I'm already feeling pretty self-conscious and it's only been less than twenty minutes since the party started. There are beautiful and handsome strangers everywhere dressed to impress the rich new family in town. It's annoying how oblivious they are to what's really going on around them.
Rebekah ended up picking out my dress for me and I have to say that she did an amazing job. The scarlet satin cascades to the floor elegantly without any sparkles or unwanted fluffiness. A deep V-neck style neckline is accompanied with an array of braided straps that secure it down my back. I even let her style my dark curls into a half-up braid that she claims looks so beautiful contrasting the bright red.
I have to admit, spending time with her like that put my mind at ease a little bit. She was reluctant at first after what Klaus told her, but I explained that Elijah and I never spoke about going together. Everything inside of me wanted to warn her more, but Elijah told me that she's not even a bit suspicious of her mother.
"Well, you look shockingly gorgeous." Damon appears next to me, dressed handsomely in a tux.
He's alone, surprisingly. I was almost sure Elena would be on his arm.
"And you somehow clean up nicely, Mr. Salvatore." I compliment him sarcastically.
"Where's your hybrid soulmate?" He jokes, scanning the room for Klaus, "I would have thought he'd never let you out of his sight."
I roll my eyes, "Don't bother. He's waiting for his date in the other room."
He makes a 'tsk' sound with his tongue, "Trouble in paradise?"
I sigh, taking a sip of my glass of bourbon in defeat.
"Oh, you're not joking," he realizes. "Are you okay?"
"Yeah, yeah." The front door opens and the person who steps through catches my eye, "Elena's here, Damon."
He whips his head to look at her. In one swift movement, pats my shoulder and excuses himself.
"Typical." I groan when he's gone.
She looks stunning, obviously. Her shimmering dress is no doubt one of a kind and her beautiful brown locks are swept to one side of her head, cascading over her shoulders. As soon as she arrived, every human in the building turns to gaze at her beauty. It grows comical, though, when both of the Salvatore brothers hold out their arms to her.
"I see we've opened our doors to the riff raff." Kol looks from them to me, "You, on the other hand..."
He looks me up and down which causes an uncomfortable chill to run up my spine. I didn't notice him come up beside me. I'm at a standing table back in the corner of the party, so I doubt anyone else noticed either.
"Was that supposed to be a compliment, Kol?"
"I'm afraid not. You see, my siblings are infatuated with you. It's all fun and games with the dresses and the whorish brother romances, but they still don't see how toxic you are."
"Are you trying to scare me?" I mock him, casually taking a sip from my glass.
"You would know if I was," he promises. "You came into our home 500 years ago and forced my family to forsake our very nature."
I turn to meet his eyes, "You know you were out of control. I came to you and your siblings with the offer of peace between the factions. It's not my fault that you disagree with the deal they made."
He doesn't seem convinced by my remarks, just as he hasn't been so many times before. It has always been constant fighting between the two of us; I'm just glad I have my magic back for round two.
Kol runs one finger down my arm and I flinch away. He takes this as me being scared of him, but I can't help that particular reaction lately, "You're not really all that powerful, witch."
He reaches up to touch my cheek and I swat him away. In a fit of anger, he grabs onto my wrist, squeezing it so hard that it could snap from the pressure, but Elijah steps in before I could confidently whisper my magical retaliation.
"Kol, leave us." Elijah commands quietly.
I pull my hand away from Kol and rub my wrist as it heals. The two exchange hushed words that I don't have the power to hear before the youngest storms away.
"Come, Claramay. Too many ears," Elijah whispers, offering his arm so he can guide me away from the party.
I accept it, but in the same moment, I spot Klaus and his date enter the room we're in. It's Elena's friend Caroline and even from a distance, she looks so much better than I did in that stupid blue dress.
"Get me out of here." I mumble, following Elijah as he weaves us through all the people to a less crowded corner below the staircase.
"Are you hurt?" Elijah asks immediately, gently grabbing my hand for me.
The bruising is still slowly forming, but it doesn't hurt at all now. From my experience, once the exterior injury is complete, then my magic can start healing that part of it.
"All healed up on the inside," I confirm, showing him that I can move my wrist freely. "Do you have information on what your mother is up to yet?"
He nods slightly and lowers his voice to match mine, "She's requested a private audience with Elena."
I scoff, "Good luck with that. By the looks of it, Stefan and Damon practically have her on a leash."
Elijah follows my gaze to where Elena is standing between both Salvatore boys. Damon notices and winks at me.
"Don't worry. I'll make sure it happens." I pretend to smile at my friend, but the hushed words are intended for Elijah.
