CHAPTER SEVEN
The moment I left my room after a fitful night of sleep, I was ambushed by Damon Salvatore. With my hair unbrushed and my stomach empty, he somehow managed to convince me to join him and the others at the Salvatore's.
"I really don't see why I need to be here." I grumbled, taking in the house as Damon led me through the door.
"After being kidnapped, we figured it was probably best to keep you in the loop," Damon shrugged as I followed him down the corridor, wincing at the pain in my foot. "Besides, you already know about vampires. If my memory serves correctly, you mentioned you slept with one."
"Biggest mistake of my life." I grumbled as I found myself in the living room, which was already occupied by Stefan, Elena and my kidnapper. My eyes widened in alarm briefly. I scowled at Rose as I sat on the sofa next to my twin and at least she had the decency to look ashamed.
Elena looked up at Damon with a scowl before asking, "Now that she's here, can we get started."
"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." Rose began, pacing in front of the fireplace, "It's the problem with all this vampire crap but Klaus, I know he's real."
"Who is he?" Elena asked, looking up at our former captor.
"He's one of the originals, he's a legend." Damon answered and I shuffled in my seat.
"From the first generation of vampires." Stefan elaborated.
"Like Elijah?" My twin asked and I kept my eyes on the floor, my thoughts briefly wandering to last night in my room.
"No, Elijah was the Easter Bunny compared to Klaus. He's a foot soldier." Rose explained, "Klaus is the real deal."
"Klaus is known to be the oldest." Stefan said and I mentally rolled my eyes at the inaccuracy.
"Okay, so you're saying that the oldest vampire in the history of time is coming after me and Emilia?" Elena asked nervously.
"Yes."
"No."
Rose and Stefan said at the same time and Damon sighed, "What they're saying is, I mean if what she's saying is true..."
"Which it is." Rose interjected.
"And you're not saying this so we don't kill you?"
"Which I'm not."
"Then we're looking at a solid maybe." Damon concluded.
"Look, Elijah's dead, right? So no one else even knows that you both exist." Stefan said in an attempt to comfort Elena as he moved to sit next to her.
"Not that you know off." Rose corrected and my poor sister's eyes widened.
"That's not helping." Damon hissed at the vampire.
Finding this whole conversation difficult to stomach given what I knew, I stood up and limped over to Damon, who looked down at me with a hint of concern. "I can't stand this any longer, take me home."
"Look, I've never even met anyone who's laid eyes on him." Stefan told me softly, misinterpreting my distress.
"Don't sell yourself short, Stefan." I snarked, my lip tilting upwards, "I'm sure you know someone who's seen him. For all you know, you've met the man himself."
"I'm sure I would remember if I met the man who wants to murder my girlfriend." Stefan said to me before turning to my sister, "We're talking centuries of truth mixed with fiction. We don't know if he's real. For all we know he could just be some sort of stupid bedtime story."
"He's real and he doesn't give up. If he wants something, he gets it." Rose said and I felt a shiver up my spine. I hoped she was wrong for both my and Elena's sakes. "If you're not afraid of Klaus, then you're an idiot."
"Aright, we're shaking." Damon said sarcastically, "You made your point."
"Where are you going?" Stefan asked my sister as she got up.
"To school. I'm late."
"Let me grab my stuff, I'll go with you."
"It's okay, I know where it is." She told him with a sad smile before leaving.
"She's in denial." Damon murmured to Rose.
"Shut up, Damon!" Stefan told him brother and I grinned.
"Yeah, shut up Damon." I joined in and Damon looked at me with confusion.
"What did I do to you?" He asked, lifting his arms up in exasperation.
"I don't know, now get me out of here, this house smells like someone's grandmother."
***
Elijah appeared in my room in a similar manner as last night. This time, however, I was thankfully clothed. I sighed as I pushed myself into a sitting position on my bed and tilted my head at him in question. He watched me for a moment, as if he were unsure how to go about this.
"So, are we going to have that conversation then?" I asked, crossing my arms.
"Yes," He responded wearily, "Unfortunately some urgent matters have come up that I must attend to. I was hoping, however, that you would join me."
I shrugged and swung my legs off the bed, cautious of my bad foot, "It's not like I have anything better to do."
I stood, wincing when I put too much weight on my poor foot. Elijah noticed my pained expression and held his arm out for me to lean on and I scowled even as I grabbed it. Without warning, he used his vampire speed and in a matter of seconds, we stood outside of the house next to an SUV.
"Some warning would have been nice," I muttered and Elijah let out a disinterested hum and he opened the passenger door for me. I rolled my eyes as I got it and closed the door behind me as Elijah climbed into the driver's seat. The car smelled new and I wouldn't be surprised if it was. "Where are we going?"
"I am the one who will be asking the questions today, Miss Gilbert." Elijah said as he started the ignition.
"Someone's grumpy. Did you get up on the wrong side of the coffin?" I teased and he let out an unamused huff as he drove us away from my house in the direction of God knows where.
