|02.| DINNER PARTY
CORA SITS AT A TABLE with Alaric, Damon and his girlfriend, the news reporter. She sits there, stirring her drink with a small straw, thinking back to some years when her and Damon left their brother while he wasn't in his right state of mind. Also the day where she was turned by her brother. Random to think of, she thought, but it never left her mind.
"Other than your lecture on the history of Mystic Falls, did you get anything out of Elijah?" Damon asks Ric, pulling his sister out from her daydreaming.
"No, it was boring. Of course, Jenna thinks he's charming," Alaric replies to his friend.
"The charming part is correct," Cora points out and takes a drink of her bourbon. Alaric gives her a look of disbelief and she slightly shrugs.
"You sounded jealous. Sound a bit jealous?" Damon teases him a bit, leaning over to ask both his sister and blood bag.
"Kinda do," Andie replies.
"Just a tad bit," Cora uses her fingers to show what she meant.
"Maybe we shouldn't talk about this here," Alaric nods his head towards Damon, who finally understands what he meant.
"Andie, she's been compelled not to divulge my secrets. Haven't you?"
Andie nods at his statement and the two kiss each other a few times, earning some comments from the reporter. Both the sister and friend look at the two, slightly disgusted from their little moment.
"This is too weird," Alaric comments, earning a nod from Cora.
"I just need the right opportunity," Damon says. As if on cue, in walking came Elijah and Jenna. "Ah, there's Jenna with her new boyfriend. Hi."
"Hey guys," Jenna says as they both walk up to their table. As pure usual, Damon introduces his baby sister to the new face. Cora and Jenna happily shakes each other's hand.
"So I hear you two had quite a meeting of historical minds today," Damon comments after introductions.
"Yeah, I guess you could say that," Jenna slightly shrugs.
"Well, as much as I'd like to continue this, I've got papers to grade," Alaric sighs, putting down some money on the table and gets up from his seat.
"No, you know what? We should continue this. Let's have a dinner party," Andie suggests and Damon slightly smirks.
"Ooh, my girl. Full of good ideas. I'll be happy to host. Say tonight. Maybe?" Damon says.
"It's good for me. Jenna?"
"I don't know if tonight works," Alaric trails off a bit at the idea.
"Yeah, I'm free," Jenna answers nonchalantly.
"It'd be a great pleasure," Elijah agrees as well and Cora slightly shrugs. "I live there so why not?"
"Great," Damon keeps his smirk on his lips, sharing a look with his little sister.
-
The two siblings head towards the Fell's Church tomb where Damon had told Cora Katherine is trapped inside. He told the short story of how they got her inside and how Stefan was trying to be the hero, ending up stuck in there as well for a short period of time. They descend down the steps and stop to see Katherine's body has desiccated. Damon pulls something out and waves a bottle of blood under her nose and pours some in her mouth. She starts to drink.
"Great. Drink up. Good girl," Damon says as they watches her drink the blood. She takes the bottle out of his hands and continues to drink. Damon gets up.
"I've come bearing gifts. I didn't have time to properly shop, but I had my little sister help with that. Hmm?" Damon places a hand on Cora's shoulder, knowing Katherine didn't like her that much.
He hangs some clothes on the iron grating for Katherine. Katherine looks normal again and crushes the empty blood bottle in her hands. Damon looks down at her and Cora shakes her head.
"Wow. That bottle of blood did the trick. You're almost pretty again," Cora comments, smirking.
"What is it you two want," Katherine glares at the Salvatore girl.
"Guess who's back in town? Your old friend John Gilbert," Damon breaks the news.
"Really? Why."
"Says he loves his daughter, wants to protect her from Elijah and big, bad Klaus," Damon answers.
"Touching." Katherine slowly pulls herself up off the ground.
Cora leans against the wall, slightly blocking out the sound of their voices and thinking back to the names her brother mentioned. She has heard many stories about the two brothers but not knowing which story was true about them. All she knew was that they were the first vampires to be created centuries ago and hard to kill, which they thought before until John Gilbert came over with a dagger and a bottle of ashes.
"Now why not? I mean, you want Elijah and Klaus dead as much as we do," Damon's voice pierced through Cora's thoughts. She shakes her head and stands on her feet, inching closer towards the two.
