09. Katerina
Ariana sat by the lake and cried her heart out, she was scared and devastated after finding out the guy she loves has been turned into a vampire by his mother, Ariana wouldn't have believed it if it wasn't for the fact that she saw him drinking one of the villagers blood, he drank till he killed him, when Ariana looked into that person's eyes, she didn't see the guy she loved, she saw a guy who was consumed by bloodlust, all he cared about was blood, he no longer cared about Ariana, it was all about blood now.
"Ariana".
Ariana looked up and saw the second eldest Mikaelson standing infront of her, seeing him Ariana quickly took a step back, she knew it wasn't just the boy she loved who was turned to a blood sucking monster, it was the whole Mikaelson family.
"Elijah" Ariana whispered.
"You're scared" Elijah noted, "Which means you know".
"He killed someone" Ariana cried, "He killed someone right infront of my eyes".
Elijah sighed, "I know, his been losing his mind thinking you hate him now, he needs you Ariana, you're the only one who can control him, if you don't go to him, I'm afraid his bloodlust will end up controlling him".
Ariana shook her head in denial, "He will hurt me".
"He will never do that" Elijah defended, "None of us will, you remind us what it's like to be human, you keep our humanity intact, without you the Mikaelsons are nothing, Kol is nothing, please go to him, his losing his mind without you, he thinks you hate him, and that's making him lose control, go to him before you lose Kol to his bloodlust".
Ariana let Elijah's words sink in, even after knowing that Kol is a vampire, Ariana still very much loved him, if she turned her back on him now, that would make her a horrible person, she promised Kol that she would stick by him through thick and thin, and this was her opportunity to prove it.
"Ayana said vampires are killed by a wooden stake to the heart, Elijah we are surrounded by wood, if someone finds out you guys are vampires they will kill all of you" Ariana said, expressing her fear for the Originals.
Elijah smiled at Ariana, "My sweet Ariana, we are the original vampires, a mere wooden stake can not kill us".
***
"Elijah's alive?" Damon asked shocked.
After her dream about Elijah, the first thing Aria wanted to do was tell Damon, though there has been a bit of awkwardness between them since their break up, but Aria had promised to tell him everything related to Ariana, and she couldn't tell anyone else as Aria was scared of their reaction, but she knew Damon would always understand.
Currently, Aria and Damon were in Damon's room, Damon told Aria to spell his room so Stefan and Rose, who Damon informed Aria had come to the Salvatore Boarding House last night as she had no where else to go, couldn't hear what they were talking about.
"In my dream, Elijah told Ariana that mere wooden stakes can't kill originals" Aria informed.
"Then what can?" Damon asked, pacing up and down his room, the fact the Elijah is alive really bothered Damon, he worried for Aria's safety, despite Aria telling him that Elijah wouldn't hurt her.
"I don't know" Aria confessed.
"Well what else did you learn in this dream?" Damon asked curiously.
"Well, the guy who Ariana loved, his name was Kol, who just so happened to be Elijah's brother" Aria informed.
"You knew Elijah in your past life?" Damon asked shocked.
"I think I knew him since he was human" Aria said, "But that's not all, I learnt Kol's mother turned their whole family into vampires, and Ariana was terrified of Kol but Elijah convinced her to go to him because he said that Ariana is the Mikaelson's humanity, she is the only one who can control Kol's bloodlust".
"Wait, whose the Mikaelsons?" Damon asked confused.
"Kol and Elijah" Aria informed, "Their last name is Mikaelson".
Damon sighed and kneeled infront of a overwhelmed Aria, "Ria, if what you're saying is true, and if Elijah is alive, then you can finally get your answers about your past life, you won't have to rely on your inconsistent dreams".
"Yeah" Aria whispered, "Would you be there with me when I do find out the truth?".
"Of course I will" Damon promised, "Even if you don't want me there, I will be there when you get your answers, I'm going to be by your side the whole time as you figure out what exactly happened 1000 years ago".
Aria smiled at Damon, "Thank you".
"Always here for you Ria" Damon whispered, attaching his forehead to Aria's, both relishing this moment to the fullest.
