Fifteen | Dagger and Dine
I walked through the woods with a bag over my shoulder holding a few rolls of paper that Jenna had made me get from the Gilbert residence. I came to a halt when I saw Elijah and Jenna in the distance.
"The old Fell property actually starts just beyond that fence." Jenna pointed infront of them.
"Ah, the Fells. One of the Founding Families." Elijah replied.
"Why do you say it like that?" Jenna asked.
"My research showed me that this area was actually settled almost two full centuries earlier. It was a migration of townsfolk from the northeast, um, it was Salem, to be precise." Elijah replied. I carried on walking towards them.
"Massachusetts? As in the witch trials?" Jenna asked.
Elijah nodded, "Which means the ever-lauded founding families... didn't actually found anything."
I stopped behind them, "Wouldn't be degrading my family, would you?"
Elijah turned to face me, a surprised expression on his face. I gave him a small smile. Jenna grinned at me, "Hey, Cassie, thank you for coming."
"Cassie. Nice to see you again. What are you doing here?" Elijah asked, confused.
"Jenna asked me to help her, since Elena's not in town." I tapped the bag that held the papers that looked similar to hers. I glanced at Jenna, "I hope you don't mind, Jenna, but I invited Alaric."
On cue, Alaric stopped beside us. Jenna smiled, "Elijah, this is my friend, Alaric Saltzman."
"Yeah, Cassie said about walking Elijah here through the old property lines. I thought I would tag along." Alaric said, "You know being a history teacher and all. Where to next?"
"I'm pretty curious about the freed slave property owners. Some say, you know, the descendents of the slaves are the true keepers of American history." Elijah replied.
"Well, I only brought the surveys. I got that list in the car. Just give me a sec." Jenna left to get the list.
"Alaric Saltzman. So you're one of those people on Elena's list of loved ones to protect." Elijah said, moving closer to Alaric. I frowned in concern.
"So is Jenna." Alaric crossed his arms.
"You don't have to be jealous. I don't really pursue younger women." Elijah looked at me. I glanced at Alaric who didn't seem amused. Elijah patted Alaric's arm, "It's a joke, Ric, lighten up."
Elijah walked away. Alaric nodded, "Right."
I let out a laugh at Alaric's confused expression before the two of us walked to the Fell property.
▂▂▂▂
Alaric had left us halfway through the little historical tour. I listened to Jenna and Elijah talking about the towns history, which a lot of it I had lived through. At this point I was kind of bored but Elijah and I shared a joke or two, which felt slightly odd.
We were standing across from The Grill, "Maybe we should get some lunch."
"Yes, I'm starving." Jenna agreed. We headed across the road and into The Grill. I spotted Damon, Alaric and Andie sitting at one of the tables. We made our way over. Jenna greeted them, "Hey, guys."
"So I hear you three had quite a meeting of historical minds today." Damon said.
"Yeah, I guess you could say that." Jenna replied.
"Well, as much as I'd like to continue this, I've got papers to grade." Alaric put some money on the table and got up, causing me to grow confused at his sudden change of attitude.
"You know what? We should continue this." Andie said, "Let's have a dinner party." .
"Oh, news girl is full of good ideas. I'll be happy to host." Damon smirked, "Say tonight. Maybe?"
"It's good for me." Andie replied before looking up, "Jenna?"
"I don't know if tonight works..." Alaric said.
Jenna looked at Andie, "Yeah, I'm free."
I stared at Damon, wondering what he was planning, "Well I live there so I'll be there."
"It'd be a pleasure." Elijah instantly replied after I did.
Damon smiled, "Great."
I watched as Alaric and Elijah left the building. Jenna made her way towards the bar to order some food. I looked down at Andie who was disgustingly stroking Damon's face, "Andie, can you give me and Damon a minute?"
"Sure." She replied, pulling away from Damon. She got up and headed towards Jenna.
"You are not killing Elijah tonight." I whispered, angrily.
He smirked at me, "You're so hot when you're angry."
"Damon, I'm serious. We have no idea if this dagger works, so don't be stupid." I frowned, crossing my arms, "Also, can you tell your little bloodbag to stop being so clingy."
"Why? Are you jealous?" He smirked again.
"No." I scoffed, "I'll see you back at the house."
▂▂▂▂
I was standing in the library of the boarding house with Alaric and Damon. We were discussing this ridiculous plan of a dinner party, that included Elijah aka the guy who wanted Elena dead for some sacrifice.
"No. I don't like this idea." Alaric worried, "I don't like the idea of Elijah being in the same house with Jenna."
"Jenna's perfectly safe." Damon eased him, "Besides, it's just a fact-finding mission. It's totally harmless."
"Just a fact-finding mission?" I asked, raising one eyebrow.