"Klaus, yes. Elijah, no. He's compelled me to stay in here. If he dies, I'm stuck forever," Katherine states.
"Oh boo-hoo. Sucks to be you," Cora rolls her eyes, happy in the inside.
"Forget it. Killing Elijah would be a suicide mission. You can't do it," Katherine attempts to stop the two.
"Can so."
"Can't."
"Even with a dagger and a little white oak ash?" Cora smirks as she mentions the weapon and Katherine turns around with a surprised expression.
"No. Cora, if you kill Elijah, then I'm stuck in here forever," Katherine plays the act.
"And I should care why? You hate me and I hate you. This is just calls for a celebration," Cora smiles happily.
"Just get me out of here first and then I'll help you. I'll-I'll help you kill Elijah or-or protect Elena," Katherine stutters. "Whatever you want."
"We get you out of here and your ass is sipping Klaus-free margaritas on some unknown island somewhere. No way," Damon shakes his head.
"That's not true. I'll stay. Damon, please just don't do it," Katherine pleads the Salvatore siblings.
"Well, thank you, Katherine. You've told us everything we need to know," Cora gives her brother a fist pound, feeling victorious.
"I told you nothing."
"You have. You have indeed confirmed that it is possible to kill an Original, which we will do tonight. Guess who's coming to dinner?"
-
Jenna and Andie prepared the table in the other room while the two siblings and Alaric are places in the library. Cora sits back while reading a book that she has read plenty of times but still finds it very interesting. Damon looks over at his little sister and rolls his eyes, snatching the book out of her hands, earning and punch at his arm.
"Shouldn't you be a lady and set up the table with the others?" Damon smugly smiles.
"Stop being a sexist prick," Cora rolls her eyes and stands up. "Plus, I don't hear them complaining."
"You guys, can you stop fighting and realize that this is a bad idea?" Alaric stops the sibling's bickering.
"There's no such thing as a bad idea. Just poorly executed awesome ones," Damon offers him a glass of scotch, but he refuses. Cora shrugs and takes the glass.
"I don't like the idea of Elijah being in the same house with Jenna," Alaric states his worries.
"Jenna's perfectly safe. Besides, it's just a fact-finding mission. It's totally harmless," Damon helps his friend to stop worrying.
"Just a fact-finding mission?" Alaric asks and hears Cora slightly chuckle.
"Knowing my brother, he's going to do more than just finding facts," Cora says before she takes a sip of her drink. Damon gives her an annoyed look and signals for her to zip it.
"Listen, no sneak attacks. No surprise plans. Nothing that's gonna put Jenna in harm's way. Okay?" Ric points to the both siblings which causes Cora to rolls her eyes once again. With the amount of times she has rolled her eyes they will end up falling out.
"Scout's honor," Damon puts up his hand and grabs Ric's shoulder.
Alaric looks at him, still suspicious so he turns to his story for reassurance. She stands up on her feet and puts her hands up in defense, not saying anything. A minute later Andie walks in informing that Jenna needed help and Alaric leaves the room to assist her, closing the door behind him.
Damon waits until he is sure Alaric is gone before he walks over to a small trunk and opens it. He pulls out the silver dagger and white oak ash from inside. Andie walks down to him and Cora shakes her head, knowing this night will go down south just like every plan. "What's that?"
"Dessert," Damon dips the dagger into the ash. "Elijah's stronger than me. Faster than me. It's all about the element of surprise."
"Ah, it's too bad. I like him. He's very old-school. Classy," Andie slightly shrugs at Damon's plan.
"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 slightly glances at his sister.
"I don't do coffee but I would surely love a good alcoholic beverage," Cora replies as she watches her brother hides the dagger with the glass, hiding it from view.
"Yeah, that is a little too sexist for me," Andie states her opinion. Cora nods in agreement and crosses her arms. "Stop talking."
Upstairs, the bell rings. Jenna answers the door and her mood changes. John is outside on the porch and walks into the house. Damon walks out of the library with Cora and into the front hall. Cora's eyes land on the human being and they roll once again for the tenth time today.
"Who invited him?" Jenna asks, clearly pissed.
"John. Surprise. Leave," Damon says.
"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 ignores their comments.
"There are not going to be any games tonight, John. It's just a friendly dinner party," Alaric walks into the room. Both Damon and John look at him then John's stare turns to Damon's.
