Disclaimer: I only own my OCs
A/N: Two words for this chapter: Badass Alexa. Our girl gets a moment to be proud of during all of the angst. But this was a big chapter for Alexa and I hope it does her justice. Besides, you get more Elijah, which is never a bad thing :)
XXX
It was the sound of Damon's voice that woke me up the next morning.
"Well, I showered. I shaved. Had breakfast," he bragged down the phone as he settled next to me on the bed. "Very relaxed."
I knew that he had been awake for a while. I had woken up when he got out of the bed. Well, I say woken up, I hadn't really slept during the night. Nightmares plagued me, to absolute no one's surprise. The images of Rose's fangs were mixed in with Jules' smirk and stakes. I almost gave up on sleep several times, but Damon wouldn't let me. Every time I woke up, he was here, hushing me and telling me that I was safe. Eventually I settled into a light doze.
"I did hear one piece of news though," I had an inkling that it was Stefan that Damon was talking to. "Tyler Lockwood ran away from home last night."
The mere mention of Tyler made me want to cry. The fact that he felt like he couldn't stay here anymore was heart-breaking. And couldn't help but blame myself. I should have done more to help him settle back in after he triggered the curse. Hell, I should have stopped Mason from dying. If I had done more, if I had focussed more on him than myself, then maybe he would still be here. He had run away from his home and it was all my fault.
"Well, I heard it from Sheriff Forbes, who heard it from a very distraught Carol Lockwood. And I know that he gave Alexa a call last night too. This, ending out werewolf chapter, bringing us to…"
While Damon didn't end that sentence, I knew what he was hinting at. Now that the werewolves were gone, it was time to deal with Elijah. I knew what I had to do now. I had to get rid of him. He was never going to save my sister. He had planned all along for her to die. And now he had to die instead.
"Well, I've got a crafty little dagger."
Which I needed to get my hands on. And that was not going to be easy. Damon was guarding it like a mama bear. And to be able to use it, I needed the element of surprise. There was no way that I would be able to attack him straight off. He was too fast and strong. No, I had to be clever about it.
"Oh, trust me, Stefan," Damon said, confirming my thoughts. "I'm gonna dot all my t's. I don't want any surprises."
I hadn't actually told Damon about my intention to kill Elijah myself. I knew that he wouldn't want me to get involved. He would say that it wasn't safe for me. But I had to do it. I had to make him hurt for even thinking about killing my sister. And it would help me complete one part of my deal with Katherine.
"Yes, Stefan, I've become you," I didn't need to look to know that he was rolling his eyes. "How tragic for both of us. Got to run. I've a murder to plan. Busy day."
After he hung up the call, the room was filled with silence. Damon probably knew that I was awake as he wasn't making any effort to be quiet. But he let me lay there with my eyes closed still.
I felt movement on the bed before a gentle hand was brushing my hair back from my face, "How you doing?"
"Fine," I muttered into the pillow, blurrily opening one eye. Damon was watching me with a concerned look on his face. "Stop looking at me like that." I pulled up the pillow and used it to cover my face.
"Looking at you like what?" Damon asked innocently, as he pulled the pillow from my grasp.
I shot him a dirty look and sat up, keeping the blanket pulled up as far as possible. I had fallen asleep in just his t-shirt and panties, and I just knew that I had been fidgeting in my sleep last night. And the last thing that I wanted to do was embarrass myself and flash my panties at him. But unfortunately, there was nothing that I could do about my bed hair. The longer it had gotten, the worse it looked in the mornings.
"So what's the plan for today?" I asked, stretching my body and running a hand through my hair, wincing at the tangles.
"Well, Jenna has requested your delightful company for the morning," my vampire answered, passing me a mug of coffee that he had kept hidden out of sight. "So I will be dropping you off there before I start planning how to take out Elijah."
My eyes flickered up to meet his at the mention of the Original vampire, "Do you have any ideas as how you're gonna do it yet?"
Damon groaned and shrugged his shoulders, "Not yet, I need to have the element of surprise. But getting him to put his guard down is going to be tricky."
I nodded, my own mind whirring with ideas. I was tempted to tell Damon that I would help him, but I knew what his answer would be. And then he would make extra sure that I wasn't involved in any plans that he put together. So instead, I offered, "It can't be somewhere public, he wouldn't give you the opportunity. I would say do it here but I don't know how you'll get him here and get him to lower his guard too."
The vampire nodded, considering my words, before he tapped my nose, "I'll have a think. But you need to get ready before your aunt yells at me and bans you from having more sleepovers here."
We both knew that he was exaggerating. As much as she was wary about Damon, Jenna trusted me to sleep here. Especially when John was lurking around the house. And since I was absolutely positive that Alaric had told her what happened yesterday, I knew that she wouldn't deny me the comfort of spending time with Damon.
But that didn't stop me from grumbling and shooing Damon out of the room while I got ready. I downed my coffee before quickly showering and brushing my teeth. Luckily the toothbrush and toothpaste that I previously used were still here, exactly where I left them. So after brushing my hair and throwing on some clothes, I took a deep breath and left the room. I was lucky that I had left some clothes here last time, so I was able to find a pair of jeans and long sleeved top to put on. It meant that I didn't have to walk around in Damon's clothes, which would only encourage my aunt to tease me.
I met Damon at the bottom of the stairs. He gave me a once over before nodding and wrapping an arm around my shoulders. As he escorted me to the front door, I couldn't help but glance over to the side, to the spot where I was staked yesterday. I still felt the pain at times, it haunted me. I rubbed the spot where it impaled me, unable to tear my gaze away.
Damon must have sensed my thoughts as he gently turned my head away, tilting it up so that I met his gaze, "You okay?"
I paused before sighing, "I will be."
He nodded before moving us forward and out of the door.
XXX
"The old Fell property actually starts just beyond that fence," Jenna was telling Elijah.
When Damon had dropped me off, Jenna had immediately ushered me into her car. On the way, she explained that Mrs Lockwood had asked her to show Elijah the old property boundaries and historical sights of the town. The only reason why she said yes was because she wanted to confront Elijah over the whole Elena not being saved thing.
Of course, Elijah avoided the question like a pro. Despite my aunt's prodding, he kept dodging by asking questions about the various places we were walking past. And because my aunt couldn't resist being a good hostess, she couldn't fight the urge to answer the questions.
I just lurked behind them, coffee cup in hand. On the way to my home, Damon had swung by my favourite coffee shop in town to get me a fresh coffee and a croissant. When Jenna saw the coffee, she huffed out a breath but didn't say anything. That in itself told me that she knew what I had gone through yesterday. Because it would be easy to assume that nightmares would have plagued me and thus made the coffee necessary. But she did pull me into a tight hug before we got into the car. I was grateful to her that she didn't mention it. I was hoping that if it wasn't talked about, then I would quickly move past it. Of course, I knew that that was a bullshit coping method, but it was the only one that I had right now.
"Ah, the Fells," Elijah repeated, his lip curling in amusement. "One of the Founding Families."
When we met with Elijah, his dark eyes stared deep into mine. It would have been considered romantic if it weren't for the fact that the last time he saw me, I was choking on my own blood. Of course, he knew that Damon had immediately healed me. But knowing wasn't the same as seeing. While Jenna had been collecting the various surveys from the boot of her car, he had checked in on me. Now armed with the knowledge that he had no intention of saving my sister and that I would dagger him in return, it was hard to respond to his questions. Luckily, my aunt appeared, saving me from stumbling through an answer.
"Why do you say it like that?" Jenna couldn't help but ask. Despite her strong words for him at the beginning of the meeting, my aunt couldn't help but be charmed by the vampire. Perhaps it was the fact that he had helped to save me yesterday or maybe it was the aura he put out or even just his dark eyes. But my aunt couldn't help but actually do her job for the day and give him a full tour.
"My research showed me that this area was actually settled almost two full centuries earlier," he replied, his smile returning at my scoff. "Yes, Alexandria, I have actually researched the town. It was a migration of townsfolk from the northeast, um, it was Salem to be precise."
Jenna was intrigued, "Massachusetts? As in the witch trials?"
"Which means the ever-lauded founding families… didn't actually found anything," the amusement in Elijah's voice was clear. But I was amused too. The thought of the look on John's face had me smiling into my coffee.
"Well, I bet it was the men who made a big deal about being founders back in 1860," Jenna laughed, shaking her head. "Men are very territorial."
"Yes, they are," Elijah agreed as we all heard footsteps. I looked behind me to see Ric approaching, an uneasy smile on his face. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Jenna rolling her eyes but it was clear to see that she was happy to see him.
"Elijah, this is my boyfriend, Alaric Saltzman," Jenna introduced them both, gesturing between them. "I don't think you've properly met."
"We haven't," Elijah confirmed, glancing Ric up and down.
Alaric shook his hand as he said, "Yeah, I got your message about walking Elijah here through the old property lines with Alexa. So I thought I would tag along. You know, being a history buff and all. Besides, I thought you would need some help with Alexa." Ric ignored me sticking my tongue out at him as he asked, "Where to next?"
