Reyna's pov:
Yesterday was a great vacation, and a major help with my ongoing identity crisis, but today is back to business as usual with the Scooby Gang. Damon, Jeremy, and Bonnie locked Elena in her house with a barrier spell and Damon took over taking care of Stefan for me while I go to help babysit Elena.
The first hour of babysitting is spent in Elena's room, having a competition to see who can sketch different things around the room better. Elena's never been much of an artist, but she wanted to try since we're stuck inside all day. I, on the other hand, have been sketching things at random since I was little. I don't take any real stock in practicing or trying to hone it since that's not really what I want to spend my entire life doing, but it's fun as a hobby. Needless to say, I won most of the rounds...
The second hour of the day was spent making lunch together... and making a mess in the kitchen as we tried to bake muffins for Jeremy and Jenna. Lunch went off without a hitch since we're both pretty competent in the kitchen, but when we started the muffins we got the ingredients everywhere. Jenna had us scrub down the entire kitchen as punishment for making the mess in the first place, which is completely fair on her part.
Once we were done, we went back up to Elena's room and watched a superhero movie on the tv in her room. It's a small tradition we've had for years now to watch action movies during sleepovers. This was close enough that Elena wanted to watch it anyway.
About halfway through the movie Elena wanted to pause it and go downstairs to get popcorn and a few of the muffins. Of course, I agreed, because who watches movies without popcorn? And I'm always a sucker for muffins.
Elena and I leave her bedroom door and I speed up to get ahead of her in the hallway. She giggles and tags me on the shoulder, rushing ahead and down the stairs with me racing behind to catch up. When we reach the bottom we're playfully shoving our shoulders at each other and laughing so much I can barely breathe.
"What are you two laughing about?" I look up to see Jenna smiling at us in amusement while she stands and takes a step away from the open closet in the hallway. There are a few boxes around her feet with various words written on them in sharpie.
Elena takes a deep breath and smiles at her aunt, shoving my shoulder lightly. "Nothing other than the fact that Reyna here is a slow-poke."
I lightly push her shoulder with my palm, making her laugh. "Hey! I would've run if I had any warning that we were racing!"
"Yeah, sure." Elena rolls her eyes at me, still smiling.
"Well, you girls are just in time." Jenna hands Elena a cardboard box before grabbing another and passing it to me.
I look at the semi-heavy box in my arms and give it a light shake. Nothing rattles though. "What's in this, Jenna?" I shake it again to emphasize my question.
She laughs at my actions. "It's my sister's files from the Historical Society. I got roped into helping Mrs Lockwood and by roped, I mean I'm very excited to participate."
Her fake cheer in her tone at the end of the statement makes me laugh as Elena smiles at her aunt and goes to say something. She stops when Jenna closes the closet door to show Elijah behind it, startling both of us.
He smiles casually at us. "Hey, I'm Elijah." Elena takes a minute step towards me, shifting her box in her arms nervously.
Jenna doesn't notice the change in the atmosphere. "Elijah's in town doing research on Mystic Falls."
I force a smile for Jenna's benefit, setting my box on the floor by the stairs so I can move to shake Elijah's hand. "It's nice to meet you. Are you enjoying your time in Mystic Falls?"
Elijah's eyes spark with amusement as he shakes my hand. "Yes, it's been most enlightening." He smirks as he releases my hand, stepping back once more.
Elena just says a weak greeting with nerves lining her tone. "Hi."
Jenna sets down a box of her own and turns to Elijah. "So, you're welcome to stay here and rummage through this stuff or Elena, Reyna, and I could help you load it into your car."
Elijah shrugs his shoulders, hands in his pocket. "Or I could get someone to pick it up tomorrow."
Jenna points to him, smiling. "Also a good plan."
Elijah turns and shakes Jenna's hand in parting. "Thank you so much for inviting me into your home, Jenna... Elena." He turns to me, his smile becoming slightly more genuine as he nods. "Reyna, a pleasure."
I smile again as he brushes past me to get to the door. "Nice meeting you." I give a small wave as he exits the house and disappears out of sight. Turning back to Jenna, I let out a breath. "Well, history has never been my strong suit, so you're on your own if you have to do any presentations for Mrs Lockwood or anything like that, Jen."
"No worries. I think I can handle it." Jenna turns to her niece. "Could you get Jeremy to help me with the rest of these boxes?"