***
"Okay, you have to understand I only know what I've picked up over the years" Rose said.
After Damon and Aria's little moment, Elena also arrived at the Salvatore's house, Stefan called her so all of them could get their answers from Rose, which is why Elena, Aria, Stefan and Damon were in the Salvatore's living room, listening to Rose.
"And I don't know what's true and what's not true" Rose said, "That's the problem with all of this vampire crap, but Klaus I know is real".
"Who is he?" Elena asked.
"He's one of the Originals, he's a legend" Damon said.
Aria sat infront of Damon, playing with her fingers, somehow she knew Klaus isn't just a legend, she felt like he was real.
"From the first generation of vampires" Stefan explained.
"Like Elijah" Elena realised.
"No, Elijah was the easter bunny compared to Klaus" Rose said, "He's a foot soldier, Klaus is the real deal".
"Klaus is known to be the oldest" Stefan informed.
"Okay, so you're saying, that the oldest vampire in the history of time is coming after me?" Elena asked.
"And Aria" Damon said, glaring at Elena, for some reason, these days the oldest Gilbert has been getting on his nerves.
"Yes" Rose said.
"No" Stefan said.
"What they're saying is, I mean, if what she's saying is true--".
"Which it is" Rose said.
"And you're not just saying this so we don't kill you?" Damon said.
"Which I'm not" Rose replied.
"Then we're looking at a solid maybe" Damon said.
"Look, Elijah's dead, right? No one else even knows that you both exist" Stefan said, in an attempt to comfort the two worried girls.
Both Aria and Damon exchanged a look, they both knew Elijah wasn't dead, he was very much alive, but they didn't tell anyone as then they would want to know how Aria knew, and then Aria would have to explain her dreams, something she wanted to keep just between her and Damon, the less people knew the better.
"Not that you know of" Rose said.
"That's not helping" Damon snapped.
"Look I've never even met anyone who's laid eyes on him" Stefan said, "I mean, we're talking centuries of truth mixed with fiction, we don't know what's real, for all we know he could be some stupid bedtime story".
"I don't think his just a bedtime story" Aria said, catching everyone's attention.
"What?" Elena asked confused.
"You know my witchy feeling, that I get from time to time" Aria said, "The feeling I intend to ignore, but I shouldn't because they always turn out to be right".
"Yeah" Damon said, knowing all to well about Aria's witchy feelings.
"Well, my witchy feeling says that Klaus is very much real" Aria informed.
"Thank you" Rose said, grateful that someone believed her, "If Klaus wants something, he gets it, if you're not afraid of him then you're an idiot".
"All right, we're shaking, you made your point" Damon said, walking over to Aria and grabbing her hand, to stop her from shaking, he knew she did that whenever she got either really nervous or really scared, and right now she was both of them, Aria looked up at Damon and gave him a small smile.
"Where are you going?" Stefan asked, seeing Elena stand up.
"School, I'm late" Elena said, Aria frowned, she could tell Elena was lying, but she didn't know why she would be lying.
"I'll grab my stuff, me and Aria will go with you" Stefan said, standing up.
Damon looked down at a shaky Aria, he knew with the kidnapping, the dream and now this information about Klaus, it was all becoming too much for her, and right now adding school to that mix wouldn't be a great idea.
"Aria will pass on that" Damon said.
"I will?" Aria asked confused.
"Yes you will" Damon replied, "You got kidnapped, you deserve a day off".
"Not going to argue with you" Aria said, really needing the day off from school.
"Yeah Stefan, you don't need to come either" Elena said, "I know where it is".
"She's in denial" Damon said, after Elena had left.
"Shut up, Damon" Stefan snapped.
***
Rose sat in the Salvatore's living room, looking down at a photo of Trevor, she really missed him.
"All right, Rosebud" Damon said, walking over to Rose with Aria by his side, "We need some answers".
Aria frowned looking at Rose, it seemed like she was crying, "Are you okay Rose?".
"Oh please don't tell me you're crying because your buddy Trevor lost his head" Damon said.
"You always been this sensitive?" Rose asked, wiping her tears.
