It was nighttime and they were in a classroom setting up mouse traps all over the floor. It was senior prank night and Nat, Elena, Bonnie, Caroline and Tyler were making sure the last few classrooms were all set. Suddenly, they heard footsteps and looked at each other, worried that they were gonna be busted. Caroline rushed to the switch and turned the light off to not draw attention. The door opened and someone walked in, stepping on the mouse trap, setting off the traps by the door. All of them jumped and the person turned the light on. When they looked at the door, they found Matt standing there.
"Ohh! Oh, come on! Seriously?! Do you know how long it took for us to set all this up?!" Caroline whined and they all sighed at the thought of setting everything up again.
"Forgot about senior prank night, huh?" Tyler asked shaking his head.
"Clearly." Matt said sheepishly.
"How could you forget? We've only been waiting for this since like freshman year." Caroline told him and Elena nodded.
"Yeah, Matt. If I'm doing this, you're doing this."
"I'm kind of surprised any of you are doing this." He shrugged and they exchanged glances.
"We're about to be seniors. These are the memories that will stay with us forever, and if we don't-"
"And if we don't create these memories now, then what's the point of it all?" Nat interrupts Caroline and finishes the sentence smirking.
"Go ahead and make fun, I don't care." Caroline tells her laughing.
"You're all lame. And I've got ten more classrooms to prank." Tyler takes his bags and leaves the classroom. Nat laughs and starts setting the traps again when Elena gets up and starts walking out.
"Hey! Where are you going?" She asks and Elena turns around.
"To superglue Alaric's desk shut. I'm making memories." She smiles and Nat nods.
"I love you!" Caroline yells and turns to Nat grinning.
"I'm going to the pool." Bonnie says and starts walking out. "C'mon, Matt." He follows reluctantly, leaving Nat and Caroline alone.
"I'm going to help Tyler. Do you need someone to help you here?" Caroline asks her and she shakes her head.
"You go ahead. I'm gonna set this up quickly and then I'll help Dana and Chad over at the gym." Caroline nods and leaves her alone. She starts setting the traps by the door again carefully. After a few minutes she finishes and looks around the room, checking everything is in order. She gets up and grabs some plastic cups to get to the others and leaves the classroom, heading over to the gym. As soon as she opens the doors to the gym, she drops the cups accidentally and crouches down to pick them up. "Dana! I have more cups he-" She stands up and looks inside but is frozen by the image in front of her. Klaus is standing next to Elena and Dana is standing behind them with her foot up looking very distressed, Chad next to her. "Nik..." She whispers.
He rushes over and stands in front of her. "You forgot to mention that your sister was still alive last time I saw you." She swallows nervously and looks at Elena, seeing her scared out of her mind.
"Just don't hurt her, please." She said stepping closer to him. He stared down at her smirked, turning back to her sister.
"That will depend on your little witch friend." He says walking back to the others. She follows him and furrows her brows.
"Bonnie? What does Bonnie have to do with all of this?" He paid her no mind and stood next to Elena. Nat looked at Dana and noticed she was struggling to stay on one foot.
"Keep it up." Klaus tells her and Nat looks around, not seeing Stefan.
"Where's Stefan?" She asks and he shrugged.
"What did you do to him?" Elena asks worriedly.
"Stefan's on a time out." He says and they exchange worried looks. Suddenly, the doors open and Bonnie and Matt enter the gym.
"Bonnie, get out of here!" Elena yells and Klaus rushes to stand behind her. She turns around and jumps a little at the sight of him.
"Ah, I was wondering when you'd show up. Now we can get started." He smirked and looked at Dana. "Ah, Dana, why don't you relax? You and Chad sit tight." She drops her foot and cries softly, Chad putting an arm around her comfortingly. "I assume you're the reason Elena's still walking around alive?"
"That's right. If you want to blame someone, blame me." She tells him seriously. Nat runs a hand over her face and turns around, not wanting to see this.
"Oh, there's no need for blame, love. Just your witchy interference seems to have caused some undesirable side effects. And since you caused the problem, I'm going to have you find the fix." Nat heard the door open and closed her eyes, hoping no one would get hurt.
"Get off of me!" She heard Tyler's voice and opened her eyes, turning around quickly and seeing him being dragged by a blonde girl.
"Hush now." She says and Nat furrows her brows, the voice sounding familiar. But she wasn't able to see her clearly, so she slowly walked towards them.
"I'd like you all to meet my sister Rebekah." Her heart stopped beating and her eyes widened. Bekah...? "Word of warning... She can be quite mean."
