Tea Party
Elena couldn't believe what was happening. Everyone was turning against her. Well, everyone but her biological father, John Gilbert, her best friend Bonnie, and her gullible ex-boyfriend Matt. The man who she had known as her 'uncle' for her whole life, up to a few months ago when he told her. She was too shocked and upset to tell anyone about him being her real father. Elena didn't know what to think right now, besides the fact that she has lost everyone who paid attention to her. Her brother, Jeremy, would rather spend his time away from home and as far away from her as he could get. Aunt Jenna barely leaves her college campus, claiming it is easier to live on campus so she could finish her degree. Alaric moved back into his apartment after John had thrown him out when John was revealed to be Elena's biological father.
So, here Elena is, sitting in her bedroom, writing in her diary about how awful her day was. She wrote how Caroline ignored her at school, Stefan won't even look at her, Damon has blocked her phone number, even Tyler goes to the extreme to avoid her. She writes how much she hates the attention-seeking whore, Leilani Evans and her dysfunctional family of soulless gingers. Elena took her aggression out on her diary to the point her pen broke, getting ink everywhere, "Shit!" She shook the excess ink off her hand, splattering on the walls near her and the front of a very expensive suit. A suit that the Noble Original was currently wearing.
Elena narrowed her eyes, "What are you doing here?" Elijah sneered at the girl while trying to blot the ink stains from his suit, but it was no use. "I am here because it seems you have isolated yourself once again. I came to find out why?" Elena huffed, "It's all that witch's fault. She has turned everyone against me." Elijah heard the skip in her heartbeat, he knew she was lying. He wanted to see how far she would take it, "Oh? How so?" "The moment she and her family showed up they stuck their nose in everything. She threatened to kill me and my friends, but they took her side. They don't see what I see. That she is nothing but a freak."
Elijah shook his head in disbelief but decided to placate the girl. He needed her alive to drive out his brother, "Well, I suggest you keep to your end of the deal, and I will keep to mine. I protect you and your family in exchange, you live your life and try not to get yourself killed." Elena forced a few tears and nodded her head, trying her best to look like the innocent one in this whole ordeal, but Elijah knew better. She was exactly like her ancestor.
Later that day, everyone in the Evans household was doing their own thing when the wards shifted. Lei had reached the front door the same time someone started frantically knocking. Lei cautiously opened the door, "Caroline?" She looked into the tear-streaked face of the baby vampire and invited her in. "What's wrong?"
Caroline walked into the sitting room with Lei following behind her after closing the door. Both sat on the loveseat then Caroline started telling Lei what happened, "I…um…" She tried to wipe her tears away and took a deep breath and started again, "I went over to Elena's to check on her. It's been a while since we talked to each other, even though she has been avoiding me, and she has been my friend since I can remember so I wanted to hang out or something." Caroline looked down at her clasped hands then back up to Lei, "When Jenna answered the door, she was acting weird, like she didn't want to be there. When I told her I was coming by to say hi to Elena and walked past her, she tried to stop me, but I just headed up the stairs. If I had been listening, I would have figured out why she didn't want me coming in or why she didn't even want to be there."
Lei waited for Caroline to continue while seeing an extendable ear coming in from another room being dragged by Jeff, and Sirius practically climbing out of his portrait, she knew the others were listening in. "When I entered Elena's room, Matt and Elena scrambled to cover themselves." Lei took a second for that to sink in, "Wait, aren't you and Matt a thing?" Lei heard a gasp from Sirius and a few others. Jeff had coiled himself in Caroline's lap, he liked the girl and felt her distress. Caroline cried a little harder, "I thought so. But when I caught them instead of feeling guilty and embarrassed, they both started yelling at me. Saying I'm a narcissistic, insecure freak and it would have been better off if I died instead of becoming a vampire. Elena got in my face and told me that nobody ever liked me. That I was always going to be everyone's last choice. Then Matt chimed in and said I was as shallow as a kiddie pool. After that I left before I did something I would regret and came here."
By the time Caroline was finished, the extendable ears were forgotten about, and she was being surrounded by several redheads. All of them gave her words of comfort except the twins, "There's some new products we developed that need testing." Fred said to the distraught vampire with George agreeing, "They would be perfect targets for our pranks." Caroline couldn't help but give a wet laugh, "Thanks guys, but I think I'm just going to go home and eat a tub of ice cream while watching The Notebook."
"Actually…" Lei interrupted Caroline's thoughts. "There's something we could use your help with?" Caroline wiped the tears away and looked at her friend, "What can I help you with?" Lei smiled a little, "We've been trying to figure out a way for cell phones to work around us. And to do that, we need cell phones. Older models at first, then newer ones after we've got them to work." Caroline perked up, "So…I get to go shopping."