"I'm pretty curious about the freed slave property owners," Elijah replied, sticking his hands in his coat pockets as I finished my coffee. "Some say, you know, the descendants of the slaves are the true keepers of American history."
Jenna seemed utterly charmed by his words, much to my amusement and Ric's annoyance, "Well, I only brought the surveys. I got that list in the car. Just give me a sec."
We watched as Jenna walked back to the car, digging through her purse for her keys. After a minute, the two men turned to look at each other. While they stared each other out, I picked at paper wrapped around the cup.
It was Elijah who broke the posturing, "Alaric Saltzman. So you're one of those people on Elena's list of loved ones to protect."
At the sound of Elena's list, created for her little deal, I gave a particularly vicious tug on the paper, ripping off a good chunk. I saw Elijah glance over at me at the noise.
"So is Jenna," Ric retorted sharply, clearly feeling as though his girlfriend was under threat. I knew that we were safe with him today. Elijah wasn't stupid, he wouldn't hurt either one of us while he needed Elena's cooperation.
"You don't have to be jealous," the Original smirked, looking like he was enjoying the situation. "I don't really pursue younger women." There was a moment of silence at his words. Just as I opened my mouth to say something inappropriate, Elijah patted Ric on the shoulder, "It's a joke, Ric, lighten up."
"Right," Ric muttered as we watched the Original walk towards my aunt. As Jenna laughed at something that Elijah said, Ric sighed and turned to me, "How are you doing, Alexa?"
"Peachy," I murmured, focussing on ripping off as much paper as I could and stuffing it in the empty cup. A hand covering mine made me pause and look up. Alaric was giving me one of his stern looks that screamed 'don't bullshit me, kid'. "I'm trying to think on the positives. Like the fact that I didn't die. Although dying might have been a better alternative, now that I think about it. As getting tortured by a bitchy werewolf fucking sucked. And now I'm dealing with nightmares about that as well as Rose killing me. But at least Damon bought me a coffee from my favourite coffee place to make up for it, so, positives, right?"
As I managed to cut off my rambling, Ric gave me a troubled look and rubbed his face. I bit my lip, maybe I said too much. Shit. Now he was going to worry about me and tell on me.
Eventually, Ric sighed, "I need a drink. Come on, we're going to the Grill."
It took a moment for his words to sink in. And in that time, Ric had started walking. I stared after him for a moment before chasing after the history teacher. At least I could get some food at the Grill.
XXX
Once we got to the Grill, Ric sent me to find a booth while he got a drink from the bar. I watched with quiet amusement as he downed his first bourbon before quickly ordering another. Despite the easy smile on his face, I knew that his death yesterday was affecting him.
So I waved down a nearby server and couldn't hide a smile when they approached the table, "Hey Mattie."
Matt smiled down, his blue eyes shining in the light, "Hey Alexa, how you doing?"
"Eh, you know, same old," I shrugged, trying to sound as genuine as possible. "How's it going in the life of Matthew Donovan?"
"Same old," Matt mimicked with a cheeky smile. "Haven't seen you at the gym recently."
Ever since Jeremy's brush with death, he and I had been hitting the gym together. The exercise helped with the nightmares. Not only did it wear you out, it also helped you feel stronger. Plus, Ric had been teaching us boxing. Throwing a proper punch was much needed in today's climate.
"The little punk has ditched in favour of tagging after his crush," I rolled my eyes, but I was enjoying having a normal conversation. "So I've been going jogging instead."
"Alexa Gilbert going jogging? Never thought I would see the day."
"Oh shut up," I laughed and it was a real laugh. "I actually quite like jogging if I do it on my terms."
Matt nodded his head, his blue eyes shining with mischief, "So you mean, if you're not being forced into it by your sister."
"Exactly," I nodded sharply before smiling. "Now, could you be a dear and bring out the biggest plate of fries that you can find? Oh, and add some onion rings to that. With a couple of colas."
"Anything else?" Matt rolled his eyes as he scribbled down my order.
"If you chuck in some nachos then I'll love you forever," I blinked up at him innocently.
"You love me anyway," Mattie laughed before going to put my order through.
"I can always love you more!" I called after him, enjoying the cheeky smirk that he sent my way. I had missed chatting with Matt. The whole sacrifice drama had killed all of my plans to be more sociable. I mean, I still texted him stupid jokes, but it wasn't the same as hanging out with him. He had such an easy smile; it was easy to forget all of your problems once Mattie flashed you those blue eyes of his.
Movement across the table drew my gaze.
Alaric sat down with a glass of bourbon. He looked rough; you could see it in his eyes. His hair was scruffier than it was when we arrived. So I decided to be my charming little self, "You look like shit."
Ric glanced over and rolled his eyes, "Always the charming one, Alexa."
I shrugged, running a hand through my hair, "Truth hurts, Rickster."
Luckily Ric knew me well enough by this point that he just rolled his eyes at the nickname, "Did you order any food?"
"Just biting food and a couple of colas. If you are uber nice to me, I'll let you add that bourbon to yours."
Ric nodded, swirling his glass in his hand, "You're so kind."
"Yup, that's me," I replied, glancing around the room to see who else was around. "Do you need more bourbon? Cos, like, not being funny, but you look like you're suffering."
The adult paused before answering, considering his words carefully, "I've been better but give me a couple more of these and I'll be fine."
I chose my own words carefully too, "You can talk to me about it. I mean, other than John, I'm the only one in town who knows what it feels like."
Ric's eyes were kind as they looked over, "Thanks, Alexa, but I'll be fine, I promise. I should really be asking how you are, considering what you went through yesterday. Your answer earlier didn't exactly reassure me."
I was so tempted to lie, but the words that came out of my mouth surprised me, "I'm not coping very well, if I'm being honest. Like I said earlier, it's haunting me. And I know it's only be a day but I just don't know if I'll get over it any time soon. And I can't even try and distract myself with other stuff cos the only other thing in my life right now is stupid, suicidal Elena."
Ric winced at that, "Have you spoken to her since you found out the truth about her deal?"
I shook my head, "Nah. She's not happy with me right now anyways. Apparently Jenna had called her to have words about Elijah. Ellie sent me a 'seriously' text yesterday."
I had answered with a 'lol suck on it' in return before turning my phone off. This was before the werewolf drama had taken over the day. She hadn't replied to that and that was how I knew that she was proper pissy with me.
I smiled up at Matt as he dropped off our colas. He returned the smile, ruffling my hair before he walked about. I pouted after him before fixing my hair. I was tempted to go get it cut short again but that was effort that I just didn't have right now.
We sat in a comfortable silence until the food came. I sent a text to Tyler, telling him to let me know once he had gotten settled somewhere. The other went to Jeremy. He had messaged me asking if I had seen Bonnie at all since yesterday. Clearly, the kid didn't know what had happened to me. And I was keen to keep it that way. So I replied with a negative and told him to make sure that he drank plenty of water. Because I knew that he didn't and I was in the mood to do something about it.
Once the food arrived, I dug into it eagerly. It wasn't until I smelt that I realised just how hungry I was. I knew that I hadn't been eating properly. It was only through the urging of others that I actually had a proper meal. But today, the hunger had finally caught up with me.
I was just about to order us another round of colas when a hand landed on my shoulder. Normally I would have jumped a mile in the air, but it was like my body recognised the hand and just instantly relaxed. I looked up, meeting Damon's gaze. His beautiful eyes were warm with a hint of worry.
"Hey," I smiled softly, shifting so that he could sit next to me. The vampire immediately took the hint and slide in beside me. His arm wrapped around my shoulders without prompting and I relaxed into his side.
"Damon," Ric greeted his friend, nodding his head.
"Ric," Damon returned the nod, before glancing between us. "So what brings you two here?" The vampire glanced down at me, "I thought you were with Jenna this morning."
"I was," I shrugged before munching on a couple of fries. "We had the pleasure of showing Elijah the historical sights. Ric joined us for a bit before he got jealous of Elijah trying to charm Jenna. So he brought us here."
"Elijah was trying to charm Jenna?" Damon repeated, sending a smirk Ric's way.
"I think he was just trying to wind Ric up," I responded with a cheeky smile, feeling a lot more like myself. "He didn't actually start the charming act until Ric turned up."
"He was trying to impress her with his history of Mystic Falls," Ric corrected before we could properly get started. I hid a giggle with some nachos. It had been a while since I felt like I could properly tease someone. And I was uber surprised that I was able to do it after yesterday. Maybe my brain just needed to distract itself and was doing that by being a bit more like my old self.
"And other than your lecture on the history of Mystic Falls, did you get anything out of Elijah?" Damon asked, pinching a fry right out of my hand.
I gapped at him in outrage as Ric rolled his eyes, "No, it was boring."
"Well, it's not like we stuck around for long," I pointed out, trying to be reasonable for once. "You dragged us away after, like, 5 minutes."
"Probably because he was jealous of Elijah's ability to get Jenna to laugh," Damon went straight in for the kill. "What do you think, Alexa? Was he acting jealous?"
I nodded in agreement, "Totally jealous."
Ric groaned and rested his head in his heads, "I hate you both."