"Don't be an ass." She throws Tyler into Klaus' arms and puts her hands on her hips.
"Leave him alone!" Elena exclaims worried, but he doesn't pay her attention.
"I'm going to make this very simple...Every time I attempt to turn a werewolf into a vampire hybrid, they die during the transition. It's quite horrible, actually." Klaus bites his wrist and makes Tyler drink his blood. No... "I need you to find a way to save my hybrids, Bonnie. And for Tyler's sake..." Nat shakes her head furiously and walks over to him to try to stop him, but he's faster. "You better hurry." He twist the werewolf's head and kills him. Nat gasps and clamps her hand over her mouth in shock.
"Iliana?" Nat raises her head and finds Bekah staring at her in amazement. She had forgotten that the blonde was standing there, what with Klaus killing Tyler. She shook her head and opened her mouth.
"N-Natalia, actually." She stammered. Nat didn't know why, but she was nervous about seeing her again. It happened with Elijah and Klaus, so she figured meeting people from her first life made her feel scared and excited at the same time. Suddenly, she felt two people standing in front of her. She jumped a little and looked at Klaus and Rebekah nervously.
"You didn't tell me that she was here, Nik." Rebekah told her brother, not taking her eyes off of Nat.
"It slipped my mind." He said, a cheeky smile on his lips. Nat took a deep breath and turned her head to the side, seeing Dana and Chad sitting on the floor scared out of their minds.
"Why did you do it?" She asked Klaus, completely ignoring Rebekah. He shrugged and Nat scoffed, pushing both vampires aside and walking over to Tyler. Matt was next to his best friend, watching him in disbelief.
"He killed him." He told Nat, Elena and Bonnie. They exchanged glances and Elena shook her head.
"He's not dead. Klaus' blood will turn him into a vampire." She explained to him.
"And if Bonnie's successful, he'll live through his transition. Go on, then. Go and fetch your grimoires and enchantments and what-not. I'll hold on to Elena...for safe-keeping." Klaus told Bonnie and grabbed her sister's arm. The witch looked hesitant, obviously not wanting to leave Elena with Klaus.
"Go, Bonnie. I'll stay here." Nat told her and she nodded, taking Matt's hand and running out of the gym.
"So this is the latest doppelgänger." Rebekah said and Nat turned to see her walking around Elena. "The original was much prettier." She said and Nat rolled her eyes.
"Hey!" Nat exclaimed.
"Enough, Rebekah." Klaus told her and turned to Nat smiling. "Take the wolf boy elsewhere, would you?" She rolled her eyes and walked over to Tyler, taking his arm and dragging him away. "Natalia, love, you go with Rebekah too." She shook her head and crossed her arms.
"No. I'm staying here."
"That wasn't a question." He told her seriously and she glared at him. "Go or I'll kill your friend Dana here." She opened her mouth and was about to tell him no again when she caught sight of Dana. She looked so scared, so innocent. It made her feel bad, she didn't want her to die so young.
"Fine." She turned around and walked over to Rebekah. They were about to leave the gym when she spoke again. "Jackass." She muttered under her breath, knowing full well that he would hear her. Rebekah laughed beside her and walked out of the gym with Tyler.
"I heard that!" He yelled from behind her.
"That was the point!" She yelled back and closed the door as she got out of the gym. She turned to Rebekah and saw her smiling already as she dragged Tyler. She looked so... different. In her dreams, the blonde looked younger, innocent. But now she looked as if she had gone through too much. They walked in silence the rest of the way until they arrived to a hallway near Ric's classroom. When Nat looked down, she saw Caroline unconscious on the floor. "Caroline!" She exclaimed and ran to her friend, crouching down and taking her face into her hands.
"She's out for the moment." Rebekah told her and left Tyler next to Caroline, sitting down by the lockers. Nat looked at the younger vampire one more time and crawled over to the Original.
"You look different." Nat said shyly, not looking at the vampire.
"So do you." She told her and Nat smiled. "Do you... do you remember me?"
"A little." They stared at each other and Nat smiled at her. "I've dreamt of you recently. But it's not much." She shrugged and Rebekah nodded.
"Has it been hard? The dreams, I mean. Elijah and Nik told me long ago that you would..." She trailed off and looked away.
"Lose my mind and kill myself?" Nat finished the sentence and Rebekah nodded slowly, looking at her worriedly. "That's supposed to happen, but I've been slowing the process a little. In a few weeks it'll catch up to me though. There's nothing I can do." She shrugged and looked at Tyler.