Elena nods and grabs my hand, pulling me towards and up the stairs faster than she'd normally go, taking the steps two at a time. I struggle to keep pace while holding hands with her since she doesn't release me until we reach Jeremy's door.
Elena knocks on Jeremy's door, but right before he opens it Elijah appears beside us, grabbing Elena's wrist and holding a finger to his lips to keep her quiet that he's here as he hides beside the door and Jeremy opens it. Jeremy gives Elena a bored look as he stands in the doorway, oblivious to the Original standing beside him. "What is it?"
Elena takes a breath to calm her nerves. "Jenna asked me to get you to help her with the rest of the boxes downstairs."
"Sure." Jeremy brushes past us and goes down the stairs, never noticing Elijah's presence.
Elena and I turn back to Elijah as he releases Elena's wrist. "A wise choice."
Elena frowns at him, rubbing at her wrist with her other hand. "What do you want?" I nudged her for the rude tone since he could kill us at any moment. I also try focusing on the "danger sense" that I seem to have, monitoring any shifts in Elijah's current mood.
"I think it's time we had a little chat."
Elena nods and leads us into her room, closing the door behind her. Once the door is firmly shut, Elijah clears his throat. "Forgive the intrusion. I mean your family no harm."
Elena jumps right to the point of the matter. "Why did you kill those vampires when they tried to take me?"
Elijah sighs. "Because I didn't want you to be taken. Klaus is the most feared and hated of the Originals, but those that fear him are desperate for his approval. If word gets out that the doppelganger exists, there would be a line of vampires eager to take you to him and I can't have that."
Elena frowns, crossing her arms over her chest as she moves closer to the bed to sit down on the edge of it. "Isn't that exactly what you're trying to do?"
I shake my head as I kick off the wall I was leaning against, walking over to sit in the chair at her vanity. "No, it's not. He doesn't have any ill intent towards us at the moment."
Elijah sends me a proud smile. "You've improved."
I return the smile with a grin of my own, happy with my accomplishments. "I've been practicing..." My grin drops a little. "Although I didn't know you were in the house, so maybe I haven't improved that much."
He tilts his head, curiosity lining his tone. "Did you not sense me?"
I shrug my shoulders, giving my best guess. "I've been practicing blocking it out since it makes me sick. I must have subconsciously done it when I was goofing off with Elena earlier. Believe me, I can feel it now."
Elijah takes a minor step back as if he can fix the problem at hand. "Does my presence make you sick?"
"Not exactly. You don't plan to harm me, but you feel old, like staring into the abyss of a deep well that's been abandoned for years." At least, that's the best way I can think to describe the feeling, even though it's not one hundred percent accurate.
The Original Vampire smiles softly at me again. "That's very descriptive."
I let out a small snort of laughter. "I've had plenty of time to think about it."
"Interesting." He stares for a moment in thought before turning back to Elena. "As I was saying before the lovely Reyna caught my attention..." He shoots me a wink. " ...My goal is not to break the curse."
Elena nods, trying to process. "So, what is your goal?"
Elijah dodges the immediate question. "Klaus's obsession has made him paranoid. He's a recluse. He only trusts those in his immediate circle."
Elena nods towards him. "Like you?"
"Not anymore." Elijah lets out a small chuckle.
I frown at the man. "You don't know where he is, do you? You're using Elena as bait... That's actually not a bad plan. But it might get her killed. Have you thought of that?"
"It's my understanding that she's already trying to get herself killed... Am I incorrect?" The awkward silence lasts a long moment before Elijah sighs and looks at Elena. "I'll need you to stay put and stop doing that, by the way."
Elena lets out a long breath, looking up at Elijah as she stands from the bed. "How do I know that I can trust you?"
Elijah nods towards me. "Ask Reyna. If she's been practicing, then she should know whether I'm telling the truth or not."
I shake my head at this stupid idea, turning to Elena with a serious look. "He is... But let's not rely on my abilities alone, alright? I don't always get the best results yet and I'd feel better putting your safety on something more concrete than my "feelings" alone."
"Something concrete? How about the fact that if I weren't telling the truth your entire family would be dead and I'd be taking you to Klaus right now. Instead, I'm here and prepared to offer you a deal."
Elena nods. "What kind of deal?"
Elijah takes a breath. "Do nothing... Do nothing, live your life, stop fighting, and then, when the time is right, you and I shall draw out Klaus together and I shall make sure your friends remain unharmed."