As I laughed at Ric, Damon prodded my arm, "You normally order halloumi, did they run out?"
"I just fancied nachos, today, instead," I returned the prod before eating some nachos. "If you really want some, I can cook some for dinner tonight."
Damon gave me one of his looks but I could see the delight in his eyes, "You're going to cook tonight?"
I hadn't felt in the mood for cooking for a while. It was like my energy had been sapped and the mere thought of cooking made me groan. Which was probably how people knew that I wasn't feeling myself. I normally loved cooking for my loved ones and the fact that I hadn't forced my way into it was a worrying sign.
"I feel in the mood for cooking," I shrugged, trying not to make a big deal of it. "Caroline sent me some photos this morning of a dinner party that I did for her last year. And then I got nostalgic and thought of all the other dinner parties that I had hosted."
I couldn't hold in a sigh after that. I used to love hosting dinner parties. My parents even let me cook for the ones that they did. The preparation it required actually made me excited. And I had a scrapbook at home of all of my favourite meals to do. It was one that I had put together with all of my friends. They had their own menu requests and favourite meals in there.
I kind of didn't realise that I was still talking, "Of course, as much as it's made me want to cook again. It made me sad. It was only a year ago and yet so much has changed. My parents are dead. I found out I was adopted and met my birth parents. Then there was the whole vampires and werewolves and witches are real. Oh and how could I forget that my sister turned into a proper suicidal idiot which has ruined like so much."
I felt Damon and Ric exchanging looks over my head. But before either of them could say something, the door to the Grill opened, bringing in a beautiful distraction.
Damon leapt at the opportunity to tease Ric, "Ah, there's Jenna with her new boyfriend." He raised his voice, "Hi."
"Hey guys," Jenna smiled before sitting down next to Ric and helping herself to some fries. Elijah stood next to the table, his hands in his pockets, an enigmatic smile on his face.
"So I hear that you two had quite a meeting of historical minds today," the smirk on Damon's face was on the cheekier side of wicked.
"Yeah, I guess you could say that," Jenna laughed, before glancing over at me. "Once the menace bailed it became quite a productive conversation."
I rolled my eyes at my aunt, "You're hilarious, Jenna."
"Well someone has to make you laugh," Jenna retorted lightly, pinching some of cola.
I muttered petulantly and crossed my arms, "I laugh."
"Just now you were reminiscing over dinner parties and Elena not being a 'suicidal idiot'," Ric interjected dryly, giving me a look.
"Why are you all ganging up on me?" I shot back. "Next it'll be Elijah."
I heard the Original cough to stifle a laugh. Oh great, now even he was laughing at me. Just typical. Ugh, I hate my life.
Damon cooed mockingly at me, "Poor Alexa."
"Damn straight," I rolled my eyes. "Meanies."
"Well, how about this to make it up to you," my vampire began to offer. "Why don't you host a dinner party tonight? I'll even let you lose on my kitchen."
"Oh!" my eyes light up at the thought before I turned to Jenna. "Please can I, Jenna?"
I looked at her with wide eyes, silently begging her to let me host. I knew that she wanted me at home tonight where she could spend some aunt/niece time. But it had been so long since I had hosted a dinner party. And now that there was the possibility that I could, I so desperately wanted to.
"How could you say no to that face?" Ric laughed as I added a pathetic pout to my begging.
"Oh alright," Jenna laughed, giving in. "I'll invite Vanessa and Andie too, might as well make it a merry gathering." By that, she meant that they would chug the wine at the same pace as her. "Elijah, you want to join?"
"It would be my pleasure," the Original agreed.
The part of me that wasn't celebrating at the opportunity to host a dinner party realised that this would be the perfect opportunity to take out the vampire. I just needed to work out the finer details.
XXX
As he was the one who put the idea in my head, Damon gave me his credit card to go shopping with. I appreciated that a lot as I tended to go a bit crazy when it came to dinner party menus. I had this thing where I wanted to show off my cooking skills, which normally meant that I bought of a lot of stuff.
Jenna took me home where we could grab some clothes to wear later. And once we had done that, I got out my dinner party scrapbook for the first time in year. I flicked through the pages, taking in the photos of all of the dishes that I had cooked. In order to not cry, I had to ignore the faces smiling up at me. Images of mom and dad, of Luke and Jazz filled the pages. And my heart clenched. Every time I thought I had gotten over their deaths, I saw a new photo of them and it hurt all over again. So I decided that this dinner party, would be to secretly honour them. I would do dishes that I knew they loved. So I flicked through the menus that decorated the pages and made my decision.
The starter would be halloumi stuffed peppers. It was one of Jazz's favourite dishes. When she slept over, she often asked for me to do it for dinner, with homemade fries. It helped that Tyler loved it too.
The mains, I just had to go for a slow roast leg of lamb with all the trimmings. It was one of the first things that my dad taught me how to cook and he loved it. Lamb was one of his biggest weaknesses. So it was fitting.
For dessert, I picked something that I knew both my mom and Luke adored. My profiteroles were legendary, if I don't say so myself. There were so many times where I caught my mom and Luke sneaking them from the fridge after I made them. In fact, they used to gang up on me in order to steal them.
Once I had picked my menu, I grabbed Damon's credit card and demanded to go shopping. I knew that Jenna had hoped that someone else would take me shopping. But she wasn't that lucky. Damon had disappeared elsewhere and Ric had used his usual excuse of 'I have papers to grade' to escape the shopping trip. Honestly, they were all so dramatic. I wasn't that bad.
As Damon had insisted that we got the best quality we could find, Jenna drove us to the more high-end grocery store in town. It wasn't one that we went to often. In fact, the last time we had been there, my parents were still alive. My mom had wanted to impress someone and had gone all out for the food at the dinner party.
Despite my claims that I wasn't that bad, the shopping trip took us just under two hours. And I honestly thought that Jenna was going to kill me halfway through when I started an argument with the meat man over the size of the leg of lamb. Cos seriously, don't try to con me. I knew how big I wanted and he was trying to convince me otherwise.
On the drive back to Damon's, I wrote out a list of everything that needed doing and in what order. Andie and Vanessa met us at the Boarding House. I let them in, explaining that the idiot Salvatore's never locked their doors. How they had never been robbed, I would never know.
But anyways, once the shopping was safely in the Salvatore kitchen, I started assigning jobs. It was mostly just chopping or mixing stuff that I delegated down. I was too much of a control freak to be able to give out the big jobs, including marinading the meat.
I worked on that while the other three ladies carried out my orders. It was weird, seeing Andie, Jenna and Vanessa together, but it was nice. I was glad that my aunt was hanging out with her friends. Apparently her and Vanessa had met a couple of times since our visit to Duke. The research assistant had told my aunt everything about the curse and more. In return, Jenna confirmed what was theory and what was truth about some of the vampire lore that Vanessa had collected. Andie was an even bigger surprise. After the death of Logan Fell, Andie had been deemed worthy by the secret Founder's Council and was now their news person. She helped to cover up any of the suspicious deaths in town. She hated it but knew that the Council could stop her from getting any promotions if she kicked up a fuss. As soon as she found out that Jenna knew the truth about vampires, Andie had leapt at the chance to speak to a friend about it. The only one missing was Jenna's childhood friend Meredith. She was currently out of town, due back in the summer.
Once the meat had been seasoned and was safely tucked away to marinade before cooking, I got to work on the profiteroles. I knew that the profiteroles wouldn't take long to do, nor did they require much prep. The lamb didn't need to go in just yet and the veg wouldn't take long to do either. So it made sense to work on the profiteroles.
Just as I was piping them out, Damon decided to appear.
He took one look around the kitchen and walked back out. The three adults had broken into the wine and were laughing at something Vanessa had said. I had tuned them out a while ago. There were some things that you just didn't want to know about your aunt.
Luckily, they had cut all of the veg and got the stuffing ready before the wine came out to play. After that, there really wasn't much for them to do. So them drinking was probably a good thing. For my sanity and theirs.
It wasn't until I had to start juggling the cooking that the laughing got on my nerves. So I ordered them out to sober up and get ready. Luckily, I had Damon to help me get everything in and out the oven. Despite his ego, he listened to my instructions and did as I asked. Maybe it was because he could see that I was enjoying myself, that I was feeling relaxed. I dunno, but whatever it was, I enjoyed having him by my side as I cooked.
As it approached the time when the guests were due to arrive, Damon ordered me out of the kitchen to get ready. It took quite a bit of convincing as my peppers were in the oven. But Damon promised not to burn them and after he said that, I really didn't have any excuse not to go.
I retreated to his bedroom, passing the dinner table on the way. The three winoholics were setting the table, gossiping amongst themselves. Jenna was telling them about John's pathetic attempts to drive a wedge between her and Ric. I quickly left as Andie started suggesting different ways to remove John's manhood.
I had picked something simple to wear tonight as I knew that I would be finishing stuff of in the kitchen. After slipping on some of my fancier black jeans, I paired it with one of my favourite off the shoulder t-shirts. It was a deep maroon colour and fit me like a glove. It showed a cheeky bit of shoulder but more than that, it made my boobs look amazing. And with the three beautiful women downstairs, I need something to make me standout.