"Yeah." Damon simply replied. I didn't exactly believe his response.
"Listen, no sneak attacks. No surprise plans. Nothing that's gonna put Jenna in harm's way. Okay?" Alaric declared.
"Scout's honor." Damon replied, holding three fingers up.
Just then, little Miss. News Reporter walked in, "Hey, Jenna needs help with the wine."
Alaric nodded in response and headed up the steps to go help Jenna. Damon glanced to me, "You should go too, Cassie."
I frowned at him in silence for a moment, "Fine."
I walked up the steps and left the room, closing the door behind me. Instead of leaving completely to do as Damon suggested, I stood against the wall, listening. I knew Damon was up to something.
"What's that?" Andie asked him.
"Dessert." Damon responded, "Elijah's stronger than me. Faster than me. It's all about the element of surprise."
I knew this meant Damon had stolen the dagger from my room and was going to kill Elijah. I scowled.
Andie sighed, "Ah, that's too bad. I like him."
"Which is why you should encourage the gentlemen to take their after dinner drinks in here, while you do coffee in the kitchen with the girls." Damon said.
I silently scoffed at his disaster of a plan and made my way into the main room of the house. The doorbell rang and Jenna answered it. I headed towards the door to see John walk inside. Jenna frowned, "Who invited him?"
"Nobody." I replied, making her chuckle under her breath.
"John. Leave." Damon demanded from behind me.
"When Jenna told me she was coming to a dinner party for Elijah, I decided I couldn't miss out on all the fun and games." John said, holding a bottle of wine.
"Fine. I'll take that." I said, snatching the bottle of wine from his hands.
Alaric walked into the room, "There are not going to be any games tonight, John. It's just a friendly dinner party."
"What he said." Damon grinned.
I took the wine into the room, placing it on the table. A few minutes later the doorbell rang again. This time, Damon headed to the door and opened it. Elijah was standing outside, "Good evening."
"Thank you for coming." Damon stepped aside, "Please, come in."
"Just one moment." Elijah stopped him, "Can I just say that if you have less than honorable intentions about how this evening is going to proceed, I suggest you reconsider."
"No, nothing, nothing dishonorable." Damon stated, "Just getting to know you."
"Hm. Well, that's good." Elijah entered, "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 we clear?"
"Crystal." Damon replied. I quickly glanced down, pretending I hadn't listened in on them and poured Jenna a glass of wine.
"Jenna. Wonderful to see you again. How are you?" Elijah asked, walking down the steps towards us.
"Nice to see you." Jenna replied.
I handed her the glass of wine, catching Elijah's eye as I did so. He smiled at me, "And, Cassie. You look incredible."
"Oh, uh, thanks." I replied, returning the warm smile. From the front of the house, Damon slammed the door hard.
▂▂▂▂
We were all sitting around the huge dinner table, digging into the food infront of us. Jenna was pouring Damon some wine, "I hate to break it to you, Damon, but according to Elijah, your family is so not a founder of this town."
Damon sat back on his chair in fake curiousity, "Hm, do tell."
"Well, as I mentioned to Jenna and Cassie 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."
Jenna ate some of her food, "Hm. Because they were witches."
"Yeah, but there's no tangible proof there were witches in Salem." Andie said causing me to roll my eyes.
"Andie's a journalist. Big on facts." Damon said, looking at me.
"Well, Elijah knows things more in depth, you know, like he's lived through it. He's very good." I said, smirking at Damon, for some reason wanting to make him jealous. I teasingly bit some food off of my fork.
Elijah carried on, "Well, the lore says that there was this wave of anti-witch hysteria. It broke out in the neighboring 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 -- "
"I wouldn't repeat this to the Historical Society." Jenna interupted.
"It's starting to sound a little like a ghost story to me." John said.
"So, why do you want to know the location of these alleged massacres?" Damon questioned.
"You know, a healthy historian's curiosity, of course." Elijah replied.
Damon tutted, "Of course."
We had all finished eating and were standing around the table, clearing everything away. Well the women were. Andie faced the guys, who were stood in a huddled group, "The gentlemen should take their drinks in the study."
I froze, realising this meant Damon was going to attempt to kill Elijah. Elijah smiled at Andie, "I have to say the food was almost as wonderful as the company."
"I like you." Andie grinned.
Jenna handed some plates to John, "Here you are, gentleman, make yourself useful."
Alaric stood behind Jenna, "Here, here. Put me to work."
"Um, I got it." Jenna replied, picking up the plates and started to walk out the room.
Alaric stopped her, "Hey, Jenna, are you, are you okay?"
"Yeah, fine, Ric." She headed towards the kitchen. Alaric glanced over at me and I sighed sadly. Jenna was clearly pissed off at him.
