dedicated to -voidPietro because she's my bro
ONE | COME A LITTLE CLOSER
On the outskirts of Mystic Falls was a run-down squalor living arraignment. Inside it was a room with two couches on the dirty floor. The house looked as if it were falling apart, which it probably was. Grime covered the walls and floors, leaving the building to look more like a run-down shack than a house.
A man carried two girls, one with tan skin and dark brown hair. She had a pale pink sweater on with a blood stain covering her left arm along with dirty jeans covering her legs. The other was a girl with milky white skin and beautiful strawberry-blonde hair. She wore a light blue dress with sheer nylon tights and combat boots. Her once perfect outfit was now messy and wrinkled, her hair was cascaded into the man's arms. Both girls were tied up around their wrists and ankles, except the girl with the strawberry-blonde hair's had been dipped in vervain. They were under heavy sedation, yet the girl with brunette hair's eyelids fluttered open. Elena Gilbert's doe brown eyes were revealed as they adjusted to the light.
"Please," begged the girl, panting and whispering.
The man ignored her pleas and set them both on a couch. He had dropped the girl with the blue dress a bit too harshly, causing her to groan in protest and finally open her eyes to reveal a beautiful hazel. Her wrists and ankles were burned.
"What happened?" her voice was dipped in sleep. The strawberry-blonde girl rubbed her eyes as she looked around at her surroundings and scrunched up her nose due to the smell.
"Bella?" Elena asked, looking at the girl on the next couch in confusion. Elena had thought "Bella" was some girl, certainly not mixed up with this business.
"Elena," she said, equally surprised.
The man who had dropped them on the couches began to take off his jacket, hat and sunglasses, revealing his identity.
"Trevor?" Bella inquired, even more surprised. "I thought you were on the run?"
"Arabella." He nodded towards her, ignoring the girl's question about him being "on the run." Arabella frowned, noticing this. He was avoiding her question for some unknown reason—a reason she wanted to figure out.
Elena looked at her confusedly but Arabella didn't spare her a glance. She was too wrapped up in what she was doing in a run-down building with the man whom she thought was running and a girl she didn't care about whatsoever.
Trevor began to untie Elena's ropes as Arabella ripped through hers.
"Vervain? Really?" Arabella questioned, thrusting her hands at Trevor so he would cut the ropes. Once she was free, Arabella tried standing up but fell down due to her weak knees from being knocked out.
"What do you want?" Elena questioned in a scared voice. Trevor shushed her.
"Please, I'm hurt," Elena pleaded. Arabella held back a laugh at her vulnerable state and her numerous pleas.
Hasn't she ever been kidnapped before? You would think she has considering she is the doppleganger. Arabella thought. She scoffed at the thought and rolled her eyes.
"I know," Trevor responded. His face soon began to vamp out, clearly smelling the blood. "Just a taste." Trevor leaned forward, ready to lunge and have a taste of Elena Gilbert.
Elena looked to Arabella for help, but she couldn't blame him. Elena's blood was like a siren—it smelled delicious and it took a lot of restraint to not feed from her, and that kind of restraint was something Trevor did not have.
Elena let out cries of protest and tried pushing back.
"Trevor!" A woman's voice snapped to him. Trevor pulled back to look at his best-friend.
"Rosemarie?" Arabella spoke. She didn't even know the girl was alive, nonetheless in Mystic Falls.
"It's Rose," Rosemarie informed.
Arabella waved the comment off. "Nonsense darling, you were born with the name, a pretty one might I add, and so I shall call you such,"
Elena was surprised and more confused as ever. She was wondering how Bella, or rather Arabella, knew these people and how she was talking so casually, yet in a formal manner. Elena had never heard her speak to people as if she owned the place.
Rosemarie ignored Arabella's comment and looked towards Elena. Elena met her gaze.
"What do you want with me?" Elena asked.
"My God, you look just like her," Rosemarie said, examining her.
"That is exactly what I said," Arabella muttered and sighed, lying back down on the dirty couch.
"But I'm not. Please, whatever you do—"
"—Be quiet," Rosemarie demanded and cut Elena off.
Elena was pushing her self away from Rosemarie and farther back into the couch, hoping to create distance.
"But I'm not Katherine," Elena protested. "My name is Elena Gilbert. You don't have to do this." Elena stood up, suddenly gaining confidence, and walked over to the pixie haired red head.
"I know who you are. I said be quiet," Rose warned.
"What do you want?" Elena asked her quietly. Arabella wanted to roll her eyes at the dumb question. She was absolutely clueless on how dangerous her position was. She was up against two deadly vampires, and Bella certainly was not going to help her.
Rose had enough of Elena's questions, so she backhanded Elena hard enough to make her pass out. Arabella sat up and looked at Elena's now sleeping body.
Rosemarie looked towards Arabella warily. "Forgiv—"
"She was being annoying anyway." Arabella's natural accent rang throughout the 'living room.'
Rosemarie walked over to Arabella and pushed a needle into her neck. "I apologize, but I need you asleep right now," Rose muttered to Arabella's sleeping body.
~
Arabella soon awoke with a burning rage. Her temper was rising steadily with the two insolent vampires and the doppelgänger.
"How are the girls?" Rose asked.
"Still passed out," Trevor's voice replied.
"You didn't touch them, did you?" Rose questioned warily.
"Give me some credit," Trevor retorted. "So, you called him?"
Arabella was confused. Who was him?
"No. I called one of his contacts," Rose responded. Arabella frowned a bit, contacts?
"Did you or did you not get the mess—" but Arabella had passed out before she could hear the rest of the conversation. Her eyes slowly closed because of the large amounts of vervain injected.
