The Good Daughter

Five

"Here." Stefan handed me a mug of hot chocolate, a good choice considering the cooler weather.

I thanked him, curling further on the couch.

"Where have you been?"

We'd avoided the question successfully while he'd gotten me settled. I could tell he'd been dying to ask.

"Europe."

"This whole time?" Stefan set his own cup aside.

"No. I've been all over."

Elena Gilbert was sitting far too close to my brother to be considered just a friend. It kind of grossed me out, that he was so clearly dating the girl with Kathrine's face. "Vague."

Her necklace. It was so familiar. I just couldn't quite put my finger on it.

"Not much to say. I left the house and went out on my own. Eventually I encountered a vampire that would turn me. Life goes on."

"You wanted to get turned?"

"More or less. I don't really want to talk about it."

A woman descended the stairs, rubbing a towel through her wet hair. "Who's this?" Damon wasn't far behind.

"Our little sister." Thank god he wasn't saying anything about what happened. Had he already told Stefan?

"Morgan." The Mikaelson name was on the tip of my tongue, but I stopped it. It'd been so long since I'd introduced myself as a Salvatore.

She eyed me for a moment, before shrugging.

"So, are you going to tell us what you know?" Elena was now looking at her, and I found myself glad to be out of her scrutiny.

The woman took a breath. "Okay, you have to understand, I only know what I've picked up over the years, and I don't know what's true and what's not true." She laid the towel down on top of a couch. "But Klaus, I know is real."

My stomach dropped.

"Who is he?" Elena crossed her arms.

"He's one of the originals." Damon answered offhandedly. "A legend."

"From the first generation of vampires." Stefan offered, wrapping his arm around Elena. It would've been cute if she wasn't, well, Kathrine's look alike.

"Like Elijah?"

Seemed he'd been more busy than I'd initially thought.

"No, Elijah was the Easter bunny compared to Klaus." The woman began to pace.

I couldn't help but snort, trying to pass it off as a cough when eyes turned toward me. That wasn't quite true. Elijah was just better at controlling his temper.

"He's a foot soldier," Wrong. "Klaus is the real deal."

"Klaus is known to be the oldest."

"You're saying that the oldest vampire in history is coming after me?" Alright, I'd give the girl props for actually seeming afraid. She wasn't entirely stupid.

"Yes." The woman answered, with Stefan's "No." They glanced at one another.

"What they're saying is..." Damon walked toward a bar, grasping the neck of a decanter. "I mean if what she's saying is true-"

"Which it is."

"And she's not just saying it so we don't kill her.."

"Which I'm not."

"Then we're looking at a solid... maybe." Damon poured himself a drink.

"Elijah's dead, right?" Wrong. "No one else knows that you even exist." Unless they go looking for Kathrine, I mean, Elena was almost laughably easy to find.

"That you know of." The woman interjected.

"That's not helping."

"Look," Stefan interrupted the glares the other two were throwing at one another. "I've never even met anyone who's laid eyes on them. I mean, we're talking centuries of truth, mixed with fiction. We don't know what's real, for all we know he could be some stupid bedtime story."

"He's real." The woman insisted. "And he doesn't give up. If he wants something, he gets it." Who was this woman. She sounded like she'd had the misfortune of meeting Nik in person. "If you're not afraid of Klaus, then you're an idiot."

"Alright, we're shaking." Damon rolled his eyes. "You made your point."

Elena stood, shouldering her bag.

"Where are you going?" Stefan's brow furrowed.

"School." Right, like that's so important after everything she just learned.

"Give me a minute and I'll come with you."

"It's okay, I know where it is." Elena made a quick escape.

"She's in denial." Damon muttered theatrically to the woman.

"Shut up, Damon." Stefan glared, and stalked off.

"You were remarkably quiet." My eldest brother's gaze fell on me.

"Do you think there's any truth to these rumors?" I tried to put on a show of innocence.

He shrugged, seemingly accepting my question. "I don't know. The whole idea. I guess vampires had to come from somewhere, but for them to have such an interest in some small town girl seems unlikely."

"Unless they want to break the sun and the moon curse." The woman set her hands on her hips.

"Seems kind of beneath them." It was fake. The curse. Elijah and Nik created it together, but I wasn't about to reveal that I knew it. "I mean, these are the world's oldest vampires. You'd think if they wanted to break the curse, they would've already done it, no?"

The woman set her sights on me, eyes narrowing. "What do you know of the Originals?"

I shrugged. "Not much, they're ghosts." It protected my identity just as much as theirs. "You could've met one on the street and had no idea it was an Old One." That was my favorite name they had, so I could tease them about it. "How do you know so much about Klaus?"

"I've only been running from him for five hundred years."

And yet... She was wrong on so many things. "Who'd you say you were again?"

"Rose Marie." Her head dipped a little.

Rose... Rose... why was that so familiar?

Stefan trudged down the hall, a bag slung over his shoulder. "We'll be late if we don't go now."

"Where are you going?" I stood, anxious that if I let either out of my sight, Nik would come and Elijah would make good on his promise.

"Something we have to help a friend with. Are you going to be okay here at the house by yourself?"

"Correction, I'm just going to gloat at Kathrine and then I'm going to the grill, see if Barbie needs any help with Lockwolf." Damon downed the rest of his drink.

They turned to Rose, who held her hands up. "I need some blood and then I'll be on my way."

Right. Blood.

Elijah would kill me if he found out I'd gone several days without my meditations, really it slipped my mind. "Maybe I'll find a drink of my own, and find one of you later."