Another interesting history class ended and Lisa was ogling Elijah one more time.
"Miss Riccitelli, may I have a word with you please?"
Elijah was looking expectantly at me as Lisa and I were about to pass him on our way out of the auditorium.
"Yes professor..." I couldn't remember which name he used, but it sure wasn't his real name; Mikaelson. Hesitantly I walked up to the desk he was standing behind.
"Miss Riccitelli I'm a bit worried that you have misunderstood this assignment." He said in his formal voice.
My God! He was really going all the way with this teacher gig.
"I think your opinion on the..." I saw his eyes flicker to the line of students leaving and when we were all alone his voice took a different note. "Emilia, you have to snap out of this!"
I looked a bit confused at him.
"You can't just keep putting your head in the sand; you're a brave young girl."
I wasn't sure if this was a compliment or a scowling.
"You fought my mother; even Niklaus is scared of her." He tried to joke about it.
"I don't remember what happened..."
"Don't think you can distract me from my initial intention." He had his trademark superior smile on. "Are you going to tell me what is going on between you and Mr Salvatore?"
I studied him intent as I thought about how perceptive he was. Maybe it was Klaus that had told him. I sighed.
"Sorry, That's in the 'do not open-pile'...and it's heading in the 'don't even think about opening this-pile'." I sighed again. "What happened to you mother?"
It was his turn to observe me and then he leaned a bit closer. "That's in the 'do not discuss on campus-pile'." He smiled that flirty smile which told me he would not be easy to fool. "We can discuss it somewhere else if you wish; somewhere off campus."
I knew he was right and he named a place and a time where we could dig into the scary stuff without eavesdroppers.
Lisa's worried eyes watched me as I walked up to her table in the cafeteria. "Was Professor White hard on you?"
At first I just wondered who she was talking about, but then I got it. "No, he was just curious about something I wrote. I didn't get why those Vikings left Europe in the first place; was it just curiosity or was it some specific turn of event that made them leave?" I rambled on and on and didn't want to be caught lying.
"I wouldn't complain about spending some one on one time with that hunk." Lisa sighed with a longing look on her face. "Do you think he's seeing someone?"
"Lisa!" I almost choked on my orange juice. "I think it's rather unethical for a teacher to date a student."
"We're both adults; humans with animal urges."
No not him, he's pure animal... When you have seen a guy rip someone's heart out through the chest-bone, it takes its toll on the sexual appeal.
I took one of the busses in to town with the direction on a map in my phone; parked outside the cafe stood the dark SUV one just like Klaus'. As I entered I found him sitting in a booth in the most charming place; with a really intimate personal decor.
When I walked up to his table, he got up on his feet and kissed my hand in a chivalrous way. I felt a little embarrassed about having thrown myself around his neck a few weeks earlier.
"Miss Emilia, you look a little better." he said smiling. "There's even a bit colour on you cheeks."
That was just from embarrassment, and the comment about it just made it worse. "I'm much better." I avoided his eyes and sat down next to him.
"Liar." he chuckled.
I glared at him. "Everybody thought I was dead after the battle and this is a little better." I was gripping straws to justify my mood. "Are your mother and you all okay? Please tell me what happened."
He told me a little of what had happened with a few shorter intermissions when the waitress came and served us. She was checking him out like he was some rock star and I had to work hard not to roll my eyes. I bet he would scowl me for my manners and I didn't want that.
"So all of you are okay?" I tried to get back on track anxious to hear.
"Yes, we are all okay; mother and Rebekah is travelling around, trying to work out their differences and Klaus is on Katherine's track. I liked that girl from the first time I met her, but this incident of her posing as Elena just to trick Stefan, was a real blow under the belt. I left the two of them to their own devices." He took another slurp from his coffee. "Even Rebekah speaks highly of you." His eyes got that flirty glitter again.
Wow!
"She really loathed me for taking Damon away."
"Yeah well, she's been in a coffin for the last ninety years; that can take a strain on somebody's mood."
I smiled at him while the girl came with a coffee refill for us.
"Thank you, Sarah." He said sweetly and got a wide smile in reply.
I chuckled a bit when we were alone again. "Does everybody get smitten by you?" I asked. "I mean you have half of the class drooling over you; and that includes some of the boys as well."
He chuckled. "No I scare the shit out of a few as well." He had this sweet smile.
"And that's what got you into teaching?" I nodded thoughtfully. "Don't you think you're a bit over qualified as a history-teacher?"
He chuckled. "Wouldn't you rather listen to somebody that knows what in the history books is correct and what isn't?"
I laughed and really wanted to hear his arguments in class; what he based his statements on. That could be a fun discussion, couldn't it?
It was dark and chilly when I got off the bus and I told myself that perhaps it wasn't such a good idea to get off at the early stop, just for the extra walk. The campus felt deserted on this Tuesday evening but my mind was still on Elijah and Klaus during the time when they first met Katherine. What was she like when she was human? What was her family like? Did she have a boyfriend or was it customary with arranged marriages at the time?
I was deep in thoughts when I suddenly got a feeling that I was being followed. All thoughts about Elijah were abruptly wiped away and I looked around. It wasn't that tingling sensation I got when Damon was around, this felt different. I picked up the pace.
My heart was beating faster as I went trough who and why anyone would be following me, and I cursed myself for getting off the bus in the wrong side of campus. A cawing in a nearby tree almost made me jump, and when I heard rustling in the bushes, I ran. Who could it be? Perhaps one of the hunters that got away from the fight had found me.