"I'm sorry this happened to you, Iliana."
"Natalia." She corrected the vampire. "It's Natalia now. Elijah and Nik insist on calling me that, but everyone else calls me Nat."
"Huh. Can I call you Talia then?" Nat turned to her and furrowed her brows at her. "I'm not everyone else." She shrugged and Nat laughed.
"Of course you're not, Bekah." She smiled and gave thought to the nickname. It sounded nice actually. "You can call me Talia." She told her and Rebekah nodded, taking out a cellphone from her pocket and when Nat looked closely, she noticed it was Caroline's phone. "Where did you get that?" She asked Rebekah.
"I got it from Caroline. Wanted to see what all the fuss was about this little thing." Nat shook her head and looked away. Suddenly, she remembered about the other guy from her dream, their other brother.
"Where's Kol?"
"Dead." Her eyes widened and she turned to Rebekah surprised. "Daggered, actually." She let out a breath of relief and nodded.
"How long has he been... like that?"
"Almost a century."
"Why?" Nat asks confused.
"He's a treacherous little bastard, that's why." Nat frowns at her words, but lets it go. Suddenly, she sees Caroline open her eyes slowly, groaning and clutching her head.
"We didn't have mobile telephones in my day. Would have made life a whole lot easier, I suppose." Rebekah said out loud before taking a picture of herself with the phone.
"Where's Tyler?" Caroline asked hoarsely before turning to Nat. "Nat?"
"He's dead. Ish." Rebekah said and Nat glared at her lack of tact. Caroline turned around and saw him lying on the floor unconscious.
"What did you do to him?"
"Think of it as he's having a nap." Nat crawled over to Caroline and grabbed her hand reassuringly. "When he wakes up, he'll be a hybrid." Caroline puts her ear to Tyler's chest to check for a heartbeat. Nat looks away worried, hoping that Bonnie could find a solution to the hybrid problem. "Ugh, vomit." Rebekah muttered from her place and Nat rolled her eyes. "Is that my neck..." She said quietly and got up quickly, talking now to Caroline. "Why is that doppelgänger bitch wearing my necklace?!" She exclaimed angrily and Nat frowned at her before something clicked in her mind.
It was Rebekah's!
Of course it seemed familiar. It wasn't because Elena had been wearing it for almost a year now, but because Rebekah wore it a thousand years ago. She didn't remember it yet, but it was the only explanation.
Before Caroline or Nat could say anything, Rebekah rushed out of the hallway, probably to confront Elena about the necklace. She couldn't let her hurt her sister, so she stood up and was about to walk away when Caroline's voice interrupted her.
"Where are you going?" Caroline asked her.
"I can't let her hurt Elena, Care."
"Who is she? Why did she do this to Tyler?"
"She's Nik's sister." Nat explained and Caroline frowned.
"The one you were dreaming about?" Nat nods and looks at Tyler worried. "Go. I'll stay with him." She nods and heads quickly to the gym. She was about to open the door when Klaus and Rebekah walked out, stopping at the sight of her.
"Ah, Natalia, just the person I was looking for." He tells her and grabs her hand, dragging her away from the gym. She frowns and tries to get out of his hold, but he wouldn't budge.
"What did you do to Elena?" She asked angrily.
"Don't worry, Stefan will take care of her just fine."
"Nik..."
"She'll be fine, love. Now come on." He dragged her away from Rebekah and led her to another hallway. They walked for a minute before they found an empty classroom, Klaus gesturing for her to go in and turning the light on.
"Why are we here?" She asked and he gestured for her to sit down. "Nik."
"Take a seat." She sighed and hopped on the desk, crossing her legs and staring at him expectantly. He walked closer until he stood between her legs, making her heart beat irregularly in her chest. He put his hand on his back pocket and got something out. When Nat looked down, she saw a little jewelry box. She furrowed her brows and looked up at him. "This is your birthday gift." A smile curved on her lips and she felt a blush creeping on her neck.
"What is it?"
"Open it." She took the box out of his hands and opened it. There was a silver necklace with a pendant. When she looked carefully, she realized it was the Tree of Life. She smiled and looked up at him.
"The Tree of Life?" He shrugged and smiled mischievously. "Ironic." She said and hopped down from the desk. "Do you mind?" She asked holding the necklace and he took it. She turned around and gathered her hair. "Did you buy it on your little trip with Stefan?"
"I've had it for a thousand years now." He said as he put the necklace on her, his hands lingering on her shoulder a second longer. She furrowed her brows and turned around, standing closer to him now.