While Caroline, Narcissa, Draco, and a smartly dressed Scorpius went shopping, the rest of the Evan's household were getting ready to deal with the sheriff. "Okay, Fred, George, and Charlie, I need you three to not provoke the officers. No pranks," Lei sternly stated. The twins started to protest but shut their mouths when Leilani glared at them, "We need this to go as smoothly as possible. From what I understand, the sheriff, and John Gilbert are part of a council filled with amateur hunters. And somehow, we are on their radar, so be on your best behavior. Winky and Pip", The house elves popped into the sitting room. Lei turned to them, "Stay out of sight. Any rooms they disrupt will have to stay that way until they leave. Hopefully, they won't tear up our home too badly."
The twins and Charlie decided it was best to stay in the Sanctuary. When the sheriff showed up with a few deputies, John tagged along. "I told you to stay away," Sheriff Forbes was beyond frustrated with this man. "And I told you, this is also council business. So, I will be going in with you," John smirked at the sheriff. Her and her deputies climbed the stairs to the Evans' front porch with John trailing behind. One of the deputies knocked harshly on the door, "Sheriff's Department! We have a search warrant!"
The group of law enforcement plus John watch as the door opens to reveal Leilani Evans, "I still don't understand why you feel the need to search my home without probable cause." The deputy who knocked cocked an eyebrow, "We have reason to believe you are harboring fugitives, ma'am." Lei had to stop herself from rolling her eyes at the lame excuse the council came up with, "Well, I assure you I am not. But since you're already here." She opened the door wider for the deputies to step inside. All of the deputies and the sheriff were able to cross over the threshold, passing through the wards. John Gilbert, however, was not.
John became angry, "Why can I not enter?" Lei smirked and shut the door in his face. She turned around to see Sheriff Forbes glaring at her. Before Leilani could give a snarky response to the glare, she heard glass shattering in the dining room. The sheriff gave her own smirk and joined her deputies, enjoying the fact that she pissed off Leilani. Liz Forbes didn't see the Mistress of Death's eyes darken or the mischievous gleam a moment later.
After twenty long, grueling minutes of searching the Evans' household the deputies left. John was found fuming and pacing on the front porch. When a disappointed sheriff walked out, John approached her, "Did you find anything?" Liz shook her head, "Nothing out of the ordinary." As John and Liz were climbing down the steps, Leilani stated to them loud enough for the deputies to hear, "You'll be hearing from my attorney by the end of the week!" It was an empty threat since she didn't have an attorney, but she will not let the matter be swept under the rug. Leilani was already planning a few ways to 'repay' the sheriff's and John's kindness. She shut the door and went straight to the Sanctuary, there's some pranks that needed to be planned.
By the time John got to the house he was staying at he was even more angry, "How dare that woman threaten me!" John took his frustration out on the steering wheel of his car. When he entered the home, three vampires, Isobel's lackeys, looked his way. He had this idea, "I have a target for you three. I want her and whoever she is with gone. Kill her, eat her, whatever…Just make her disappear." The vampires smiled sinisterly, and one of them asked, "Who's the target?"
"Hermione and I finished neutralizing the side effects of Alaric's ring. Now, if he does die, his consciousness will not be affected while dead. Hermione also added a charm to alert her if he's in danger, so we can provide backup to hopefully prevent him from dying again," Bill told Lei. She was getting ready to leave for The Grill for some of their Chili cheese fries when Bill came up to her. "Okay, let's head to the Salvatores and give it to Damon," Lei put her leather jacket on and moved to leave.
The two of them apparated close to the Salvatores' front door when they were attacked by three vampires. One vampire had Bill by the throat and was getting ready to bite him when Bill non-verbally shot a Stupefy at him. The vampire flew several feet into the air before crashing into a tree, splintering it and sending wooden spears through him, killing him. Bill turned to Leilani to help her but saw it wasn't needed.
Two vampires caught Leilani off-guard. One was holding her arms to her sides while the other was trying to bite her. In her anger, Lei's magic lashed out and sent both vampires flying. When they landed, they rushed back at her. Lei turned and incinerated the one that held her down, then immobilized the other. She wanted to question them, "Why did you attack us? Who sent you?" The vampire just glared at the witch, not answering.
Leilani, in her agitated state, grew impatient, "Fine. You don't want to tell me; I'll find out for myself. Legilimens…" Lei was thrown into the vampire's mind, which was painful for the vampire. Both Damon and Stefan came outside of their home after hearing the screams of the vampire. Bill told them not to interrupt her.