Just before we part, Finn finds us to tell Elijah that it is time for the introductory announcement. He grasps my hand and pulls me along with him to the grand staircase where his family is already beginning to gather.
"Elijah, I-"
"It's alright, Claramay. It may not feel like it now, but he considers you to be his family too. Trust me." he smiles, heading further up the stairs to take his spot at the center.
Rebekah gestures for me to take a few more steps in her direction so Finn can stand where I just was. I comply as Elijah urges the crowd to settle so he can begin his speech.
"Welcome, thank you for joining us." Elijah's charming voice echoes gracefully so everyone can hear him, "You know, whenever my mother brings our family together like this, it's tradition for us to commence the evening with a dance. Tonight's pick is a centuries-old waltz, so if all of you could please find yourselves a partner, please join us in the ballroom."
I look up the staircase where Esther has expertly made her presence known to all those invited, specifically Elena. Damon and Stefan both move toward her instinctively as soon as Elijah is finished speaking. I hurry in their direction, but I'm startled instead when someone grabs my hand.
"Don't be frightened, it's just me," Elijah eases. "Care to join me for a dance?"
I notice Damon and Elena are also headed that way, so I smile and reply, "Of course."
Rebekah and Kol slide past us on the stairs to get themselves a partner. Klaus takes his time, meeting my eyes for the second that we are on the same step. Elijah pretends to be looking at something else until he's really gone.
"He shouldn't torment you like that," Elijah criticizes him while leading us to the dance floor.
I shrug, "After everything I've done, I can't blame him."
The music begins to play, and I subconsciously bow for the intro. Elijah does the same, a slight smirk on his face.
"I'm surprised you remember this song," he hums quietly.
I nod, "I'm not sure I'll ever be able to forget it."
We glide in perfect movements and I don't even have to question each step with how well I already know them. My heart aches knowing that my usual partner is dancing with another girl right now, but I can be mature and keep to my promise that I will protect him from his mother before anything happens between us.
"I'm sorry, I know our alliance is tearing you and my brother apart." Elijah consoles.
I shake my head, regretfully, "You're not just an ally, Elijah, you are also my close friend. And I started this when I told him I don't feel the way he does."
"But you do?" He questions, "You still love him?"
The music changes and I close my eyes as he spins me to the next partner. When I feel new hands around me, I open my eyes and suck in a breath. Niklaus's blue eyes stare back at me as we continue to dance.
"I hope your date has told you just how beautiful you look." He begins, annoyance dripping in his voice.
"Actually, I came to this alone, but thanks for the adjacent compliment."
"That's not what I heard."
"I know." I snap, "You really shouldn't listen to gossip, Niklaus. Didn't your mother ever teach you that?"
Klaus narrows his eyes in reaction to my rude comment. I instantly feel bad, but he doesn't get angry at me for it like I would have expected from this version of him. Instead, he studies my face to figure out what is really wrong.
"You're jealous of Caroline." He theorizes.
"You're jealous of Elijah." I counter.
"I have the right to worry about you fraternizing with other men."
My heart drops hearing that. He has a point, but he doesn't know what he's talking about. Now is not the right time to correct him, though.
The dance has been going on for a while now, but it's not anything we need to pay attention to. Everything in me reaches for him with an echo of fireworks that zap my skin wherever he makes contact. The feeling is so powerful and intoxicating—I want more.
"Fine," I mumble, "Of course I'm jealous of her."
"How could you possibly find reason to envy her?"
"Really?" I groan, angry that he doesn't understand.
The music slows and I notice Stefan and Elena scurry away. I complete the last few steps before pulling myself from Klaus's grasp to follow them.
Just before I can get away, he grabs my bruised wrist. It doesn't hurt, but he notices it right away.
"Keeping me out is what gets you hurt, Claramay." He claims, "Tell me what is going on, now."
I run a current through my blood to zap him away. He releases me reluctantly, but his pained eyes still wonder the same question.
"I can't say. Just trust me, please?"
Klaus contemplates this. He doesn't want to be out of the loop, but he still trusts me enough to understand that I just can't share this with him yet. Regretfully, I have to leave him behind in order to follow Stefan and Elena. I notice Elijah has been sucked into a diplomatic conversation, so wander my way through the crowd by myself.
I lose my targets rather quickly considering the huge head start they got. Damon appears within a few seconds after following the same path that I did.
"Hey, you," he greets. "I thought I saw Elena and Stefan come this way. Did you see them?"
"Yeah, it kind of sounded like Elena was really upset with you. What the hell happened?"