"What do you mean?"
"I got it a few days before you died. It was going to be a birthday gift, but..." He trailed off and she looked at him in surprise. "When we learned about your curse, I kept this close to me, hoping I would find you one day and be able to give this to you."
"But you thought that I was dead when Katherine told you about me. About Emiliya, I mean."
"It was one of the only things that I had that reminded me of you." He said staring down at her. She smiled at him and her gaze landed on his lips. They were close now, chest to chest. They only needed to lean closer and their lips would touch. "Natalia." He whispered softly and put his hands on her waist. "Can I kiss you?" She nodded slowly and closed her eyes in anticipation. His lips brushed against hers softly and she leaned closer to him. The kiss was soft, something she wouldn't have expected from him. Nat stood on her tiptoes and tried to pull him closer, warmth exploding in her stomach at the feel of him. But before she could deepen the kiss, he pulled back and looked at the door.
"What?"
"Bonnie." Was all he said before he rushed out of the room, leaving her confused and worried. She left the classroom and walked fast around the school, trying to find anyone that could tell her what the hell was going on. After a few minutes, she found Rebekah, Tyler and Caroline in a classroom, the werewolf already awake.
"Don't be shy about it." Rebekah said as she looked at Nat.
"What's going on?" Tyler asked Caroline confused.
"Klaus is turning you into a vampire. A hybrid. You're in transition." She told her gently.
"Don't leave out the hard part, sweets. You'll only survive if your witch is successful. If not.... You're pretty much dead." Rebekah told him snidely.
"Stop it, Bekah!" Nat snapped at her. "Bonnie will make it." She said confidently and turned back to Tyler.
"You're going to be okay." Caroline told her reassuringly. "Okay? It's going to be okay." She was trying to convince herself that everything would be fine, Nat could see it.
"I wonder how she's doing." Rebekah said from behind them and Nat rolled her eyes.
"Well, the verdict's in." Klaus voice startled Nat and she turned to him expectantly. "The Original witch says the doppelgänger should be dead." Nat widened her eyes and shook her head furiously.
"No!" She exclaimed and Rebekah smiled broadly.
"Does that mean we can kill her?" She asked her brother and he shook his head.
"No, I'm fairly certain it means the opposite." He said and walked towards Tyler.
"What?" Nat and Rebekah said at the same time, clearly confused about this.
"Call it a hunch..." He said and gestured for Rebekah to hold Caroline back. The younger vampire struggled to get out of her hold, but she was too strong. Klaus showed a test tube containing blood to Tyler and Nat walked closer, squinting her eyes at it.
"Elena's blood. Drink it." Nat shook her head and tried to stop him, but Klaus held her back.
"No! No, no, no, Tyler, don't!" Caroline yells and Nat tries to get out of the hybrid's hold, but he wouldn't budge.
"If he doesn't feed, he'll die anyway, love. Consider this an experiment." He then looks at Tyler. "It's okay." Tyler tries to stop himself, but he finally gives in and drinks the blood. "There we go. Good boy." Tyler starts coughing and rolls over the desk, falling to the floor. He screams and groans, writhing on the floor, making Nat grimace at his pain. He holds his head and screams once more before he raises his head, looking up at Klaus. Nat widens her eyes at his eyes, which are now yellow with veins under his eyes. Just like the Original hybrid. "Well that's a good sign."
She was on the car with Damon, driving to the hospital as fast as they could. After Tyler turned into a hybrid, Klaus and Rebekah rushed out of the classroom, leaving Nat with Caroline and Tyler. After a few minutes, she received a call from Damon, telling her to quickly come out of the school. Apparently, Klaus was holding Elena at the hospital so he could get blood out of her for his hybrids.
"Did you see Stefan?" He asked her and she shook her head.
"I tried to, but he wouldn't let me." She said, her voice trembling from anger at what he was doing to her sister. They arrived at the hospital and quickly got out of the car. They walked for a few seconds until they saw Klaus standing by the entrance.
"Well, look who finally decided to show up to the party." He told Damon.
"Where is she?" Damon asked him angrily.
"Elena? Ah, she's making a donation to a greater cause." He told them and Nat scowled at him.
"You son of a-" Nat started but was cut off by Klaus stopping Damon from going forward.
"I'm afraid I can't let you interfere, mate."
"You'll have to kill me."
"Oh, I would love to kill you, but I made a pledge to your brother, and unlike him, I keep my word. Although, you know what, thinking about it now, he probably doesn't care that much anymore." What the....