The longer Leilani was in the vampire's mind the more pissed off she became. Images of John, Isobel, and Katherine, before her death, were shown. The three of them were planning the deaths of every supernatural being in Mystic Falls to protect the Doppelganger. These three vampires were Isobel's lackeys that also followed John's orders. The most recent image was John giving them the order to get rid of Leilani and whoever she was with, no matter who it was. This made Lei's magic lash out again, subsequently frying the vampire's brain before she set him on fire.
Damon slowly approached his friend, who was trying to reel in her magic before it became destructive, "Lei?" Her head snapped up to face Damon. He fought the instinct to take a few steps back. The look on her face was murderous, her eyes glowing a bright emerald green. The same shade as the killing curse she used on Katherine. Damon held his hands up to show he meant her no harm, "Come on. Let's go inside and have a drink and take some deep breaths. Then you can tell us what happened so we can figure out what to do next."
Leilani slowly turned her head toward Bill and Stefan to see them give a subtle nod. She slowly stood up and made her way inside the Boarding house with the others following her. Stefan was the last one in, he looked around to make sure nobody else was there as he closed the door. The four of them sat in the sitting room with tumblers of Bourbon.
Stefan was the first to speak after he noticed Leilani calmed down a little, "What happened?" Not wanting to upset Lei again, Bill answered, "We were on our way to return Alaric's ring when we were attacked." "So, were you able to fix it?" Damon was concerned for his drinking buddy and wanting to divert the subject of the attack for the moment. Bill nodded, "Yes, we were able to. Can you call him over, so we don't have to repeat ourselves?" Damon nodded his head while pulling out his cell phone.
A few minutes later, the silence of the Boarding was broken by Alaric and Jeremy entering. "Okay, I'm here," Alaric says as he enters the sitting room with Jeremy. The teenager points back to the door, "Did you know there's a vampire staked to a tree in your front yard?" The way he casually stated the question like it was an everyday occurrence had Damon and Lei cracking a small smile. Stefan ran his fingers through his hero-hair and sighed, "I'll deal with it later."
Damon cleared his throat and faced his drinking buddy, "I called because your ring has been fixed. Bill wanted to explain what was done to it." Everybody gave Bill their full attention. He pulled the ring from his pocket and handed it to Alaric, "We were able to neutralize the side effects. If you were to die by supernatural means, your consciousness will no longer be affected by your temporary death. And there's an added charm that will alert Hermione if you're in danger and need help."
Alaric put the ring back on, "I don't have to worry about losing my humanity?" Bill shook his head, "No. But I wouldn't go running head-first into danger." Bill glanced at Lei, who just shrugged. She was still trying to reel in her anger. That's when Damon asked her, "Do you know why you were attacked?" Lei kept her mouth shut and nodded her head. "Are you going to share with the class?" Damon questioned.
The Mistress of Death sighed, "It seems I have been declared a threat to the Doppelganger. Mister John, I'm-a-respected-member-of-the-community Gilbert, sent those vampires to get rid of me by any means necessary." Lei slammed the rest of her Bourbon before setting it down on the coffee table in front of her. She got up to leave, "I'll deal with him later. I want him to dwell on the fact that I'm still alive before I remove him. Right now, Bill and I should get back home. Caroline and The Malfoys have returned home. So, we have cell phones to experiment with."
Stefan gained a confused expression, "Cell phones?" "Yeah, Hermione, the twins, and I are working on a way for us to use cell phones without our magic frying them." Lei answered as she walked to the door, Damon and Bill following behind her. "Well, when you figure it out, you better put me on speed-dial," Damon joked to his friend. Lei smiled, "You know it. Right after Hermione." Damon clutched his chest in fake hurt, "You wound me. I thought we were friends." Lei shakes her head and chuckles, "We are, but she is my sister." "Ugh, fine. You're still going to be my plus one tomorrow? Right?" Damon held the door as they walked out. Lei nodded, "Yeah. Even though I detest wearing dresses, I guess I will for tomorrow." Everyone else just watched the two interact and shook their heads at them.
After everyone had left the Boarding house, Stefan turned to his brother with a knowing look. Damon cocked an eyebrow, "What?" Stefan smiled and shook his head, "Nothing." "No, it's not nothing. What?" Damon pestered. Stefan snorted, "You sure Leilani is just your best friend?" "Yeah, of course," Damon smirked. "Okay, whatever helps you sleep at night," Stefan walked away from his brother to go shower.