I touched up my makeup before retreating back downstairs. Worry over my food fuelled my movements and I rushed back to the kitchen. Damon rolled his eyes as I reappeared but didn't say anything.
Alaric had arrived while I was getting ready. He stood in the kitchen, hiding from the women who were laughing again. I swear, if they had gotten into the wine again, then I would refuse to feed them. As I rolled my eyes, Damon noted, "Jenna was telling the story of how she embarrassed John during their teenage years."
"Fair enough," I couldn't help but feel relieved. "At least they'll keep Elijah entertained if they carry on like this."
"And entertained should mean distracted," Damon elaborated with a smirk.
"This is a bad idea," Ric chimed in with a look at the vampire.
"There is no such thing as a bad idea," Damon countered as I made sure that everything was ready to be cooked. That the was the thing about dinner parties, you had to be on point with the food otherwise people got hungry. It didn't help that I was out of practice. "Just poorly executed awesome ones."
"I just don't like the idea of Elijah being in the same house with Jenna," the history teacher revealed with a sigh.
"Jenna's perfectly safe," Damon countered with an unconvincing smile. "Besides, it's just a fact-finding mission. It's totally harmless."
A part of me wondered if Damon was telling the truth. Not that it mattered. Even if it was just a fact-finding mission for him, for me, it was different. I knew that this would be the perfect opportunity to take out the Original. And I wasn't about to give it up.
"Just a fact-finding mission?" Ric repeated, sounding as though he really wanted to believe it.
"Yeah," Damon agreed but Ric wasn't completely convinced.
"Listen, no sneak attacks. No surprise plans. Nothing that's gonna put Jenna's in harm way," he said firmly, looking like he wanted to point his finger at the vampire. "Okay?"
"Scouts honour," the vampire tried to look as sincere as possible, which was hard considering I knew that he was properly bullshitting. But before Ric could call him out on it, Jenna called him from the other room. It was clear that he didn't want to leave but my aunt repeating his name left him with no other choice.
"How much of that was bullshit?" I asked after Ric had left the room.
"Well, I am on a fact-finding mission," Damon gave me one of his special smiles, one that made me feel all tingly.
"And what facts are you seeking?" I rolled my eyes playfully. "What does a daggered Original look like?"
"Well, don't you want to know?" Damon was suddenly standing behind me, his breath brushing against my ear as he hands landed on my hips.
"You don't need to persuade me that this is a good idea," I told him, fighting hard to keep my composure as I felt his body against mine.
"Hmm, is that so?"
"Just tell me that you have a plan," I rolled my eyes as the vampire plucked a piece of halloumi from the bowl in front of me and popped it in his mouth.
"Well, Elijah's stronger than me. Faster than me. It's all about the element of surprise," Damon explained, reaching out for more halloumi. I tapped his hand away, scolding him.
"Naturally," I agreed with a hum.
"Which is why, after dinner, we're going to congregate in the study where I can make my move."
The plan sounded like it should work. In theory, anyway. We all knew that plans had a tendency to go to shit, especially here in Mystic Falls. But I tried to keep my hopes up.
XXX
We were just waiting for the guest of honour to arrive. The food was ready to go, it just needed plating up. I was getting restless. The sooner that Elijah arrived, the sooner either I or Damon could get rid of him.
The sound of the doorbell had us all approaching the front door. But when Jenna opened it, we were all disappointed.
John stood on the porch, his signature smirk on his face. Jenna groaned and rolled her eyes as Ric turned and walked away.
"Ugh, who invited him?" my aunt looked like she was tempted to slam the door shut in John's face. And, like he sensed that, John strutted into the house.
"John," Damon ground out. "Surprise. Leave."
John, in fact, didn't leave. Instead, he started speaking, "When Jenna told me that she was coming to a dinner party, hosted by Alexa, and that Elijah would be here, I decided that I couldn't miss out on all the fun and games."
Ric's voice called from the parlour, where he was nursing a glass of bourbon, "There are not going to be any games tonight, John. It's just a friendly dinner party to help Alexa feel better."
John looked at Damon with a disbelieving look, which Damon countered with a "What he said," before leaving the room. As the others trickled away, I was left alone with my uncle. Much to my disgust.
John looked at me and opened his mouth, "Alexa-"
"Nope," I cut him off. "Not today. I know you probably have something good to say but you're pissing me off by your pathetic attempts to break up Ric and Jenna. So until you stop that bullshit, I'm not talking to you."
With a decisive nod, I turned on my heel and retreated back to the kitchen. By this point, I was desperate for Elijah to arrive. I was scared that I would lose my nerve and not be able to go through with the plan to dagger him. And I couldn't let that happen. I had to go through with it in order to save my sister.
I knew that Damon had prepared the dagger in the study. Having to dip in the ash prior to the actual stabbing was a bit of a chore, what if the ash fell off? But with Damon having done the prep, I knew that if the opportunity came up, I would be able to do it.
It wasn't that long after John's unexpected arrival that the doorbell rang again. I walked past the other guests on the way to the front door. John was being given the cold shoulder by the rest of the group. Although Jenna did shoot him the occasional glare.
Damon opened the front door and there was Elijah. He had on a new suit, one that looked slightly fancier than the previous ones. The suit emphasised his tanned skin and the brown of his eyes. If my heart wasn't taken by Damon then I would be sorely tempted by the man in front of me.
"Good evening," Elijah nodded at us, taking a step forward.
"Thank you for coming," Damon put on his most polite voice. "Please, come in."
"Just one moment," Elijah paused at the doorway, resting his forearms against the frame. "Can I just say that if you have less than honourable intentions about how this evening is going to proceed, I suggest you reconsider."
My heart froze in my chest at his words. Ah, that was why I was so reluctant to dagger him. Because he scared the shit out of me. I mean, I had to do this. It was the only way to save my sister right now.
Luckily Damon wasn't fazed by the threat, "No, nothing, nothing dishonourable. Just getting to know you."
I glanced between the two vampires as Elijah considered his words. I had a feeling that the older vampire didn't believe him but maybe I was just being paranoid. Just having the Original standing in front of me gave me the heebies jeebies. I knew what I needed to do. I was just shit scared about actually doing it. Thank god I had Damon around who was more than happy to do the dirty deed for me.
"Hmm, well, that's good," Elijah finally spoke, stepping inside the house. "Because, you know, although Elena and I have this deal, if you so much as make a move to cross me, I'll kill you and I'll kill everyone in this house. Are you clear?"
"Crystal," Damon gave one of the fakest smiles that I had ever seen him give. "But, I do have to point out, that if you lay a finger on Alexa, then Elena will disappear, never to be seen again."
Even as I stared down at my feet, I could feel Elijah's eyes on me, "That's a risk that I'll just have to take."
My heart clenched at his words. I knew that I was nothing to him, a means to an end. He only played nice because my sister's cooperation rested upon it. But to know that he would kill me so nonchalantly was terrifying.
I heard Damon growl low in his throat, but before he could say something unwise, Elijah caught sight of movement behind me. The Original smiled and walked forward, "Jenna. Wonderful to see you again. How are you?"
"Nice to see you too," Jenna smiled before glancing over at me. I knew that I couldn't worry my aunt, she deserved to have a relaxing evening with her friends and some good food. So I gave her a thumbs up.
"You look incredible," Elijah sounded sincere when he said it, so I chose to believe him.
Jenna, apparently, agreed, "Thank you."
Damon shut the door before resting his hand on my shoulder. With the sound echoing in the silence, we watched as Elijah escorted my aunt to the dinner table. And a part of me just knew that this evening wasn't going to go as planned.
XXX
We got through the starters without issue.
I plated up and Jenna helped me carry the food through. Despite the fear clouding my thoughts and the stress over working out how the hell I would manage to dagger an Original vampire, I took pride in the food that I put out. It had been a while since I had done anything like this. And damn, I was pleased with it. To the point where I insisted that I get a photo of the food before it was served.
The conversation was light and cordial, with plenty of compliments about the food heading my way. Everyone was perfectly polite and pleasant, even John. Although I had a sneaky suspicion that Jenna was responsible for that.
I remained quiet, enjoying my food, while the three ladies carried the conversation. Jenna and Andie had taken charge of updating Vanessa on all of the drama that had led up to this point. Of course, the fact that everyone sat around the table knew about the existence of the supernatural made it a lot less tense than it could have been.
After we had finished eating, I quickly cleared the table with Jenna's help and disappeared back to the kitchen. I was lucky that Damon's oven was big enough to cook everything that I wanted and when I wanted.
So while I was ensuring that everything was getting the attention it required, I made sure to take a minute to centre myself. The only thing keeping me sane was the neediness of the food. I had to make sure that it was all spot on. And that took focus.
So, naturally, when a throat was cleared behind me, I leapt a mile into the air.
I spun around and came face to face with Elijah. He had an amused look on his face as my heart raced. I took a minute to catch my breath before rolling my eyes. I knew that all vampires took a sick kind of amusement from doing that, especially to me. Even newbie vampire Caroline enjoyed doing that to me.