Elena pauses for a moment as she thinks about it. I start messing with a plush bear that's sitting on her vanity. I'm pretty sure Matt got it for her a few years ago, but she still has it, so I could be wrong. They broke up and she got rid of a bunch of his stuff so she could move on with a fresh start. Elena's voice breaks me from my thoughts. "And then what?"
Elijah shrugs his shoulders. "Then I kill him." As if it could possibly be that simple.
I shake the thought away and look at my friend. "He's telling the truth." She shoots me an uncertain look, which makes me roll my eyes. I wouldn't lie to her about this.
Elena sees my eye roll and sends me a guilty smile as if reading my mind. When I smile back she turns back to Elijah for confirmation. "Just like that?"
He smiles. "Just like that." When Elena still seems unsure, which is a little ridiculous because we have an Original offering his protection to us, Elijah sighs. "I'm a man of my word, Elena. I make a deal, I keep a deal."
I blow out a heavy breath and look back up at Elijah. "Can we ask how you intend to keep everyone that Elena wants on her list protected?"
Elijah nods and straightens his sleeves. "I notice you have a friend: Bonnie, is it? She seems to possess the gift of magic. I have friends with similar gifts."
Elena's eyes spark with realization. "You know witches."
I can't help but roll my eyes again. "Of course he does, he's a thousand years old." I'd be shocked if he didn't know a whole horde of witches at this point.
Elijah sends me a small smile before turning to Elena once more. "Together, we can protect everyone that matters to you. So, do we have a deal?"
My friend narrows her eyes at the Original. "I need you to do one more thing for me."
I tilt my head at her in exasperation. "Elena!"
Elijah, thankfully, seems to be amused rather than irritated. "Are we negotiating now?" He glances between us for a moment before nodding to himself and smiling at Elena. "What would you like?"
"I need you to have your witches release the tomb spell trapping Katherine and Stefan in the Fell Church Tomb." Elena goes to open her mouth to explain herself, but Elijah cuts her off.
"Done." He pulls out his phone and sends a short text before pocketing the phone once more. The man looks back up and smiles sharply. "I'll be needing that list before I leave."
Elena scrambles to find some paper and a pen, jotting down as many names as she can think of for everyone she wants safe. I make sure to remind her to put me on that list, but she already had me written down, which makes me smile to myself.
Once she's done, she hands over the list to Elijah. The man looks it over for a moment, looking for something. He seems to find it because he nods to himself before looking at Elena and holding out his hand. "Pen?"
Elena hesitates before handing over the pen. Elijah writes something in the corner of the paper and then tears the corner off the page, walking over to stand in front of me. "For emergencies." He hands me the paper and vamp-speeds out of the house, completely disappearing.
I share a look of confusion with Elena before looking down at the paper. It's a phone number. I'm guessing Elijahs, which just confuses me even more. I have no idea why he would give me his private number and not Elena. She's the one he made the deal with...
Elena walks over and looks at the paper over my shoulder as I stand from the chair I was in. She frowns at me when I look at her. "Why would Elijah give you his number?"
"I have no clue, but I'm not gonna bite the hand that's keeping me safe." I pull out my phone and plug the numbers into a new contact. I make sure to label it "Noble One" for kicks before walking over to my bag and pulling out a lighter and burning the paper so no one else gets his number. He might blame me if he gets spam texts...
Once the ash is in the trash can next to Elena's bed, I look up to see her staring at me. "What? I'm not risking the wrath of an Original."
Elena shakes her head, walking over to sit on the edge of her bed again. "No, it's not that... It's just that most people wouldn't think to do that."
I let out a short laugh. "I have major trust issues and I prefer not to take any chances. I may love the Salvatore brothers dearly, but they're morons sometimes."
"You're not wrong..." She sighs and pats her pants before standing up. "What now?"
"You're still grounded, so I guess we can get that popcorn and finish our movie now." She laughs and nods, moving to walk out of the room and I'm quick to follow.
We get to the hallway and she tags my shoulder, rushing to race me again. I'm faster on the up-take this time and grab her hand lightly pulling her back and running ahead of her down the stairs. We're both laughing, almost forgetting that an Original was just making deals in Elena's room since our lives are in constant danger, shoving each other and having fun again. It's a nice moment, even with the heavy cloud of fear hanging around Elena... Silver linings and all that. I just hope we weather the storm that's coming...