked at her again.
Katherine couldn't help laughing softly as she emerged from the bathroom fully dressed and drying her hair. "I love this girl."
Celia rolled her eyes at her boyfriend. "Klaus is possessing my father. He plans on killing my sister. Excuse me for wanting to do everything I can to protect my family. Besides Elijah gave us some valuable information."
"Oh yeah, like what?"
She huffed at him. "Klaus and Elijah are brothers. Elijah is older. They and their siblings are the first vampires. The Originals, if you will. Except Klaus is the product of an affair between his mother and the leader of a nearby wolf pack. So Klaus is a werewolf who was turned into a vampire which makes him the first hybrid. That's why the ritual even happened in the first place. Ask any witch and they'll tell you. Nature likes balance. Vampires and Werewolves even each other out. Being a hybrid makes you more powerful then both. Especially if you are the very first hybrid. He's also going to need a vampire and a werewolf for the ritual."
Stefan lifted his head sharing a look with his brother. "Someone's at the door."
Celia's face lit up. "Well Katherine isn't the only vampire that I invited."
"Who else did you invite?" He asked his girlfriend curiously as they followed her downstairs.
"Hello sweetheart." Isobel smiled when her daughter opened the front door a few moments later.
She grinned softly clearly happy to see her. "Hi Mom. Wait how do I know that Klaus didn't possess you too?"
"When you were thirteen I took you to the midnight release party for one of the Twilight books. You were dressed as Rosalie." She recalled with a soft smile.
Celia blushed brightly and stepped aside. "Yeah that's Mom. You can come in, Mom."
"Wait you were into the sparkly vampire bull crap?" Damon looked at her surprised yet amused at the same time.
She shook her head shutting the door behind Isobel. "Shut up. No of course not. I read it because everyone else was into it and I didn't want to be the odd one out. Terrible writing, but I did like some of the characters though."
Stefan watched them curiously. "You invited your Mom over?"
Celia shrugged her shoulders. "With Dad possessed by Klaus, I wanted my Mom nearby."
"I'm glad you did, honey. I can't imagine what you've been going through lately." Isobel pulled her daughter into a hug.
She returned the hug sighing softly. "I'm just glad you're here, Mom."
"I still can't believe you invited Katherine in. This is supposed to be a house that we're safe in." Elena remarked from behind them.
Celia pulled away from their Mom and scoffed. "Out of everyone that is standing here right now, Katherine knows Klaus the best. I know she's done some incredibly messed up things, but she is family and we need all the help that we can get against Klaus."
Katherine rolled her eyes playfully at them. "I'm standing right here, you guys. Hello Isobel."
"Hello Katherine." Isobel nodded at her. "So where's the moonstone?"
She smirked at that. "Somewhere safe."
"Could you be more vague?" Damon rolled his eyes at her.
Just then Jenna barged into the house appearing incredibly upset and Celia suddenly felt guilty. "What's wrong?"
Jenna frowned at her. "Ric showed up at the house. He was saying things that were very unlike him. I just packed a bag and ran over."
Katherine swallowed hard. "Just be glad he left you alive."
Her eyes widened as she looked at the two identical dark haired brunettes. "Wow. They really are doppelgangers."
Celia sighed turning to walk out of the house. "I need some air."
"I should go check on her." Isobel spoke as she walked toward the door.
Katherine studied her descendant for a few moments. "Celia doesn't know, does she? Hell, none of them know, do they?"
"Leave it alone, Katherine. Knowing won't keep either of them safe." She stopped and glared at her ancestor.
"Wait what are you talking about? What could you possibly know about keeping them safe? You hid the truth from Celia and her own father got possessed by Klaus." Damon glared at his girlfriend's mother.
"I'm well aware of that, Damon. I should have been more open with Ric, but I was scared he would try to go after Klaus himself and I couldn't put Celia through that." Isobel admitted.
Stefan shook his head at her. "She's going through enough as it is not knowing if her father will make it through this. Maybe you should consider being more open with her."
Outside, Celia was leaning against Damon's car trying to keep herself from having a panic attack when she heard a familiar voice. "You've got some nerve showing up here."
"I'm aware. I wanted to apologize. I'm not normally that rude." Rose admitted to her.
She rolled her eyes then sighed. "I get it. You just wanted to be free from Elijah and Klaus' wrath."
"Exactly. I'm glad that you and your sister are alright. If there's anything I can do to help, please let me know."
Celia narrowed her eyes a bit as the Salvatores, Isobel, and Katherine were suddenly between them. "I think you've helped enough. Anything you know about Klaus or Elijah is probably something we've heard already."