"Elijah, what can I do for you?" I smiled, desperately trying to hide the fact that he terrified the shit out of me.
"I was just wondering what I could do for you," he smiled enigmatically, stepping further into the kitchen.
"Well, I suppose you can have the honour of carving if you want," I shrugged, unable to think of a reason why he couldn't help out. Especially since I was alone in here. And as much as I didn't want to let the vampire lose with a huge carving knife, I couldn't think of anything else I could give him. Although, thinking on it, he didn't really need a carving knife to fuck me up.
The vampire nodded his assent and stepped over to my gorgeous leg of lamb. The smell coming from it was mouth-watering. I was so incredibly proud of it and had taken several photos of it.
While I got the rest of the food out of the oven, I could hear Elijah start to carve up the meat. His movements were easy and you could see his muscles move, even through his blazer. I didn't need another reminder of just how strong Elijah was, but here one was.
"Thank you for cooking tonight, Alexandria," Elijah's voice broke the silence. I glanced up from where I was plating the veg, allocating each a serving dish.
"Pleasure's all mine," I shrugged, turning so that I could see more of him. "I love doing this kind of thing. Even more so when my parents were alive."
"That's when the vampires of this town infected your life, wasn't it?" the Original vampire asked, taking me by surprised. I wasn't expecting him to ask a question like that. Like at all.
"Well, yeah, I suppose," I frowned in thought. "Stefan saved my sister from the crash, even though it meant letting my parents die. And then he stuck around town until school started. Of course, that meant that Damon was bound to arrive at some point too. And then, more vampires just kept on coming."
There was a slight accusation in my tone at that. As Elijah was one of the unwelcome vampires who had arrived in my hometown. As grateful as I was that the Salvatore's were in my life, I hated what followed. And I know that I wasn't their fault, it was just a side effect of what they were. But it was hard when my entire family was under threat.
Elijah hummed in thought next to me, "Do you ever resent their arrival in town?"
"No," I answered, surprising myself. "I mean, they've brought a lot of bullshit with them. But they are important to me and I wouldn't want to imagine life without them." I sighed, "Besides, if it weren't for Stefan, my sister would be dead, alongside my parents."
I heard Elijah pause in his movements, "Your love for your family is respectable, Alexandria. There are no bonds that are more important than the bond of family."
"Do you have a family, Elijah?" I couldn't stop myself from asking, curiosity getting the best of me.
The vampire beside me sighed, "I do, although they are currently indisposed." At my curious look, he elaborated, "I have three brothers and one sister, and right now, they are all lost to me."
"Are they dead?" I asked softly.
Elijah was silent for a moment before saying, "Never underestimate the power of family."
He put down the carving knife and fork, all of the meat carefully carved and resting on the serving dish. He gave me a look, one that I couldn't decipher but it had my blood running cold, before leaving the room. I stared after him, almost forgetting that I still had the sweet potato mash to dish up, wondering what he meant by that.
Jenna's voice broke through my thoughts, "Do you need help carrying everything in?"
I shook my head and replied with a, "Yes please!"
A moment later, my aunt appeared in the doorway, an easy smile on her face. I was glad that she was enjoying herself. After everything that she had been through, Jenna deserved it. And I was determined that nothing would ruin her evening. Of course, I would still try and take out Elijah, but that would happen after dessert.
My aunt helped to carry the food through after indulging my need to take a photo of it all set out. Again, compliments flowed from everyone on how lovely the food looked. Although it was a muttered comment from Damon on egos that had me smiling. I rolled my eyes at him before sitting down at his side.
As everyone dug in, Jenna reached over to refill my vampire's wine glass, carrying on a conversation that I had missed while in the kitchen, "I hate to break it to you, Damon, but according to Elijah, your family is so not a found of this town."
Damon looked suitably intrigued by this information, "Hmm, do tell."
Elijah took the hint with an amused curl of his lip, "Well, as I mentioned to Jenna earlier, a faction of settlers migrated from Salem after the witch trials in the 1690s. over the next hundred years, they developed this community where they could feel safe from persecution."
Even after hearing this for the second time, Jenna was enthralled. When it came to the supernatural, witches were Jenna's favourite. She did a lot of research on them and spoke to the Bennett's about them. Sheila had told Jenna a lot before her unfortunate demise. Bonnie, being a newbie witch, wasn't able to teach her as much, but Jenna was a good sounding for the young witch.
"Hmm, because they were witches," Jenna agreed, refilling her own glass.
Andie, despite in the know about vampires, didn't seem inclined to believe that the rest of the supernatural existed, "Yeah, but there's no tangible proof that there were witches in Salem."
"Witches are crafty like that," Damon pipped up, keen to stir up the discussion.
"Well, the lore says that there was this wave of anti-witch hysteria," Elijah replied patiently. "It broke out in neighbouring settlement, so these witches were rounded up. They were tied to stakes in a field together and, uh, burned. Some say you could hear the screams from miles around us. They were consumed by the fire. Could you pass the-"
The Original gestured to the salt, which Vanessa quickly passed over. At his words, I wrinkled my nose. The thought of what happened to them was horrible. I knew that his words were true. Elijah wasn't one to lie, even with the limited interaction that I had had with the Original, I knew that he had a code of honour. But I did wonder why he was telling us that. Was he after something? Or just trying to gross us out?
"I wouldn't repeat this to the Historical Society," Jenna laughed, sharing a look with Andie who had covered many a Historical Society event and knew exactly what they were like.
It was then that my uncle decided to speak, "It's starting to sound a little like a ghost story to me."
I rolled my eyes at John's words. I knew that he was just trying to be an ass. He had barely spoken this evening and he decided to be an ass when he did so.
"So, why do you want to know the location of these alleged massacres?" Damon asked before Jenna could do more than glare at Jenna. I turned to look at Elijah, wondering the answer myself.
"You know," Elijah smiled enigmatically, dodging the question easily. "A healthy historian's curiosity, of course."
"Of course," Damon didn't sound convinced at all.
XXX
Once we had gotten through dinner and dessert, I knew that the time had come. We couldn't delay any longer. We had no idea as to when we would get the opportunity again. And it had to happen soon, for my sister's sake. I couldn't risk him taking her away.
"Would anyone care for some cognac?" Damon asked, standing up from the table. "I have a bottle that I've been saving for ages. And I do believe that it would perfectly compliment Alexa's delicious food."
"Kiss-ass," I muttered as I also stood up, but I couldn't quite hide the smile that had formed on my face.
"None for me, thanks," Ric groaned as he stretched. "Nine bottles of wine is my limit."
They had gone through a lot. I had stuck to colas during the night, despite Jenna giving me permission to have some wine. But I had done so well in staying sober, I wasn't going to ruin it now. Especially since I knew that if I had some wine, I would soon indulge in something stronger.
Damon shrugged at that, not caring about the details, "Should we retreat to the study?"
"Let me clear the table and I'll join you there," I smiled at him, playing along perfectly. "I hope you've got the fire going."
"And your favourite blanket it there too," my vampire rolled his eyes but his words warmed my heart. I loved that he recognised that I had a favourite blanket and that he got it ready for me. It was the little things like that that made me love him even more.
"The food was delightful, Alexandria," Elijah took my hand as I reached his plate, placing a kiss on the knuckles. "With the company almost matching."
"You're too kind," I couldn't stop myself from blushing and biting my lip. Despite the fact that he was absolutely terrifying, Elijah could sure be charming when he wanted to be. It added to terror I felt at times.
As the rest of the group trickled out, Jenna grabbed John's arm, "You don't get to leave until you've made yourself useful."
I snorted as Jenna started shoving plates into John's hands, not even giving him a chance to argue. John's attempts to drive a wedge between her and Ric had been backfiring massively. While she had been out of the loop in regards to the fact that he was Elena and I's birth father, Jenna knew everything else. Much to John's annoyance as he no longer had any trump cards up his sleeve.
While John balanced the plates, I grabbed the serving bowls and followed him into the kitchen. Out of the corner of my eye, I could see John giving me looks. I knew that he wanted to say something but I refused to give him the opportunity. He had to know that I was clearly on Jenna's side here. And that his bullshit attempts to ruin my aunt's happiness would not stand with me.
I loaded up the dishwasher, ignoring John's attempts to speak to me, and quickly retreated from the room. The others had congregated in the study by this point with Jenna filling up empty glasses of wine. Damon had broken out the cognac, filling up his and Elijah's glasses. Ric was still standing firm on his decision to abstain from it and Damon refused to use good booze on John, which was something I agreed with.
I had apparently entered mid conversation as Damon was saying, "So, let me guess. In addition to the moonstone, the doppelganger, the lion, the witch and the wardrobe, you need to find this witch burial ground."
I knew that Damon had started to fixate on the site of mass witch death as soon as Elijah mentioned it. As one who formed diabolical plans, Damon knew a key piece of information when he heard it. Whether he would get the information he was after was another thing entirely.
"Because I feel as though we've grown so close, Damon," Elijah indulged my vampire's prodding with an enigmatic smile. "I'll tell you yes. Do you know where it is?"