"I apologise on his behalf" Aria said, "His a work in progress".
"A little vampire switch, you can pfft for this very reason" Damon said, "Takes the emotion out of it".
"That's the worse advice ever" Aria said.
"You switch yours, I'll switch mine" Rose told Damon.
"Is that a dig?" Damon asked.
"It's an observation" Rose replied, "Being on odds with the girl you love must be difficult".
Damon and Aria looked at each other, slightly shock that Rose noticed their slight awkwardness towards each other, and why wouldn't they be, with all the kidnapping and sacrifice crap, Damon and Aria hadn't gotten the chance to talk about them, they were in a very awkward place when it came to their relationship.
Aria awkwardly coughed, "We're not on odds".
"You wanna try that again?" Rose asked, giving Aria I know you're lying look.
Damon, having enough of Rose analysing his and Aria's relationship, speeded right infront of her, "Don't get on my bad side".
"Then show me your good side" Rose retorted.
"How do we find Klaus?" Aria asked, cutting the argument between Rose and Damon.
"You don't find Klaus, he finds you" Rose replied.
"Come on, somebody's gonna know somebody who knows where he is, right?" Damon asked.
"Add another 200 somebodies to that and you're still not even close" Rose snapped.
"Okay, but you somehow got in touch with Elijah, right?" Aria asked, "How did you manage to do that?".
"Through a very low somebody on the totem pole" Rose replied, "A guy named Slater in Richmond".
"Perfect, I'll drive" Damon said.
"No, you forget not all of us can do sun" Rose said.
"I can make you daylight ring" Aria said.
"Really?" Rose asked surprised.
"No" Damon snapped, glaring at Aria, wondering if she was alright, she wanted to help the woman who kidnapped her walk in the sun.
"Look I know she kidnapped me and Elena, but if she wanted to she could have run away, but she didn't, instead she came back to help us, I think we kind of owe her" Aria said, "Plus I kind of like her".
Rose smiled at Aria, really grateful for the witch, while Damon wanted to bang his head on the wall, he hated how Aria always saw the good in people and was so ready to help anyone with anything, her goodness is what people are going to take advantage of and use her to do their dirty work, but Aria just refused to listen to anything Damon said, which frustrated him to no extent.
"Here's the deal" Damon said, "You take us to your friend Slater, and if everything goes right, when we come back Aria will make you a daylight ring, if something goes wrong, you can say goodbye to ever walking in the sun, deal?".
Rose knew Damon was very protective when it came to Aria, and this deal was his way of making sure Rose didn't double cross Aria, so she nodded, "Deal".
***
"Back entrance, how convenient" Damon said, getting out of the car and helping Aria out.
"That's the point, we can't all have little daylight rings" Rose replied.
"Yet" Aria said, giving Rose a smile which she gladly returned.
"How do you know this guy's even here?" Damon asked, rolling his eyes at Rose and Aria's interaction.
"I called him, he's here, he's always here" Rose replied.
"Good" Damon said, slamming Rose to the nearest wall, shocking Aria, "Just one thing, if you're setting me and Aria up in any way, I will rip your heart out and shove it down your throat, something I'm very good at".
Rose quickly twisted Damon's arm and slammed him into the car.
"I'm older then you and stronger" Rose said, "Don't get on my bad side", Rose let go of Damon, "You can trust me".
After Rose walked away from them, Aria turned to Damon, "I like her" Aria whispered, Damon rolled his eyes at Aria's amusement and grabbed her hand and both of them followed Rose into the cafe.
The trio entered the cafe and Aria frowned seeing the place full of sunlight.
"Hey Rose, aren't you going to get burned?" Aria asked, gesturing towards the amount of sunlight that was coming through the windows.
"Doubled paned and tempered" Rose replied, "UV rays can't penetrate, you see the appeal now?".
"That and the free wifi".
"Oh, hey" Rose said, hugging someone who both Aria and Damon figured was Slater.
"Hey" Slater greeted, hugging Rose back.
"How are you?" Rose asked.
"Good" Slater replied, "I saw you come, what are you doing here?".
"That's a long story, but I want you to meet--".