Before Nat could think more about Klaus' words, he pushed Damon against the hood of a car, startling her. She ran towards them and saw Klaus raising his hand, ready to kill Damon.
"Don't you want to know about your friend Mikael?" He blurts out and Nat stays frozen to her spot. She didn't know why, but that name terrified her. She notices Klaus stop his hand too and look at Damon in surprise.
"What do you know about Mikael?"
"Just that he knows you're here."
"You're bluffing.
"Katherine and I found him. Consider it our leverage." Klaus purses his lips and throws Damon against another car, the younger vampire falling on the ground after. Nat quickly runs to him to helps him, and when he's up, they turn to Klaus, but he's already gone. They exchange glances and run inside to find Elena. After walking for a few minutes, they finally found Elena in a room asleep. Nat quickly enters and pulls out the tubes from her arm. Damon grabs the one that was pumping out her blood and Elena slowly opens her eyes.
"Damon?" She slurs and turns her head slightly. "Nat?"
"Hey, shh, it's okay." Nat reassures her and nods at Damon, the vampire putting his arms under her legs and lifting her out of the bed. They leave the room and walk outside the hospital. Damon gives Nat the keys to the car and she opens the back door so he can put her sister there. He closes the door and walks to the driver's seat, Nat to the passenger's.
Damon drove away from the hospital, the majority of the ride spent in silence. Nat was holding the pendant of her new necklace, thinking about what had happened tonight. She didn't notice Damon turning to her and frowning at her.
"What's that?" She snapped out of her thoughts and looked at him, noticing his eyes were already on her necklace.
"Oh, uh, it was a gift."
"From Klaus?" She didn't say anything and he sighed. "Right."
"Who's Mikael?" She asked him seriously.
"A vampire hunter that knows how to kill Klaus." He said and she swallowed nervously. "I know that's the last thing you want Nat, but we're gonna do it. He can't live, not anymore. Not after what he just did to Elena."
"I know, I just-" She took a deep breath and closed her eyes for a second. "I don't know why, but hearing that name terrified me, Damon. I think I knew him." She said quietly and he looked at her before turning back to the road. "I don't think you should bring him here. I have a bad feeling about this." She said but he ignored her completely.
After a few minutes, they arrived at the Boarding House. They got out of the car and Nat opened the back door, Damon carrying Elena towards the house after. They got to the living room and he put her sister on the couch, Nat sitting on another. After a few minutes of silence, Elena woke up and looked around.
"Hey." Nat smiled at her gently and Elena sat up. "We're at the Boarding House. You're okay." She nodded and clutched her head, obviously still weak from all the blood loss. "What happened with Stefan?" She asked her softly.
"He..." Elena had tears in her eyes, remembering what happened tonight. "Klaus made him turn it off. H-he was ruthless. He fed on me." She said and Nat closed her eyes. It seemed like Elena had officially lost Stefan. Damon walked towards them with two glasses of scotch and gave them to both girls.
"Here, have some bourbon. It'll help you forget." Nat took the glass and downed it quickly, eager to put this night behind her. Elena grimaced at the taste and left the glass on a table beside her. "Yeah, it's strong. You know, I can help you forget too. At least the memories you don't want to keep." He offered and Elena shook her head.
"No. No compulsion. I need to remember. All of it." Damon nodded and held up her necklace.
"I stole it back for you."
"He's really gone this time. I watched it happen. After everything that we went through to get... to help him. Now he's just... gone." She said looking between Damon and Nat. He put the necklace on the table beside them and Nat looked away. "Where were you, Damon?" She cried softly and he put his hand on her leg.
"I shouldn't have left. I promise you... I will never leave you again." He told her and they looked at each other intently. Nat felt a bit awkward at their little moment, so she looked away.
"Well, isn't this cozy?" They turned their heads and saw Stefan leaning against a pillar at the edge of the room, smirking at them. Damon immediately gets up and looks at him.
"What are you doing here, brother?" Damon asks him and Stefan walks into the room to the drink table, pouring himself a drink and looking at them.
"Last I checked, I live here." He says and raises his glass, taking a sip from it. "Klaus is gone, but he's asked me to keep watch on you two until he returns. From now on, you're under my protection." He said looking towards Elena and Nat, both girls exchanging looks. "Mmm, by all means. Carry on." He smiles and leaves the room. Damon turns to them and looks at Elena worriedly, Nat just looking away.
A/N
Okay, I'm curious, who do you want Nat to end up with...?