"Maybe," my vampire shrugged, quickly exchanging glances with Jenna. "Tell me why it's so important."
Elijah gave him a look, "We're not that close." As the Elijah turned his back to examine the books along the side, Damon used the opportunity to reach back towards the booze table he had been lurking beside. The others in the room kept their eyes on the Original while Damon grabbed the silver dagger from the table. "It's quite a collection you have here. It's a funny thing about books. Before they existed, people actually had memories."
My heart pounded in my chest as Damon stepped forward, hiding the dagger behind his back. My phone buzzing in my back pocket had me jumping in surprise. This was so not the time to be getting a phone call. Like oh shit. I quickly grabbed my phone and frowned; Stefan was calling me. Why was Stefan calling me? He knew what we were planning so why was he calling?
I quickly declined the call before texting, 'Can't talk, Elijah here, what's up?'
Stefan's reply had my blood running cold, 'Dagger will kill any vampire that uses it.'
I replied with a succinct 'fuck' before scanning my mind as to what I could do. We had to take out Elijah tonight, it was the perfect opportunity and it might even be the only one that we get. But that meant that I had to do it. And that was a scary thought.
I crossed my arms and stepped forward, making sure that my phone would be in Damon's eyeline, where the warning from Stefan was on screen. I raised my voice, "So you saying that humans have shit memories now that they can write down their stories?"
Elijah turned around with an amused curl to his lip, "Not exactly, but family stories are no longer passed down the way that they used to be."
Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Damon step back towards the table, hiding the dagger back amongst the bottles. When he turned to give me a look, I shook my phone slightly, indicating that he look at it. I knew the moment that he read the message, as his furious eyes swung to look at John, who had just walked in. I was tempted to do the same. His actions were nothing but evil. This man who claimed to love me was trying to get the man I loved killed. He was trying to take my Damon away from me. And I was not going to have it.
My mind spun, trying to work out how to get this done. But I couldn't think of anything. I didn't even know if I was strong enough to actually stab the dagger through his heart. Despite the weight training that I had done with Jeremy, did I have that strength in me? Or even the mental strength?
But it was Andie to the rescue, "So… I know that this is a social thing, but I… I would really love to ask you some more questions about the book that you are supposedly writing, just to help me look good for the Historical Society."
Elijah, even the gentleman, was unable to say no, "I'd love to answer."
"Great," Andie smiled, unable to resist Elijah's charm. "That's so great. Alexa, could you grab the notebook out of my bag? It's by the table."
"Sure thing," I shrugged, hoping that Andie would keep Elijah occupied while I tried to think of a plan. I knew that Damon would be of no use, he was too busy trying to kill John through staring.
I tucked my phone into my back pocket and walked around the room to Andie's bag. It was on the floor, next to the booze table. As I crouched down next to it, I had to look away from all the booze. Just the sight of it had the itch under my skin buzzing for attention. And I couldn't indulge it, not now, not ever. Especially since I needed a clear mind to be able to take out Elijah.
While I searched through the bag, Damon decided to be a little bitch, "Elijah, did John tell you that he's the twin's uncle-slash-father?"
"Yes, I'm well aware of that," Elijah responded, sounding curious as to where Damon was taking this. I was curious too, but I couldn't indulge that curiosity.
I could hear the hatred in his voice as my vampire declared, "Of course, Elena hates him and Alexa probably does as well buy this point, so there's absolutely no need to keep him on the endangered species list."
I had to resist the urge to roll my eyes at Damon's words. He knew that killing John himself would put himself back in Elena and Stefan's bad books, and he wouldn't risk hurting me like that. So he was trying to get Elijah to do his dirty work for him. Of course, at this moment in time, I didn't care what happened to John. He deserved to hurt for what he tried to do. And if he did manage to survive the night, I would be giving him a piece of my mind later.
"Alexa, it's in the front pocket," Andie called out, as I failed to reappear with her notebook.
I paused my search in the main compartment of the bag and dug through the front pocket instead, finding the notebook quickly, "Got it!"
I went to stand up and paused. In front of me was the silver dagger. The silver dagger that was capable of killing Elijah. If the opportunity presented itself, I had to be ready to take it. So I reached out and grabbed the dagger, tucking it under the notebook.
After taking a deep breath, I stood back up.
Damon was glaring at John, still, while Elijah watched them both with an amused expression. In order to get to Andie, I had to walk past the Original. I could either take the opportunity as I walked or just wait until he let down his guard a bit more. With every step I took, I could feel my heart pounding. The dagger felt heavy in my hand. As I walked past Elijah, I could feel my palms sweat. I knew that I would have to wait to take my chance, as I needed a moment to compose myself. I had one chance to get it right. If I attempted it and failed, then we were all screwed.
As I reached Andie and passed over the notebook, hiding the dagger from Elijah's view as I did so, John decided to speak up, "What I'd like to know, Elijah, is how do you intend on killing Klaus?"
"Gentlemen, ladies, there's a few things that we should probably get clear right now," Elijah spoke, all traces of amusement gone from his voice. "I allow you to live solely to keep an eye on Elena. I allow Elena to remain in her house, living her life with her friends and family as she does as a courtesy. If you become a liability, I'll take her away from you and you'll never see her again.
Elijah's words gave me the kick that I needed. A deep anger grew in me as he talked about taking my sister away from me. He was supposed to protect her. But he was planning on getting her killed instead. And now he was thinking about taking her away from me.
So, while Elijah was glaring around the room, I stepped forward, staring hard at his back. Despite the shaking in my hands and the sweat on my palms, I raised the dagger.
It felt like it was all happening in slow motion.
I stepped forward, raising my hands above my head before plunging them down. The dagger pierced his body a lot easier than I thought it would. I staggered forward in shock as the dagger slid through cloth and skin, narrowly missing the bone. Elijah's scream filled the room as his body convulsed. It was only for a second and then there was silence. I could see the skin of his neck turn grey and the body went limp, falling forward. In my shock, I kept my grip on the blade and it remained in my hand as Elijah's body hit the floor.
I could feel all the eyes in the room on me. But my gaze was frozen on Elijah's body. My heart pounded in my ears as I realised what I had just done. I had daggered an Original vampire. And I had saved my sister. He couldn't take her from me now. She was safe from him. And without Elijah, I could keep her safe from Klaus. He wouldn't know that she existed now.
A gentle hand grabbed mine, easing the dagger out of my shaking grasp. Warm fingers gripped my chin and tilted my head up, my gaze meeting Damon's worried eyes. I could only think of one to thing to say to him and the room.
"He wasn't going to save her."
XXX
I had quickly been ushered over to the sofa; my favourite blanket wrapped around my shoulders.
Alaric passed in front of me as Damon stared down at Elijah's body, drink in hand. Jenna was next to me, her arm wrapped around my shoulders. I didn't know where the others had gone but I did see John lurking in the corner of my eye.
It was Alaric that broke the shocked silence in the room, "You said that there wasn't going to be any violence!"
As I winced in guilt, feeling bad for ruining the evening, Damon rolled his eyes, "I think you'll find that I didn't actually do any killing."
"Maybe not, but I know that you planned on doing so until something stopped you," Ric was fuming and I couldn't help but feel bad. I was the one who did the deed and put everyone in danger. "I asked you not do to it here, while Jenna and her friends were in the house. You can't lie to me like that." I could see the guilt in Damon's eyes, even as he tried to hide it from everyone. "I am your friend, damn it. And you don't have enough of those to be driving me away. so no more lying."
The silence following his words was uncomfortable. And as much as I wanted to speak up and apologise, I just couldn't. It was as though my whole body was frozen. I couldn't even get my mouth to open.
Eventually Ric just sighed, "Let's just get the body out of here."
Damon nodded and together, the two men picked up the dead Original and carried him out of the room. I watched with tired eyes until I could no longer see them. Beside me, Jenna was rubbing my arm but I could tell that she didn't know what to say. I mean, what did you say to your niece who just killed someone to save her suicidal sister?
The silence in the room grew more tense until Jenna broke it by standing up and saying, "I'm going to go get you a drink."
I just about managed to nod before I watched her leave the room. In such a short amount of time, I had managed to drive everyone away. With one simple action, I had disappointed everyone. All I wanted to do was keep my sister save but I had fucked up. I could tell that Jenna didn't know what say to me after what I did. Even I was ashamed of myself. I stabbed him in the back, literally. I didn't have the courage to stab him from the front. It was a cowardly move.
I let out a low groan, hunching forward so that my forehead rested on my knees. What do I do? How did I fix this?
A noise behind me had my jolting up. I scanned the room with wide eyes. Despite the fact that there was no one in the room with me, I could feel someone's gaze fixed upon me. And it did not feel friendly. With shaking hands, I pushed the blanket off my shoulders, preparing myself to run for it.
But before I could make a move, a strong hand covered my mouth and pulled me to my feet. I immediately struggled against the arm that pinned me to a firm chest. My arms were pinned but I still tried clawing at the hand covering my mouth. My breathing was hard as my brain went fuzzy with panic.