"The dagger that you used on Elijah will work on any of the Original siblings, but not Klaus. Wooden stakes only temporarily stop them as well." Rose explained to them.
"She's right. If there is a way to actually kill them then they've kept it very secret. I'm still looking though." Isobel assured them.
She made a face. "I think that I'm going to head over to the grill. I'm feeling kind of hungry."
"I'll go with you." Damon smiled as he took his girlfriend's hand.
Stefan gave Celia a reassuring look. "We'll make sure Jenna is alright."
"How did she know that we were doppelgangers?" Elena asked her sister curiously.
Celia sighed at that. "Because I told her the truth. After Klaus possessed Dad, I just wanted to keep Jenna safe."
"Well she's my aunt. You had no right to tell her." She huffed at her.
The auburn haired woman in question rolled her eyes. "Elena, I appreciate that, but it's not your job to protect me. It's my job to protect you and Jeremy. Yeah it should have been you telling me, but I'm glad that I know the truth now."
Stefan cleared his throat. "Alright you guys go to the grill. Katherine, you and Isobel go make sure the moonstone is safe. We'll be inside with Jenna."
The drive over to the Mystic Grill was quiet. A nearly full moon glowed in the night sky above them as Damon parked his car. They got out only for a long haired blonde to approach them looking quite upset. Celia gave her a confused look as she looked at her from behind Damon.
"Jules, what are you doing here?" He asked trying to figure out a way out of this.
"Where is Mason? I know you were lying when I asked you the first time." Jules glared at him.
Her face softened a bit. "Mason? What's going on?"
"This is Jules. She and Mason are friends." Damon explained to her.
Celia nodded her head. "Right. Mason's a nice guy. I haven't seen him since we had that cookout at the Gilbert's though. He left afterward, but I haven't seen him since. Have you tried his nephew Tyler?"
"Thank you and yes I have. Tyler hasn't seen him either. It's like he just vanished." She sighed running her fingers through her hair.
She gave her a sympathetic look. "I'm sorry."
"Thanks. Ever since he got with Katherine, things have been a mess." Jules admitted.
Celia was surprised to hear that, but realization hit her when she noticed the lack of surprise on her boyfriend's handsome face. "What did you do?"
"I ripped his heart out and killed him. He was going to tell everyone about the vampires in town." Damon admitted.
Jules' eyes glowed a yellow hue as wolf fangs appeared in her mouth. She lunged at Damon only for Rose to suddenly get in the way. Her teeth sunk into Rose biting her. Realizing what happened, Jules ran off. Damon grabbed the injured Rose and vampire sped her back to the boarding house.
Celia was concerned, but she was also still hungry so she continued on into the Mystic Grill. She sat alone in a booth. Matt took her order then she pulled out her phone to check her messages. It didn't take long before she felt the presence of someone sitting down across from her. She assumed it was Damon and didn't look up.
"Hello love."
The unfamiliar British accented voice caught her attention and she glanced up. "Excuse me?"
"Oh that's right. The first and last time we spoke, I looked like your dear old Dad." He smirked at her.
Celia sat up a bit straighter. "Klaus. Wait where is my father and who are you wearing now?"
"He is sleeping it off at your home unharmed. He is free to leave when he wakes. I'm not wearing anyone, love. This is my actual body." Klaus explained.
Her head tilted slightly as she took in his appearance. "Oh. I mean, I know Elijah is your half brother, but I guess I just expected you to look a little more like him."
"That's fair, I suppose." He nodded his head as her food arrived.
Celia thanked Matt then waited until he was out of earshot to speak again. "So what do you want, Klaus? If it's another crack about how I have the Petrova fire, please save your breath. I've heard it enough already."
"I compelled you. So you either consumed vervain or were wearing it that night."
She swallowed a bite of her burger then took a sip of her soda. "Nope. I'm allergic to vervain."
"Then the compulsion should have worked." Klaus stared at her like he was trying to figure her out.
Her shoulders shrugged as she ate her food. "I don't know what to tell you."
"Stab your arm with that fork." He looked into her eyes compelling her.
Celia blinked then continued eating. "That's not nice. I've been somewhat cordial to you and you try to compel me to hurt myself?"
"Huh. Well I'll be damned. Now that makes things more interesting." Klaus smirked slightly at her.
She took another sip of her drink. "So is this the part where you threaten me or the people I love?"
"No this is the part where I give you fair warning. The next full moon I fully intend on completing my ritual. So enjoy having a sister while you can." He taunted pressing a kiss to the back of her hand before leaving.