Damon and Leilani walked into the Mayor's home the next day. The Mayor was holding a "Tea Party", which is really a cover for a council meeting. Damon spotted the Mayor talking to the Noble Original, so he dragged Lei over to them. "Carol," Damon greeted the Mayor. "Hello, Damon. Miss Evans," The Mayor politely greeted the two of them. She then introduced the man she was speaking to, "Damon, Leilani. I like to introduce Elijah Smith. He is a writer, researching the history of our small town." Damon and Elijah shook each other's hand, being civil in the company of the Mayor. Elijah released Damon's hand to greet Lei. He took her hand and instead of a handshake, he kissed the back of her hand. Leilani tried her hardest not to blush.
The Mayor stepped away to converse with the other guests, leaving Damon and Leilani standing with Elijah. The Original spoke quietly, "I need to speak to you two, in private." Damon pursed his lips, not wanting to cause a scene, "Lead the way." The three of them made their way to an unoccupied room. Leilani let go of Damon's arm and moved to sit on the couch, she took off her heels and rubbed her feet before casting a cushioning charm since she forgot to when she left the house. "What did you want to speak to us about?" Damon snarked. Elijah ignored Damon and proceeded to speak, "It has come to my attention that Miss Gilbert has been shunned by quite a few people."
Leilani rolled her eyes, muttering, "Of course, everything comes back to the Doppelganger. I still haven't received any information on why she is so important." Lei looked to Elijah, waiting for an explanation. Damon stood off to the side with his arms crossed, he knew Leilani could handle the situation. Plus, he knew if he opened his mouth again, he may lose his head or his heart.
"Miss Gilbert is a very valuable asset to my brother. Niklaus has spent the last five centuries searching for a human doppelganger. You see, Niklaus is different from the rest of our siblings. He does not share the same father as the rest of us. This was our mother's darkest secret and greatest shame. My mother had an affair with the Alpha werewolf from a nearby village while our father was on the battlefield," Elijah told a short version of his family's story. None of them paid attention to the heartbeat right outside the door, a certain doppelganger was listening to their conversation.
Elijah continued, "Due to the tragic death of our youngest sibling, our mother turned to Ayana Bennett for help. The witch refused to help bring back Henrik, even with my father begging on his knees. So, our mother took matters into her own hands using very dark magic. Our father, Mikael didn't want to lose any more of his children, already losing two. Our eldest sister to sickness and now our youngest brother was attacked by werewolves during the full moon. The spell our mother used turned us all into what we are now, the very first vampires."
Taking a moment, Elijah observed the other occupants of the room. It clicked in Damon's mind, "Every vampire is descended from one of you, The Originals." Elijah nodded his head, "Mhm. Yes, our mother essentially created the vampire race. When Niklaus took his first human life, it was discovered he was not Mikael's son. Mikael, in a fit of rage, ordered our mother to bind his wolf."
"Merlin's saggy balls! What the hell was she thinking?!" Leilani felt anger towards the woman. Damon snickered at Lei's expletives. Elijah found himself smiling at the witch's outburst. "Can it be reversed?" Lei asked. Elijah nodded, "Yes. It is why the Doppelganger is so important to him. The blood of the doppelganger is needed to break his binds, his curse."
Damon moved away from the wall and uncrossed his arms, "Is that why you're here? To turn Elena over so the curse could be broken?" "No, I'm here to make sure my brother doesn't break his curse. He more than likely has heard news of a human doppelganger by now and will come for her," Elijah lied so smoothly, a look of hatred across his face before he cleared it. Lei narrowed her eyes, "Why are you trying to stop him? What did he do to you to warrant such hatred?"
Elijah reeled in his anger before answering, "It has been over fifty years since I have spoken to Niklaus. At which time he informed me that he killed our siblings and dumped them at sea." Lei tilted her head, something about what he said wasn't right. "When he informed you of his actions, were you conversing normally or was it during an argument?" Elijah licked his bottom lip in frustration, this woman is unraveling him almost like she can see right through him, "It was during a heated argument." He didn't say anything else.
Leilani has heard enough. She stood next to Damon ready to leave but left the Noble Original with one last statement. "I appreciate you telling your story, your brother's story. If you take anything from this conversation, it is this. Take a step back and think about what you just told me. Think about the fight with your brother, and remember this…" Lei paused for a moment, making sure she had his complete attention, "They're his siblings too." Damon rested Leilani's hand in the crook of his elbow and exited the room and then the Lockwood home.
Elijah was left to ponder the young woman's last words, 'They're his siblings too.' The words, the whole conversation, playing over and over in his head for the remainder of the day. It wasn't until later in the night that it struck him, Niklaus said those words when he was angry and irrational. Maybe, just maybe, Niklaus didn't condemn his siblings to the bottom of the ocean. Maybe Elijah is the one being irrational. Only one way to find out. He will confront his brother when Niklaus comes for the doppelganger.