My phone suddenly began to ring. I put down the few glasses, that I was holding, onto the table and took my phone out my pocket. I answered it. Stefan was talking fast on the other end, "Hello? Stefan. Slow down. Stefan?"
"The dagger, if any supernatural being uses it, they will die." He said. I quickly looked towards the study where Damon was, "Cassie?"
"I need to go, Damon is about to use it." I hung up and slammed my phone on the table. I quickly rushed into the kitchen.
"Andie, I need you." I said. She stared at me, "Now!"
"What's wrong?" She asked.
"Damon and Elijah forgot about desserts." I told her, "You should go and get Elijah to help you."
"You're right, we did." She responded.
Andie walked out of the kitchen and swung open the study doors. Elijah, Alaric and Damon turned to us, "Gentlemen, we forgot about dessert. Elijah?"
She held out her hand, "Miss Star."
He took her hand and they walked out the room. I walked over to Damon, who lightly hit my arm in annoyance. I pointed to the dagger and then dragged my hand over my throat to gesture that it will kill him.
He didn't understand. I walked to the desk and grabbed some paper and a pen;
If any supernatural being uses the dagger, it will kill them.
I handed it to Damon, who read it with Alaric. He angrily frowned, throwing the paper down. We headed back into the dining room. Andie was sitting near Elijah, "So, I know this is a social thing, but I -- I would really love to ask you some more questions about the work that you're doing here."
"I'd love to answer." Elijah replied.
"Great, that's so great." Andie replied. She turned to Alaric, "Ric, would you do me a favor and grab the notebook out of my bag?"
Damon sat down, staring at John across the table. I sat next to Damon. John was the one who had told us to use the dagger, he never told us it would kill us. So he knew what would happen and he wanted us dead.
"Elijah, did John tell you he's Elena's uncle-slash-father?" Damon asked, narrowing his eyes.
"Yes, I'm well aware of that." Elijah said.
"Of course, she hates him, so there's absolutely no need to keep him on the endangered species list." Damon replied. I grinned in amusement.
Andie looked over to Alaric, "No, Ric, it's in the front pocket. On the -- you know what? Excuse me, guys. Sorry."
Andie got up to help Alaric. John leant forward, "What I'd like to know, Elijah, is how do you intend on killing Klaus?"
"There's a few things we should probably get clear right now. I allow most of you to live solely to keep an eye on Elena. I allow Elena to remain in her house living her life with her friends 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."
Andie came back to the table, "Okay. My first question is when you got here to Mystic -- "
Her question got cut short when Elijah screamed in pain. My eyes shot over to him to see Alaric had snuck up behind him, stabbed the dagger through the back of his chair and through his heart.
Grey veins began to crawl up Elijah's skin, he was dead. Everyone at the table got up in shock. Alaric pulled the dagger out and placed it on the table.
"Ric!" I whispered angrily.
Alaric looked at Damon, "Now, get rid of him before Jenna comes back with dessert."
"Okay." Damon quickly got up, still shocked as he picked Elijah's body up. I followed him into the cellar. Alaric behind us. Damon dropped Elijah's dead body onto the floor.
"You said there wasn't going to be any violence." Alaric frowned.
I turned to him, "Says the guy that did all the killing."
"Hey, I took the shot because I saw an opening, not because I planned to do this with Jenna in the house." Alaric replied.
"Now, you can't lie to me like that." He pointed to Damon, he tried to leave but Ric grabbed his arm, "Hey, I am your friend, damn it. And you don't have any friends. So, no more lying."
We left the cellar, Ric closed the door behind and walked back upstairs. Damon's phone rang and he immediately answered. After a few seconds he stared at me before he vamp ran back down to the cellar. I followed in concern.
"Oh no." Damon clenched his jaw. He was standing inside the cell, the door was open and Elijah's body was gone.
"Where the hell is he?" I asked.
"You're suppose to leave the dagger in the body." Damon said.
My eyes widened, "We need to get to Elena fast, before Elijah does."
I vamp ran to the dining table and grabbed the dagger and ash. Damon and I vamp ran to his car. We got in and he drove off as fast as he could up the highway. I rang Elena, filling her in. As soon as Damon stopped the car outside the lake house, I ran to the door.
"Elena, take the dagger quickly." I shouted. She opened the door and I handed her the dagger and ash, "He's coming. Do what you need to do."
"Okay. Go hide." She said, closing the door.
Damon had gone to hide the car. I ran into the woods beside the house. I stopped by a tree so I could still see the entrance of the house in the distance. I looked over my shoulder to see Damon stand behind me. He pressed himself against me. My heart was beating fast.
"Calm down, Cass." He whispered in my ear. His hand stroking up and down my arm to calm me. I felt a shiver in my body but kept my focus on the house. A few minutes later, Elijah arrived outside.