"Damon Salvatore" Slater interrupted, "Turned 1864, Mystic Falls by Katherine Pierce, aka Katerina Petrova", Slater then looked at Aria and frowned, "You however, I have no information on, meaning you're not a vampire, so who are you and how did you get roped into vampire business?".
"I'm--".
"She's my girlfriend" Damon interrupted, shocking both Rose and Aria.
"I am?" Aria asked confused.
"You are" Damon said.
Aria looked at Damon to see him already looking at her, Aria and Damon had a silent conversation and Aria realised Damon didn't want a stranger to know who she was.
"So I take it I was right?" Slater asked Rose, when he realised Damon and Aria were in their own little world, "What I told you about the tomb under the church is true?".
"Yes, it was right, thank you for the tip" Rose replied.
"Yeah" Slater turned to Damon and Aria, "It's nice to meet you both" Slater forwarded his hand to Damon which Damon took after a bit of hesitation, which Slater easily sensed, "Maybe", Slater turned to Rose, "What's going on, Rose? Where's, uh, Trevor?".
Aria and Damon exchanged a look, realising this was going to be one awkward conversation.
***
"And you're sure Elijah's dead?" Slater asked, still not convinced.
Aria looked towards Damon, who slightly shook his head, telling Aria to go along with it.
"Beyond dead" Damon replied.
"Trevor was a good man" Slater said, "Helped me with my dissertation on sexual deviance in the Baroque period, I was going for my psych PhD".
"Slate's been in collage since 74" Rose informed.
"When I was turned, I have 18 degrees, three masters and four PhDs" Slater bragged.
"Awesome" Aria said, looking very impressed, Damon on the other hand was getting very annoyed.
"The point?" Damon asked.
"Exactly, I mean, what is the point?" Slater asked, slightly taken back by Damon's attitude, "What should I be doing with my eternity? If you have an answer, please enlighten me".
"Can you help us?" Aria asked, before Damon could say something else.
"If someone wanted to get in touch with Klaus, how'd you hook him up?" Rose asked.
"Craigslist" Slater said simply.
"Excuse me?" Aria asked, not sure if she heard the right thing, surely it couldn't be that easy to contact the big bad vampire.
"Really?" Damon asked as the same time as Aria, also having trouble believing Slater.
"Seriously, I respond to a personal ad that gets sent to somebody, who knows somebody who knows Elijah" Slater informed, "Who's dead, and that's where my connection ends".
While Slater was talking, Aria looked outside the window, she swears she felt someone staring at her, but when she looked outside there was no one, Aria shook her head, she was probably just really tired and her tired brain was imagining things, Aria didn't realise that there was actually someone looking right at her, someone she failed to see, someone who just so happens to be Elijah.
***
"Here's what I don't get, Elijah moved around during the day" Damon said, "Which means the Original people knew the secret of the day ring, now, why would Klaus wanna lift the curse of the sun and the moon?".
"To keep the werewolves from lifting it" Slater informed, "If a vampire breaks the sun curse, then the werewolves are stuck with the curse of the moon forever and vice versa".
"But werewolves are all but extinct" Rose said.
"Well, true, I've never seen one, but rumor has it--".
"I wouldn't call it a rumour" Aria said.
"Mystic Falls?" Slater asked, slightly fascinated, Aria nodded, "God, I've got to visit this place, it sounds awesome".
"It is a pretty awesome town" Aria said, proud that she came from Mystic Falls.
"Can we stop the curse from being broken at all?" Damon asked.
"What do you mean?" Slater asked confused.
"Well, can we render the moonstone useless and stop the curse from being broken?" Damon clarified.
"Well, yeah, probably, but why would you wanna do that?" Slater asked.
"Tell me how" Damon said, ignoring Slater's question, he wasn't going to tell him that it was to make sure the girl he loves didn't get used in a stupid sacrifice.
"You think I'm gonna help you figure out how to do something that will piss of an Original, and keep me from walking in the sun?" Slater asked.
"You wanna walk in the sun? Well I can make that happen, if you help us" Damon said.