"What he said."
Once everyone go into the other room, Cora and Damon both push each other to get to the door. Finally she decided to open it to see Elijah standing there in no other than a suit. A welcoming smile appears on her face and Damon slightly rolls his eyes at his sister on trying to make a good impression.
"Good evening," Elijah greets the two siblings.
"Thank you for coming. Please, come in," Cora steps to the side, pushing Damon again and he pinches her. She glares at him and smiles back at Elijah.
"Just one moment," Elijah says before he enters. "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. Just getting to know you," Damon replies to the Original.
"Hmm. Well, that's good," Elijah finally steps into the house. "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. Yep."
Both Damon and Cora say at the same time. Elijah sees Jenna and smiles, making his way over to greet her. Damon gives Cora an are-you-serious-look and she pushes his head with her hand, walking into the dining room. Everyone then takes a seat around the table.
Jenna pours some wine into a glass for Damon. "I hate to break it to you, Damon, but according to Elijah, your family is so not a founder of this town."
"Hmm. Do tell," Damon slightly smiles at Elijah.
"Well, as I mentioned to Jenna 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," Elijah clarifies for the Salvatore.
"Because they were witches," Jenna comments.
"Yeah, but there's no tangible proof there were witches in Salem," Andie states which earns an eye roll from Cora who drinks the rest of her wine.
"Andie's a journalist. Big on facts," Damon gives his blood bag a boost.
"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..." Elijah says.
"I wouldn't repeat this to the Historical Society," Jenna states about his descriptive words.
"It's starting to sound like a ghost story to me," John finally speaks up.
"So, why do you want to know the location of these alleged massacres?" Cora pours herself some more wine, glancing up at the Original vampire.
"You know, a healthy historian's curiosity, of course," Elijah replies to the girl's question.
"Of course." The corner of Cora's mouth lifts up as Elijah smiles at the girl, and he reminisces about the short period of time the two spent together. But of course, the Salvatore sister has no idea.
Cora sighs with a smile plastered on her face and drinks her seventh glass of wine. Everyone then finishes up with their food and Damon looks over at Cora, giving her a signal that he's going to attempt. She slightly nods and downs her wine, setting the glass down.
"Would anyone care for some cognac? I have a bottle that I've been saving for ages," Damon stands from the table.
"None for me thanks. Nine bottles of wine is my limit," Alaric declines the offer.
Everyone start to stand up. Damon and Elijah head towards the library for a drink and the rest start to clean up the dishes from the table. Cora takes the dishes off of Jenna and head into the kitchen, placing them in the sink. She heads out and sees John walk away from Alaric who then gets a phone call from her younger brother. He signals for her to stop Damon and she heads to the study with Andie interrupting their conversation.
"Gentlemen, we forgot about dessert," Andie speaks up. "Elijah."
The Original takes the woman's hand and they both head out of the study room. As soon as they leave, Damon smacks Cora's arm angrily. The little sister points down at the dagger which Damon doesn't understand what she means. Cora walks over to a desk and writes something down on a piece of paper. She hands it to Damon who reads it. The paper says The dagger will kill you if you use it. Damon angrily throws the paper at Cora and they walk out of the room.
Damon and Cora enter the dining room. Damon sits down and glares across the table at John because of his attempt of trying to get him killed. Andie asks Alaric for her notebook which he looks in her purse and Cora crosses her arms, glaring at the Gilbert as well.
"Elijah, did John tell you he's Elena's uncle-slash-father?" Damon speaks up.
"Yes. I'm well aware of that," Elijah replies.
"Of course, she hates him, so there's absolutely no need to keep him on the endangered species list."
Andie gets frustrated and stands up to help Alaric look for the notebook. Cora shakes her head at the blood bag for desperately wanting to get useless answers out of the Original.
"What I'd like to know, Elijah, is how do you intend on killing Klaus?" John asks his question.
"Gentlemen, Miss," Elijah nods towards Cora. "There's a few things we should probably get clear right now. I allow 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 comes back with her notebook and sits down, prepared to ask her question. Alaric comes up behind Elijah and stabs the dagger through his heart through the back of his chair. Elijah screams and dies. Everyone at the table gets up in shock. Alaric pulls the dagger out and places it on the table. He looks at Damon.
"Now, get rid of him before Jenna comes back with dessert."