"I wish to pick up where we left off with our conversation last night." Elijah informed me, keeping his eyes on the road.
"Very well." I said, looking out the side window, attempting to appear unaffected by the matter at hand.
"What is your relationship with my brother?" Elijah asked and I barely suppressed a wince at his blunt question and cold tone.
"Depends who you ask." I snarked.
"I'm asking you."
I let out a long sigh, "He's my ex boyfriend."
"You said that Niklaus claims to love you. Do you not believe that to be the case?" Elijah interrogated.
"Our whole relationship was a lie." I said, giving him a sarcastic smile that he couldn't see because he wasn't looking at me, "So no, I don't think that he loves me."
"But you said that he wants to sacrifice your twin instead of you. Why is that?"
"It's a long story."
"It's a long car journey," Elijah replied, earning him an eye roll, "Start from the beginning, I need to hear the whole story."
"Last year, I performed in a ballet," I began slowly, not liking the emotions that these memories dredged up, "It was my first big opportunity and I was absolutely overjoyed. The performance went better than I could have hoped and I was asked to meet a few of the sponsors after the show. One of the sponsors happened to be your brother."
I paused, taking a moment to collect myself.
"Continue." Elijah prompted and I made a face at his impatience.
"His eyes lit up when he saw me- I naively thought it was love at first sight. He asked me out for a drink and I said yes. We ended up going on a few dates and he looked at me like I was his whole world. I thought it was because he loved me, but turns out it was because he'd finally found his sacrifice." I said, the words heavy on my tongue.
"What happened?"
"We were dating for a while, nearly three months, when I started to notice a sadness in his eyes when he looked at me. I had been very closed off about my life and I thought that was the reason why his eyes no longer lit up when he saw me." I continued, "So, I attempted to open up. I told him about my life here in Mystic Falls. I told him that I had an identical twin that I didn't get along with and just like that, the spark in his eyes returned.
"Nik and I dated for another three months. During that time, he told me he was a vampire, which took a toll on our relationship but we worked through it. He told me a lot about his life, about his family. He told me he loved me, I told him that I loved him too."
Tears began to well up in my eyes and desperately attempted to force them back down.
"What changed?" Elijah asked, more softly this time and I looked up to find him looking at me with a look I couldn't decipher.
"He arrived at my apartment looking all disheveled the day I was let out of hospital after I broke my ankle. He had this wild and desperate energy about him and he came clean about everything. He told me the real reason he had taken an interest in me; that I was a doppelgänger that he needed to break his curse. He told me that he was delighted when he leant about Elena, that he would sacrifice her and then we could be together."
"I imagine that did not go down well." Elijah guessed and I nodded, feeling a pang of anger at the memory.
"The fucker was genuinely shocked that I was upset about his wanting to sacrifice my sister" I said with a bitter laugh, "I told him to get the hell out of my life."
"That's it? That's everything?"
"There's one more thing," I said slowly, "Before Nik left, he proposed to me."
Elijah's eyes widened, "What did you say?"
"Nothing, I never answered." I said quietly, biting my lip as I looked down at my lap.
I felt a hand on my leg and I jolted at the touch. I looked up to find Elijah's eyes on the road as his thumb traced comforting circles on my thigh. My breathing became shallow as I looked down at his hand, not hating the feeling of it. In fact, a small part of me didn't want him to stop.
"I know my brother; he would never have proposed if he did not love you." Elijah said quietly and I shook my head, hating how his words made me feel a sense of hope.
"It's not love, it's obsession." I corrected him as I looked back out the window.
"When it comes to my brother, Miss Gilbert, love and obsession walk hand in hand."
"Well, whatever he feels for me is dangerous." I told him, "Whether I like it or not, as long as Klaus is breathing, both Elena and I are in danger."
"Has he been in contact with you since that day?"
"He called and texted me a lot but I never answered." I admitted, "I don't have to worry about it now that I have a new phone."
"About that, I'm going to need my phone back," Elijah said in an exasperated voice, "It has some sensitive information on it."
"No need to worry about that! I've already wiped it clean and put in a new SIM card." I grinned and he gave me a withering look. I watched him for a moment, analysing his body language. His whole body looked incredibly tense, with the exception of the hand on my thigh, which he only removed when he needed to change gears.
"What about you, Elijah? How do you feel about Klaus?"
"I'm the one asking the questions here, Miss Gilbert." He brushed me off and I rolled my eyes.
"Well, at least do me the courtesy of answering one of mine. I know that the two of you are estranged. Why are you here, Elijah?" I asked, softening my voice as I spoke. Elijah pulled up at the side of the road and parked the car. He turned his body to look me in the eye and if I didn't know better, I'd have thought he was nervous.
"I want to kill him."
Silence engulfed the car for a moment as I took in his words before I spoke.
"Need any help?"
A/N: What are your feelings towards Klaus now that you know Emilia's side of the story?
What do you think will happen next?
Originally published: May 3rd 2024