Before anyone could register anything, the glass windows behind them suddenly shattered, letting sunlight right into the cafe, Damon quickly pulled Aria down to stop her from getting hurt, then looked up to see who did this but found no one.
Aria quickly took off her jacket and put it on Rose, blocking the sun from reaching her, she helped her stand up and with that the trio rushed out of the cafe.
Damon quickly opened the backseat of their car, while Aria helped a weak Rose in.
"It's okay Rose, you're going to be fine" Aria promised.
"I know, I just--".
"Who was behind that?" Damon snapped, angry that once again Aria was put in a danger situation.
"I don't know" Rose confessed, "Where's Slater?".
"Iowa by now, who the hell knows?" Damon asked.
"He's not behind this, he's a good guy, he wouldn't betray me" Rose defended.
"Then who did it?" Damon snapped.
"It's Klaus, don't you understand?" Rose cried, "You don't know this man, we're dead, we're all dead, no matter what you do Damon, you're not going to be able to save Aria from this".
Aria hugged Rose and let her cry it out, trying her best to ignore her words, while Damon let Rose's words sink in, he didn't care who Klaus was or how bad he was, he wasn't going to let anyone take Aria from him, he failed to protect Natalie but he wouldn't fail to protect Aria.
***
After returning from Richmond, Damon and Aria sat infront of the fireplace in the Boarding House, both wondering how to get themselves out of this situation.
"I know you want to save me Damon" Aria said, finally breaking the silence, "But if you can't, promise me you won't blame yourself".
"Don't talk like your dying Aria" Damon snapped, "Rose said there's only fifty percent chance of you dying, that means there's a huge chance only Elena will die and you will survive".
"A spell that big, I wouldn't hold my breath" Aria said, staring at the fire infront of her.
"I'm going save you Ria" Damon promised, lacing his fingers with Aria's, "As long as I'm alive, nothing is going to happen to you".
"You're going to get yourself killed" Aria whispered, the thought of something happening to Damon, made Aria's heart hurt.
"Ria, I died for a evil bitch, this time if I die, at least it will be worth it" Damon said.
"If me living, means you dying, I don't want to live then" Aria argued.
"And I refuse to live in a world where there's no Aria Connor" Damon argued back.
Aria scoffed, "Well maybe if we can't be together when we are alive, maybe we will be together when we're dead".
"Why are you so sure your dying Ria?" Damon snapped.
"Why are you so sure I'm not?" Aria retorted.
"I'm not!" Damon yelled, "But that doesn't mean I'm going to sit hand in hand and not do anything while the girl I love gets used in a shitty sacrifice".
"Did you not hear what Katherine told Elena?" Aria asked, "Klaus killed her whole family Damon, just because she decided to run and save her life, if any of you try to interfere, Klaus will kill you".
"So what?" Damon asked, "So you've just accepted the fact that your going to die?".
"Of course I haven't accepted it Damon" Aria said, "I want to live, I want to my life with you, but not on the expense of your life, I want to live with you not without you".
Damon sighed, he cupped Aria's face, "How about this, we both survive this sacrifice, and we both live happily with each other".
"Promise?" Aria whispered.
"I promise" Damon whispered back, his eyes flickering down to Aria's lips.
Both Damon and Aria paused and just started at each other, after a moment, Damon smashed his lips onto Aria's, and Aria gladly kissed him back, while kissing Aria got on Damon's lap.
"Are you sure about this?" Damon whispered.
Aria nodded, "I'm sure".
Damon nodded and went back to kissing Aria, he picked Aria up and speeded them up to his room.
***
Damon and Aria laid in Damon's bed, with only the sheets covering their naked bodies, Aria laid on Damon's chest while Damon ran his hand through her hair.
"Do you ever wish to just run away?" Aria whispered, drawing patterns on Damon's chest with her finger.
"All the time" Damon whispered back, kissing Aria's forehead.
"Then why don't you?" Aria asked.
"Could never get myself to leave you behind" Damon replied, making Aria smile.
"Well maybe when all this is over, both of us can run away and start a new life, somewhere that isn't full of so much supernatural drama" Aria said.
"I would love that" Damon said, pulling Aria into a kiss.
***
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