He walked up to the door, "You know, I might not be able to enter this house. But I'm a very patient man. I'll wait you out."
Elena was standing at the door but stayed inside the house, "They shouldn't have done what they did."
"The deal is off." Elijah said.
"I'm renegotiating." Elena replied.
Elijah tilted his head, "You have nothing left to negotiate with."
I saw Elena pull out a knife from behind her back, "I'd like to see you lure Klaus into Mystic Falls after the doppelgänger bleeds to death."
"Stefan won't let you die." Elijah said.
"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. So unless you want that to happen again, promise me the same as before. Promise me, you won't harm anyone that I love. Even if they've harmed you."
"I'm sorry, Elena. I'm going to have to call your bluff." Elijah said.
Elena exhaled an anxious breath as she pointed the knife to her stomach. I watched her curiously. She looked up at him as she stabbed herself in the stomach. She screamed in agony. I wanted to run to her but Damon held me against his chest, his hand over my mouth.
"Cassie, shh." He whispered very faintly.
Elijah ran towards the door, but was stopped because he hadn't been invited in. Elena dropped the knife on the floor and grabbed her stomach that was now pouring with blood.
"Yes. Yes, you can have your deal." Elijah yelled, "Let me heal you.".
"Give me your word." Elena demanded, in pain.
"I give you my word." Elijah agreed.
Elena limped outside and collapsed into Elijah's arm. As she did, she stabbed him in the heart with the dagger and he fell dead to the ground. Elena fell too, weak. Stefan rushed out of the house, bit his wrist and fed Elena his blood. Damon and I quickly ran from the trees and to the porch.
"Little tip. Don't pull the dagger out." Damon told them. I took my jacket off and knelt down to Elena, applying pressure against her wound.
▂▂▂▂
Damon carried Elijah's dead body back down into the cellar. Elena, Stefan and I followed behind him. Stefan has his arm wrapped around Elena, comforting her. Damon dropped Elijah's body and knelt down beside it. He began to search his pockets.
"Ooh, what do we have here?" Damon pulled out the moonstone, "A little moonstone bar of soap. I'll hold on to this."
"So, that's it." Elena said, "I mean, as long as we keep the dagger in there, then he stays dead."
"Pretty much." I replied.
"Okay, then. Good night." She started to walk away and then stopped, turning round to face us, "You know, you guys want me to fight, fine, I'll fight. But if we're gonna do this, you can't keep anything from me anymore. From this moment on, we're doing it my way."
Damon nodded slightly, "That seems fair."
She looked at Stefan, "Okay."
She then looked at me. I sighed, "Yeah."
"Okay." She walked out the cell.
Damon turned to Stefan, "Seems like she's had a change of attitude. How did you get through to her?"
"I told her a little story about when I was making the wrong decisions and somebody showed me there was a better way." Stefan said.
"Lexi?" Damon asked.
"Yeah. You remember her?" Stefan said. Lexi was a friend of mine and later after became Stefan's best friend, but she didn't just help Stefan through his rough patches, she helped us all.
Damon and Stefan left the cell, leaving me alone with the body. I looked down at Elijah and furrowed my brows as I saw the moonstone near the wall. Damon must have dropped it as he'd left.
I picked it up and locked the cell door before heading to Damon's room.
"Hello, Damon. Hey, do you have a robe?" I heard a voice ask as I walked in his room.
"How did you get out?" Damon questioned. I went to the bathroom where the voice came from and saw Katherine standing there completely naked.
"Woah." I shielded my eyes.
"Hello, Cassandra..." She continued responding to the eldest Salvatore, "Damon, I knew that if I begged you not to kill Elijah, that's exactly what you'd do. Little known fact. Originals can compel vampires but as soon as they die, the compulsion wears off."
"And you knew." Damon said.
"And I'm still here. I didn't run. I meant what I said, Damon. I'm going to help you." She responded, "So, how about that robe."
I kept my hand over my eyes as I grabbed a robe that was resting on the sink. I threw it at her. I saw her walk out the room and heard her shut a door down the hall. I then walked back into Damon's bedroom and he followed. I sat down on his bed.
"Here, you forgot this." I placed the moonstone in his hand, "Keep it safe."
He glanced at the moonstone then up at me, "You trust me with it?"
"I do." I replied. He smiled at me and I smiled back, awkwardly tucking a piece of hair behind my ear. My eyes unintentionally flickered to his lips, "I, uh, I should go to bed."
I got up but Damon tugged on my arm, pulling me towards him. I spun around and our lips attached. My eyes fluttered shut as my eyebrows raised in surprise. I didn't know how I felt but in that moment, I didn't care.