This, of course, is a lie beyond compare. I guess I get my revenge on the whole Mikael fiasco after all. Damon takes a step around me, but I grab his hand and do my best to keep him with me. Damon is unconvinced. He's too familiar with my tricks to ever really believe anything I'm saying.
"Clara, what's going on?" Damon interrogates me now, "Where's Elena?"
His phone buzzes and I let go of him so he can check it. He releases a shakily breath of relief and shows me the message from Elena asking for his help.
"I know Elena better than you," he teases in a playful voice.
Damon takes ahold of my hand again to prevent losing me in the crowd. The room we eventually enter is of an office setting, but I'm not sure which original it belongs to. The doors are wide open already for us and Elena is standing next to the desk inside.
"Got your text." Damon calls, lifting up his phone. "What are we doing in here?"
I jump backwards a step when Stefan comes out of nowhere and breaks Damon's back. He looks towards me cautiously as he lays his brother's body to the floor.
"She's fine," Elena assures him.
"Alright." Stefan nods before turning back to the doppelgänger, "Well, better hurry up. He won't be down for long."
She leaves with many parting glances to both Damon's body and to Stefan. Once she's gone, I magically levitate my best friend's body into a chair, so he doesn't wake up uncomfortably.
Now, it's Elijah's turn to get to Elena before she can speak to Esther. If she knows that he's trusting her to tell him what's going on, it will make it harder for her to hide whatever she learns out of fear. If Elena cooperates, it may not even come to any of that.
"You're not going to hurt him again, right?"
Stefan doesn't look at me or his brother. He has no emotion in his expression, just blankness.
"Only if I have to." he answers.
I look down at Damon one more time to make sure he's alright, then I leave the room to go join the party once more. It's so difficult to keep my priorities straight, but we've already come so far, I can't be the one to screw it up.
"Elijah," he comes down the staircase just as I make my way back to it. "Did you speak to Elena?"
He nods, linking his arm with mine once he reaches me. The crowd has grown thinner throughout the night, so it's not difficult to find a semi-private place to speak.
"My mother was burning sage," he tells me, "I couldn't hear anything as soon as she closed door."
I bob my head, familiar with the tactic, "That must mean they discussed something she didn't want anyone to overhear."
"Precisely. Finn was also nearby, a loyal lapdog to my mother as usual."
"What do you think Elena has to do with this, Elijah?"
In the same moment, Elena appears at the top of the stairs. She moves slowly, obviously lost in thought as she descends. Elijah moves to meet her at the bottom, but I stop him by pointing with my eyes to his watching mother who is also coming down.
"Make it casual," I whisper.
He nods slightly and makes his way across the room to her. Just as they begin the talk, the ringing of silver on crystal glasses echo from where Esther stands part of the way down the stairs.
"Good evening, ladies and gentlemen. Waiters are coming around with champagne. I invite you all to join me in raising a glass." She announces, gesturing to her own.
A waitress offers me a glass from her tray, and I don't get the chance to grab one before Damon picks up two for us.
"You ditched me." He murmurs, handing me one of the drinks.
"I don't know how to bring people back to life yet, Damon." I reply sarcastically.
Esther continues her toast now that everyone in her view has a glass, "It provides me with no greater joy then to see my family back together as one. I'd like to thank you all for being part of this spectacular evening. Cheers!"
I lift the drink higher while the rest of the room choruses their cheers. After taking a sip, I set the crystal on a nearby table.
"I'm sorry, I had no clue what was going on, Damon. Stefan told Elena to go and then he threatened to knock me out too if I tried anything." I lie, then decide to change the subject, "How's Alaric?"
"In recovery. He'll be okay, Clara."
I nod. I'm happy to hear that, even though I'm focusing my attention on protecting Klaus. Alaric was the first stranger here to accept me with kindness and I will never forget that.
Damon spots Elena and moves towards her automatically. I notice there are only a dozen or so guests still chatting amongst themselves. I haven't really been very social, but it's far too late into the night to start picking up random conversations now, so I instead head up the stairs to where my room is so I can rest for the night.
Taking off the beautiful dress is both relieving and sad. I'll have to return it to Rebekah tomorrow, but I've enjoyed living the princess dream while it lasted. I take a quick shower to calm my nerves and change into a comfier set of clothes so I can sleep.
*******
Chapter 24: 4/6/18 -- 11:51 pm
You guys are so funny. Your comments are amazing and make me SOOOOO happy to read. Keep it up, seriously. I love the fight going on about Elena......
^^ This isn't a popular opinion, but I'm really not much of a Stefan fan... He just gets kinda annoying, ya know?
Also, SO excited for the new Avengers movie. Captain America FOREVER <3
Like and comment please! I absolutely love hearing your feedback!
Mae