The body holding me moved with supernatural speed, taking from the safety of the Boarding House. My surroundings blurred with the speed we were moving at and I felt my stomach roll, nausea clawing at my throat. I knew it was a vampire and I knew exactly which vampire. A familiar aftershave enveloped my senses, adding to the panic.
How had Elijah survived? The dagger was supposed to kill him. We were supposed to be free of him. And now he was taking me somewhere. Probably to get his revenge for stabbing him with that dagger.
The cold night wind bit at my skin as Elijah sped through the night, never relaxing his grip on me. Despite closing my eyes against the wind, I could feel the tears forming. My heart pounded in chest as I prepared myself for death. For I knew that Elijah would kill me. Whether it would be now or later, I knew that he would take my life. And he probably wouldn't allow me to keep my ring when he did so.
We came to a sudden stop and my heart was in my throat. Was this where I was going to die? I didn't want to open my eyes, like at all. Through my closed lids, I could see the warm light of a lamp. Had he taken me to his lair? It had occurred to me previously that I didn't know where Elijah had been staying while in Mystic Falls. Had he been staying with his witch or elsewhere?
I knew that I was only thinking of it now to distract myself. I still hadn't opened my eyes and I still didn't want to. But when Elijah jostled me, pushing me forward, my eyes shot open before I could think better of it. I barely caught sight of an apartment door before Elijah was pushing it open. And yes, I finally had confirmation that it was Elijah. There was a blood stain on his satin shirt, directly over his heart, where the dagger had pierced the other side of his chest. I knew that if I looked, there would be one of his back too.
It was the look on his face that scared me the most. There was cold fury etched into his face while his eyes practically glowed with rage. I had never seen him so angry and I immediately regretted every action that I had done which led me to this moment. His fury had my blood running cold and my heart clenching in my chest. The ragged edge in my breathing pointed to a panic attack and there was nothing that I could do to stop it.
I was so caught up in my panic that I missed the man standing inside the apartment. It wasn't until he spoke that I realised he was there. I glanced over, my eyes wide, and saw a familiar man standing by a pile of books. I knew that I had seen him around town and had to search my brain for a name. It took some time but I eventually remembered that he was Dr Martin, Elijah's magical friend.
"What happened?" Dr Martin asked, his voice deep and calm, even as he stepped forward. His gaze flickered down to me and I saw recognition immediately followed by curiosity.
"I need you to find Elena," Elijah ground out in response, pushing me further into the apartment. "Now."
The witch (or was it warlock?) immediately nodded and retreated over to an ancient style desk under the window, "It may take a bit of time, but I'll find her."
My immediate instinct was to protest and tell them to stay the fuck away from my sister. But fear had my frozen in my spot. I didn't want either of the two powerful men in the room to pay attention to me. Even if it meant stopping them from finding my sister. But what could I do to stop them? I had no power; I wasn't strong enough.
When he grabbed a familiar photo of my sister, Dr Martin glanced over to me. I knew that he was wondering why I was here. And why Elijah was keeping an iron grip on my arm. But it was almost as though he knew better than to ask.
Unfortunately, Dr Martin's staring reminded Elijah that I was still there. His cold eyes looked down at me and I could see an idea forming in them.
"Use this one," he ordered the warlock, dragging me towards the table. "She's blood related so it will be quicker."
His words drove me to panic.
I struggled in his grip, yanking my body backwards. I could feel the bruises forming on my arm as I tried to pull it from his grip. My feet slid against the floor but I didn't move an inch. Elijah's grip was too strong and I was too weak.
The Original indulged my attempts while Dr Martin got out a map and knife. When the warlock gave the nod, indicating his readiness, Elijah pulled me forward, closer to him. With one swift move, he switched his grip on my arm, using his left arm to grip my wrist, holding my hand towards the warlock. With the other, he wrapped it around my waist, pinning me against his body.
I was utterly powerless in his grip, unable to stop Dr Martin from grabbing my hand. I knew what would happen before it did. With one clean slice, the warlock sliced open my palm, allowing my blood to drip down onto the map. The pain sliced through my panic and I realised that I was begging tearfully.
"Please don't do this. I'm sorry, I was only trying to save my sister. You don't have to find her and take her away. Just punish me, leave her here. Don't take her from me, please, please don't take her away from me."
My words were ignored as Dr Martin chanted and Elijah watched the blood move on the map. I closed my eyes and wept, knowing that they would find my sister. And I had no way of stopping them.
"She's there," Dr Martin said, breaking through my sobs. "I can't get any closer but you should be able to find her."
I didn't have to look at the map to know that the blood had settled at the lake. I had doomed my sister. Because of me, Elijah was going to take her away. And there was nothing that I could do about it.
I unwittingly relaxed in Elijah's hold, resting back against that strong chest behind me. I didn't know what I could do to stop this. My only hope was that Elijah didn't know that we had a lake house. And that he wouldn't be able to find Elena there. A glance down at the map showed that there was still a decent area that he would have to search. And if someone at the Boarding House had noticed that Elijah was gone, then maybe they would have warned Elena and Stefan to escape to somewhere else.
But that hope was instantly scuppered as Elijah spun me around. The base of my back pressed against the table as I leant back to get away from him. But strong fingers gripped my chin and titled my face up. It took me a second to realise what was happening. And that was a second too long.
My vervain locket was ripped from my neck as Elijah's eyes caught mine. The helpless feeling of compulsion washed over me as Elijah asked, "What is by the lake?"
I tried to fight answering, I tried so hard, but the words left my mouth against my desperate wishes, "Our family lake house. Elena is staying there with Stefan."
The Original nodded, freeing me from his compulsion. I slumped back against the table, covering my face with my hands. A part of me wondered why he had gone through the trouble of getting Dr Martin to use a spell to find her when he could have just compelled me. He either thought that I didn't know where my twin was or he just wanted to torture me. To cause me as much pain and suffering as he could before he took my sister from me.
XXX
I wasn't surprised when Elijah took me with him to the lake house. I was the perfect leverage to get my sister to cooperate. All he had to do was threaten me and Elena would do whatever he wanted.
I had tried begging him to leave her alone. That my transgressions weren't hers. That Elena didn't even know what we were doing. But the Original ignored my words, a determined look on his face. And all my struggles achieved were bruises.
The sight of the lake house had tears forming in my eyes for another reason. I hadn't been here since before my parent's deaths. This place held so many fond memories for me. And yet, the thought of going anywhere near it made me feel ill. The warmth that I associated with the cabin was gone. It felt cold.
Elijah crouched down, his free hand running across the ground before he collected a handful of rocks. I was forced to couch down with him. The Original was holding me close to his body again, his mouth covering my hand. He clearly wanted the element of surprise and my screaming for my sister would ruin that.
Because I would scream. I would scream for her to stay put, to not invite him in and to not go anywhere with him. I knew that Stefan was inside with her and that he would look after her. But I had to do something. It was my fault that this was happening. I had caused this situation by attacking Elijah. It was my blood that led him here. My weakness compulsion that told him exactly where she was.
Everything was silent while Elijah waited to make his noise. Even the sounds of nature were hushed. It was like the world had frozen in anticipation. I held my breath, desperately hoping that Elijah had changed his mind, even if it was an impossible hope. But I needed to hold onto something.
Everything crashed back into action when Elijah threw the rocks in his hand at the door. The wood splintered under the force of the throw, breaking off its hinges. The hand covering my mouth stifled my scream at the action. It was a show of strength from the Original. A don't fuck me with action.
With his presence announced so spectacularly, Elijah walked towards the house, dragging me with him. He must have heard something from within as he called out calmly, "You know, I might not be able to enter this house," Elijah paused to change his grip on me. His hand released my mouth and gripped my wrist, twisting it behind my back, forcing me up on my tiptoes. "But I'm a very patient man. I'll wait you out." The Original let his words sink in before adding, "Unfortunately, I don't think Alexandria has the same level of patience."
I desperately hoped that my sister wouldn't appear in the doorway. That Stefan would keep her safe deep within the building until some form of backup arrived. I knew that as soon as she saw me, my stupid, beautiful sister would do something stupid.
But my prayers weren't answered, as Ellie appeared in the doorway, her eyes instantly connecting with mine. I could see the worry in those lovely eyes as she scanned me, checking for any injuries. I quickly clenched my fist, hiding my injured palm, ignoring the blood that started to seep through at the movement.
"Ellie, don't!" I called as my sister starting to move forward. I knew that as soon as she stepped out the door, Elijah would whisk her away, never to be seen again.
Thankfully my twin stopped at the doorway, crossing her arms, "They shouldn't have done what they did."
I winched, guilt consuming me. This was all my fault. I did this and now my sister was going to suffer the consequences. I deserved the pain that I felt. After what I did, I deserved to be punished. But my sister didn't.
Elijah's voice was cold as he retorted, "The deal is off."
The grip on my wrist tightened momentarily and I had to hide my wince. Despite his claim for patience, I could feel the Original's frustration and anger. He wanted this over with and he didn't care how it happened.
"I'm renegotiating," was Elena's response, a determined look forming on her face. I knew that expression, I knew it well. My sister was determined to get what she wanted, just as much as Elijah was.