-
Both Cora and Damon take Elijah's body down to the cellar, dropping him onto the ground while Alaric follows the siblings. Cora sighs and puts her hands on her hips, feeling bad for the Original but slightly shrugs it off after.
"You said there wasn't going to be any violence," Alaric breaks the silence. Cora puts her hands up in defense. "I told you he was going to do more than just find facts."
"Says the guy that did all the killing." Damon says and goes to walk out but is stopped by Ric.
"Hey, I took the shot because I saw an opening, not because I planned to do this with Jenna in the house. Now, you can't lie to me like that." Damon tries to leave again, but Alaric grabs him.
"Hey, I am your friend, damn it. And you don't have any friends. So, no more lying," Alaric looks at his friend.
Damon nods one last time and walks out of the cell. Cora softly pats Ric's shoulder and takes one last look at Elijah's body and exits out of the room. She walks into the library, going back to reading her book and hears her brother answer his phone. He rushes to the cellar and she sets her book, following him to see that Elijah's body is no longer there.
The two siblings look at each other and both run out of the boarding house. Cora quickly makes her way with her brother to the Gilbert Lake house where her younger brother and his girlfriend are staying for time alone. They arrive to the home before Elijah and gets invited in by Elena. Damon hands off the dagger to Elena and the two siblings hide and stay silent so the Original won't suspect anything. Cora twirls her thumbs as she listens to Elena talk to Elijah, stab herself and he afterwards. She walks towards the door with Damon and see Stefan feeding Elena his blood.
"Little tip," Cora starts off with the couple looking up at her. "Don't pull the dagger out."
-
Damon and Cora both carry Elijah's desiccated body into the cellar with Elena and Stefan following them. The two siblings lay him on the ground and Cora stands up straight, letting out a huff. The older Salvatore kneels down next to his body, searching through the original's pockets.
"What do we have here?" Damon says while pulling out the moonstone. "A little moonstone bar of soap. I'll hold onto this."
"So, that's it," Elena asks. "I mean, as long as we keep the dagger in there, then he stays dead."
"Basically," Cora nods.
"Okay, then, goodnight," Elena turns to leave but stops, looking back at the three siblings.
"You know, you guys want me to fight, fine, I'll fight," Elena directs it towards the brothers. "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."
"I keep my word unlike some," Cora crosses her arms, glancing at Damon.
"Hey, hey, I'll agree to it. Seems fair," Damon defends himself.
Elena shakes her head and looks at Stefan, waiting for an answer. "Okay."
The doppelgänger nods and leaves the basement. Cora gives an approving look and pats Stefan and Damon's shoulders.
"I like her attitude," Cora compliments.
"How did you get through her?" Damon asks the little brother.
"I told her a little story about when I was making the wrong decisions and somebody showed me there was a better way," Stefan answers.
"Lexi?" Cora looks at him and he nods, glancing at Damon. "Yeah. You remember her?"
1864
Damon meets his only sister downstairs, ready to leave with her. They both agreed to going with each other as they did not wish to live a life like this; as a vampire. Cora walks with her brother, heading towards the door until a voice stops them.
"Going somewhere?"
The two siblings turn their heads to come face to face with Lexi, a vampire who befriended Stefan and offered to help him. Damon sets his suitcase down and turns his body to face her.
"You must be the vampire I hear my brother complaining about," Damon states.
"That would be me," Lexi confirms. "And you must be the brother who hates him and the sister who chose to leave him alone."
Cora lowers her a head a bit, feeling ashamed of choosing to live her little brother alone because the stronger bond she has with Damon. The girl doesn't agree with what Stefan did, forcing the two to transition into vampires, but she could never bring herself to hate him.
"We are irreparable odds," Damon says as Lexi walks towards them.
"You know the hate you're feeling towards Stefan? Towards everyone? You think you have it under control but you don't. It will get the best of you," Lexi says back.
Damon picks up both his and his sister's suitcase, walking out of the front door. Before Cora follows her older brother out, she looks at Lexi pleadingly and she lets out a sigh.
"Please help him. He needs it," Cora folds her hands together as she begs.
"I will. Don't worry," Lexi sadly smiles at the pained sister.
Tears filled Cora's eyes and she returns the sad smile. She nods her head and walks out of the front door, leaving the home for good.