I passed the yellow pole with a phone and the word; HELP written on it; and thought about what the campus police could do about this kind of pursuit?
I heard steps echo in between the buildings as I closed in on my own building. Didn't I see Alaric at the fight? Had he really been there or had I imagined him? If he was a ghost then he wouldn't follow me, right?
I jerked up the door and heard it slam behind me as I bounded up the stairs in panic. I slammed the door to out room shut and made Lisa jump high from the impact.
"Jeeze; what's wrong with you?" She yelled and watched me irritated as I slid down the door and sat with my back still at it, panting like crazy.
"What's wrong?"
"I was being followed."
"Followed; by whom?"
"I don't know; I didn't stay to chat!" I snapped, but regretted is when she looked like I had slapped her. "I'm sorry, I'm just freaking out here."
She sighed. "It's okay. Maybe you shouldn't be out all alone so late. What were you doing?"
My mind went blank. I couldn't tell her I had been with Elijah; she would strangle me. I tried to get my brain to come up with something, but all that happened was that my cheeks started to turn pink.
"You've been on a date!" She yelled and with that; my cheeks got even more pink. "I'm so glad for you! Who is he, do I know him?" Questions were bubbling out of her.
"I rather not tell, I don't know where this is heading." I muttered. A date with Elijah, hmm, perhaps I should tell her?
I would be a dead girl!
When I was tucked in the bed an hour later, I thought about who could have been following me. Could it have been my own imagination? Surely I heard footsteps, but what would anyone want with me?
A week later, that incident on campus was forgotten and I found myself walking through a dark campus by myself once more. It only took an autumn breeze to whirl around in the leafs around the buildings, though, to make me freak out.
Oh no, here I was all alone in the dark again.
With panic I looked around and picked up the pace; the wind made the trees rustle ominous and I shivered. A bird's yell shriek made me jump and suddenly there was a loud cracking in one of the trees and I was running again. I had quite a distance before I could reach the safety of my dorm, and I cursed myself for not staying and walking home with Lisa and her potential new boyfriend, but I was tired and didn't have the emotional power to stay and watch them cuddle.
I had just two more houses to pass and then I would be home free, when I was jerked out of my path. With an arm around my waist and a hand over my mouth I totally freaked out and started to kick and pound.
"Shh..." A male voice behind me said. "You're safe, it's just me." The whispers came from Damon and I started to cry. "Shh..." Damon cooed me and I spun around in his grip and hid my face in the safety of his chest, as we stood behind a tree from where he watched the perimeter around us carefully.
When he made sure I was safe, he scooped me up in his arms and carried me home to my dorm. As he took me up the stairs I was just about to ask if he needed to be invited in, but Klaus cocky face popped into my mind as he told me vampires didn't need invitations to get into this kind of facilities. Meaning; they could just waltz right in.
Damon put me down on my feet and I unlocked the door.
"Are you okay?" he asked.
I nodded even if I wanted to say no. "What was that?" I nodded my head in the direction we came from.
"I'm gonna find out. Lock the door, and go to sleep!" His tone was harsh and I wanted my Damon back; the Damon that never would have left me when I felt like this. Before I had a chance to object, he was already gone.
The stress made me exhausted, but it was impossible to sleep. I put the earplugs in and started music on my phone to distract me and luckily that worked. I didn't wake up until the next morning and I was disappointed that Damon hadn't been back to tell me any news. Couldn't he at least called or texted?
I was both worried and immensely disappointed during the morning classes. What if something happened to Damon and nobody could help him? He had been attacked before, and how easy hadn't it been for Katherine to abduct Elena? Maybe I should call him; surely he would answer now, wouldn't he? I didn't even notice myself that I was getting more worried for Damon's sake, than my own and I decided to wait until lunch and see what Stefan knew.
"Damon says it's a hybrid." Stefan reported when I met him at lunch. "It was assigned to surveil you."
"What?" My heart almost stopped. "Assigned by whom?"
"By Klaus." Stefan said.
"What; why?"
He chuckled. "I think you better ask him yourself." He had almost a smirk on his face and I grid my teeth.
Stupid vampire and hybrid-jerks! Couldn't he just have told me? And why couldn't Damon have come to me personally and told me? I pulled out my phone as I stomped my way from Stefan.
"Emilia!" Klaus had this 'Oh what a pleasant surprise' tone when he greeted me.
"Have you put me on surveillance?" I snarled, and had to lower my voice as I met some people on my way out of the cafeteria.
"Yes, I have." He chuckled. "What gave it away?" He was actually enjoying this!
Jerk!
"Couldn't you have told me, and spared me a couple of heart attacks!" I snapped. "I thought I was being followed by some psycho!"
"Oops!"
"Oops?" I yelled. "Why am I being watched?"
"Stop yelling at me, or I will come and spat you."
What?
"I just wanted you and Caroline to be safe when I am out here hunting."
"Hunting Katherine?" My tone was a bit too loud. "Didn't that take like five hundred years last time?" I lowered my voice when a couple of girls caught me yelling.
"Yes, but now I'm on her tail. I'm watching her in a coffeehouse across the street, so if you'll excuse me, love. We'll talk some other time."
Before I had a chance to say anything he hung up on me and there I stood looking at my phone feeling frustrated.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
Like I said before; sometimes the chapters are short, sometimes they are long...
;-D
I hope you like it! xo - VeGirl