The vampire behind me scoffed, "You have nothing left to negotiate with."
My idiot sister clearly took that as a challenge. She stared him down for a minute longer before pulling out a knife from behind her. Elijah cleared his throat in amusement as I let out a ragged cry. Even if Elijah doubted her strength of will, I knew my sister would do it if she felt like she needed to. My sweet, stupid, stubborn twin was not one to back down from a challenge.
"I'd like to see you lure Klaus into Mystic Falls after the doppelganger bleeds to death," my crazy Ellie held the knife up in challenge, her tone strong despite her words.
"Stefan won't let you die," the Original behind me countered.
But my sister had prepared for that, "No, he won't. he'll feed me his blood to heal me, and then I'll kill myself and become a vampire, just like Katherine did." The mention of Katherine had the grip on my wrist tightening momentarily. "So unless you want that to happen again, promise me the same as before. Promise me that you won't harm anyone that I love, that you won't harm my sister. Even if they've harmed you."
Elijah was silent for a moment, considering my sister's words. A part of me dared to hope that he would accept it, that he wouldn't force the challenge. Because I knew my sister would do it. To protect her loved ones, to protect me, she would do exactly what she said.
Eventually, Elijah broke the silence, "I'm sorry, Elena. I'm going to have to call your bluff."
My heart ran cold at his words. My gaze swung round to my sister, "Ellie, no, don't you dare!"
My twin let out a deep breath before looking over, "I'm sorry, Lexa, but I can't let you get hurt."
With that said, she pointed the knife towards her stomach. I could feel Elijah tense behind me, staring hard at my sister. He honestly didn't think that she would do it. And he was about to be proven wrong. With one final glance at the Original, Elena plunged the knife deep into her stomach.
All the breath in my body rushed out in a scream. The edges of my vision went dark as I tried not to pass out at the sight of the blood gushing from my sister's body. There was so much of it. The red liquid stained her pink top as she collapsed to her knees, pulling the knife from her body with a cry of pain.
The grip on my wrist disappeared as Elijah shot towards the doorway with a loud "No!" He slammed to a stop, unable to enter the building. I scrambled after him, despite my legs threatening to give way with every step. I collapsed at the top of the stairs as I saw the blood seeping through my twin's hands, which were pressed against her stomach.
"Yes! Yes, you can have your deal," Elijah called out desperately, his fists clenched against the invisible barrier blocking him from my sister. "Let me heal you."
But my sister was stubborn until the end. She called out, her voice weak, "Give me your word!"
Elijah didn't even hesitate, "I give you my word."
With strength I didn't know my sister had, she pulled herself to her feet and fell forward, straight into Elijah's arms. But then the unexpected happened. Elijah let out an odd grunt and, as I watched, his skin started to turn grey. His body fell to the side, a familiar dagger sticking out of his heart.
I barely had time to process that before my twin fell to the ground as well, her skin pale from blood loss. I breathed out her name and went to crawl over. But I was beaten to it by Stefan. He shot out of the house and to my sister's side, biting his wrist as he went. The vampire gathered Ellie up into his arms and pressed his wrist to her mouth. I watched as her wound healed and a health glow returned to her skin.
I let out a breath that I didn't even know I was holding and ran a shaking hand through my hair. I was so desperate to crawl over to my sister and pull her into my arms, but Stefan looked like he wasn't going to let her go for anything. And I was feeling too weak to offer Ellie the comfort that she needed. I knew the pain that she had just gone through. And I hadn't emotionally healed enough from it to help her cope. So maybe it was a good thing that Stefan held her while I sat here alone.
But I wasn't alone.
Familiar arms wrapped around my shoulders and pulled me against a firm body. I instantly melted into Damon's arms, grabbing onto them. His mesmerising scent enveloped me and I pressed my face against his arm. My body relaxed in a way that I thought impossible after what we just went through. But Damon was here now. He would make everything okay and he would look after me.
"Little tip," my vampire spoke, his chest vibrating against my face. "Don't pull the dagger out."
XXX
After her little stunt, I was reluctant to let my twin out of my sight. Everywhere she went, I went. If she went upstairs in the lake house to pack up her stuff, then I went upstairs too. If she went home in Stefan's car, then I was going to be in it too. If it annoyed Elena, then she wasn't going to say anything.
The couple had given up on their romantic weekend away after everything that had happened. And since someone needed to take Elijah's body back to the Boarding House, Elena decided to head back there before going home.
The brothers carried the body down into the basement, being careful to ensure that the dagger remained firmly embedded in the Original's chest. Ellie and I followed them down, both of us reluctant to be separated from our respective vampire.
As the Salvatore's dumped the body on the floor, Damon making sure to drop him extra hard, they stepped back to look down at the body. Ellie approached Stefan's side and he wrapped an arm around her, pulling her close. I took a step closer to Damon as he knelt body and started going through Elijah's pockets.
He paused for a moment before pulling something out of the right pocket. He glanced up at me before reaching up for my hand. He gently unclenched my fist and carefully placed the object onto my uninjured palm. I glanced down and couldn't help but smile at the sight of my locket. After he ripped it from my neck, I had lost track of where it ended up. It was a relief to see it again.
I gave Damon a grateful smile as I reached up to put it back around my neck. Damon returned the gratitude with a squeeze of my hand before he returned to his search. It didn't take him long to find what he wanted.
"Ah ha, what do we have here?" he sounded smug as he pulled the accursed moonstone out of the inner pocket. "A little moonstone bar of soap. I'll hold on to this."
As we all stared at the moonstone, my sister spoke up for the first time since the lake house, "So that's it. I mean, as long as we keep the dagger in there, then he stays dead."
My vampire nodded as he stood back up, "Pretty much."
Ellie nodded tiredly before reaching out to grab my hand, "Okay then, good night."
She went to leave, pulling me behind her, before she paused and turned back around. There was a fierce look on her face as she looked between us, "You know, you guys want me to fight, fine, I'll fight. But if we're gonna do this, then you can't keep anything from me anymore. From this moment on, we're doing it my way."
Damon was the first to agree, "That seems fair."
Ellie looked at Stefan, who sounded reluctant at first, "Okay."
I was the last to speak, "As long as you fight, Ellie, I don't care how you do it."
Elena nodded and resumed pulling from me the room. I followed quietly, curious as to where we were going. I didn't know if we were going to go home or take over one of the numerous bedrooms in the house. But I didn't matter either way. My sister was alive and unharmed, and Elijah was no longer a threat.
When we reached the parlour, Elena sighed and used her grip on my hand to pull me closer, so she could wrap her arm around my shoulder, "Come on, Lexa, let's go home."
I nodded and rested my head against hers, "Don't need to tell me twice. It's been a shitty couple of days."
At my twin's inquisitive look, I decided to elaborate. So while she drove us home, having left her car in the Salvatore garage, I told her about my encounter with the werewolves and the drama of the dinner party. In return, she told me about Tyler's visit to the lake house with some douche named Brady. She explained how the werewolves wanted to use her in the sacrifice so that they wouldn't have to turn anymore. And how Tyler betrayed them to save her. In that moment., I had never loved my adopted brother more. I just wished that I could have told him that.
When I told Ellie about what the werewolves did to me, she had to pull over into the local all-night diner's parking lot. Her hands clenched on the steering wheel as I told her what Damon told me. My memory of the actual event was blurry, the only thing that I remembered clearly was the pain. But Damon had told me exactly what happened after I had forced him to.
Since it was approaching 1am and I could tell that my sister was not in any way fit to drive, I suggested that we go into the diner that we were next to. Ellie put up a token protest, saying that we should go home and get some sleep. But before I could even put an argument together, she was climbing out the car. Fortunately, before she left the Boarding House, she had changed her top for one that wasn't soaked in blood. And Damon had insisted on giving me a bit of blood to heal the deep cut on my palm. So we were able to go into the diner without worry.
Between us, we ordered two oreo milkshakes, a sloppy joe and a plate of buffalo wings. And for the first time in far too long, we just talked. Of course, we tried to avoid the topic of the sacrifice. But we updated each other on everything that had happened. And we just enjoyed being together. It had been so long since we had done something like this. Since we had just sat down together and talked.
After I had told her about John's attempts to split up Ric and Jenna, and his demands to get his Gilbert ring back, Ellie had told me what she had learnt at the lake house. She told me about the weapons stash that was hidden in a secret room and what she had read in the Gilbert journals. We talked about the fact that Stefan had murdered our ancestor, even if he did some back to life.
Once we had done the obligatory updates, we descended into silliness. I showed her the memes that I had been collecting after showing her the photos of the dinner that I cooked earlier. Ellie brought up the jokes that she had heard from her favourite podcast, which had released some new episodes recently.
We sat there all night, eating our food and enjoying each other's company. And I loved it so much. I just wished that it didn't have to end.
A/N: So many reviews, I love it! Thank you, my darlings, I really do appreciate them :) please keep them coming! Let me know what you think of Alexa's badass moment and the rest of the chapter. Until next time, hope you enjoyed xoxo