~
"Why am I here?" Arabella heard Elena's demanding voice. She opened her hazel eyes and was staring up at the chipped painting on the ceiling. Arabella sat up and stretched as if she just took a long nap. Her bones cracked, which signaled that the strawberry-blonde was awake.
"You keep asking questions like I'm going to answer them. So, Sleeping Beauty awakens," Rose said, going around and trying to fix up the shack.
"Bella, why do they keep calling you Arabella?" Elena asked her.
"Because Arabella is my real name. You do realize Bella had to stand for something, don't you?" The strawberry-blonde inquired.
"Why'd you change it?" Elena asked.
"I wanted to." Arabella shrugged.
"Why am I here?" Elena asked, turning to Rose. Elena figured that she was only going to get vague answers with Arabella.
"I'm not answering your questions," Rose stated.
"You've got me, okay? It's not like I can go anywhere, the least you can do is tell me what you want with me," Elena said, determined to get somewhere. Arabella smirked a bit.
"I personally want nothing, I'm just a delivery service," Rose informed.
Arabella frowned a bit. "To who?"
"Elijah?" Elena supplied, questioningly.
Arabella stiffened a bit at the name. It was someone she did not plan on seeing in a long time.
Rose chuckled. "Two points to the eavesdropper."
"Elijah? Are you mad?" Arabella questioned incredulously.
"He's old-school," Rose answered her. Arabella rolled her eyes.
"Who's Elijah, and Bella, how do you know him?" Elena asked.
"Darling, anyone who is a vampire knows Elijah," Arabella said.
"He's one of the vampires, the Originals." Rose declared.
"Ah yes, the Originals. Six of them." Arabella said.
"Six?" Elena questioned.
"Six. Including Elijah and I," Arabella supplied.
"So why are you afraid of Elijah then?" Elena questioned.
"Darling, I'm not afraid of him. Elijah isn't all too scary, I just don't want to see him."
"How do you know him?" Elena asked yet another question.
"Enough, I don't want to talk about it anymore," Arabella said, getting aggravated.
"Why not?"
Arabella went over to her and squeezed the human's throat. Her hazel eyes bored into Elena's Browns one. "Darling, you seem to forget here who the vampire is and who the human is. Here's a reminder, if I can choke you to the point of your death, then I'm a very strong vampire and you should probably shut your mouth," Arabella growled and dropped Elena.
"Who are the Originals then?" Elena gasped out, glaring at Arabella and clutching her throat. Arabella shot Rosemarie a warning look.
"Again with the questions, haven't the Salvatores been teaching you anything?" Rose asked Elena. Arabella let out a laugh.
"So you know Stefan and Damon?" Elena inquired.
"A friend tried to set me up with Stefan," Rose remarked. Arabella scrunched up her nose in disgust.
"Who are the Originals?" Elena asked again. Arabella pursed her lips at the question.
"People Trevor and I have been running from for 500 years. We're tired, we want it over."
"If you're so tired you shouldn't have betrayed us," Arabella stated.
Rose swallowed before she spoke, "We're using both of you to negotiate ourselves out of running."
"But why me, and why Bella?"
"They're looking for Arabella," Rose declared. "And you because you're the Petrova doppleganger. You're the key to breaking the curse."
"Curse? The Sun and the Moon Curse?" Elena inquired. Arabella covered her mouth to hide her smirk.
"Oh, you do know you're history," Rosemarie said.
"What do you mean I'm the key? The moonstone is what breaks the curse," Elena argued.
"No darling, the moonstone is what binds the curse. You're the one who breaks it when you die in the sacrifice," Arabella stated, pointing to Elena.
"Sacrifice?"
"It's a whole big story for another time," Arabella remarked, waving her hand as if to wipe the topic away.
"Tell me more." Elena demanded. Arabella raised an eyebrow, challenging her silently.
"Captivity has made her pushy, eh," Trevor stated with a grin, walking into the living room.
"Captivity has made me hungry," Arabella declared to Trevor.
"Ah, the beautiful Arabella. It has been some time," Trevor said to her.
"Not long enough," Arabella replied. Trevor rolled his eyes.
"What do you want to know doppellicious?" Trevor inquired.
"Who are you running from?" Elena asked him.
"The Originals, like Arabella," Trevor pointed towards the strawberry-blonde.
"Rose said that, what does it mean?"
"The first family of vampires. The old world; Rose and I pissed them off."
"Mm-mm," Rose said, meaning no.
"Correction, I pissed them off and Rose had my back for over 500 years and now they want us dead," he said.
"What did you do?" Elena asked Trevor.
"He trusted Katerina Petrova," Arabella said, pronouncing Katerina's name perfectly.
"I helped her escape her fate, and now I've—I'm sorry—we've been marked ever since." Trevor said.
Elena nodded her head in understanding.
~~~
"He's here," Trevor announced in a panicked voice.
"Oh joy. Reunited at last!" Arabella exclaimed sarcastically.
"I told you I would get us out of this, you have to trust me," Rosemarie said trying to calm Trevor.
"No! He wants me dead Rose!" Trevor shouted.
"He wants them more," Rose declared. "Take Arabella to show to him later."
~~~
There were voices. Many voices and every single one she recognized. He was here alone, at least; that gave some comfort to the strawberry-blonde. Trevor grabbed Arabella's arms and started pushing her to walk. They entered the living room.
"To show I am truly sorry Elijah," Trevor said and glanced at the strawberry-blonde girl in front of him.
Arabella scowled and looked at him. "You know, I appreciate the help, but I think I can stand fine. So if you would kindly let go of my arms—"
"Arabella," Elijah breathed in shock. He hadn't seen the strawberry-blonde in centuries, and here she was, only a few feet from him.
"Hello, darling. Glad you could come."
~~~
fully edited as of: 2/20/16