Chapter Two
In his rather long life, Elijah had met countless women in a wide range of nationalities, skin colours and personalities, even bedded some of them. But the woman that was now staring back at him across the Gilberts’ threshold, was of a type he had never met before. Well, looks-wise she was rather ordinary: Dark brown hair that was falling on her shoulders in soft waves, green eyes lodged into an angular face, rounded up by a rather pale complexion. She was dressed in messily put together clothing pieces Elijah would never be caught dead in and overall wouldn’t be sticking out much, if it weren’t for her strong, magnificent aura.
She was emitting a clear air of mystery, power and magic, something he only ever felt in the presence of very powerful witches. But there was something else about her that drew him in like a moth to a flame, made him unable to avert his gaze from her for even a second. Something he had been looking for for a very long time, almost gave up hope of ever finding it.
Even without the very visible birthmark underneath her collarbone, there was no doubt about who she was to him.
His breath hitched, his usually very controlled facade slipping as he took a step closer to the front door, overcome by the sudden desire to touch her, to assure himself that she was, in fact, real, and not just a hallucination is mind had procured as another cruel method to torture him with something he desired above all else but could never have.
Before he could reach her, however, she had pulled out a long, dark, elaborately carved, wooden stick and pointed it at him in a threateningly manner. Elijah stopped in his tracks and raised his eyebrows in amusement. What exactly did she think this stick was going to do? It certainly wouldn’t do anything to stop him, if he wanted to harm her. A part of him was slightly offended that she believed him to be a threat.
“What are you doing in this house, vampire?” she asked, her voice calm and steady despite the danger she apparently felt radiating off him. “Jenna is a good and kind soul. I won’t allow you to hurt her. Or the children.”
Elijah’s eyes darkened slightly. He admired her courage, but something about the way she remained so calm and collected in the face of danger told him that this wasn’t the first time she ever found herself in a precarious situation. The fact that she was so used to danger didn’t sit right with him at all. He slowly raised his hands in submission.
“Rest assured that I have no intention of causing harm to the occupants of this residence.”
Not exactly a lie, but it wasn’t the truth either. He fully intended to sacrifice the doppelganger to end his brother’s existence, not that she knew of his plans yet.
His soulmate narrowed her eyes at him, the stick still raised in her hand like a weapon. “Nonsense. I know what your kind is capable of. The last one might have been able to take me by surprise, but this time I’m prepared.”
Elijah furrowed his brows. The last one? A low, dangerous growl escaped him. If one of these annoyingly incessant Salvatores had laid a hand on her, he wouldn’t hesitate to end them in the most painful way possible. He would destroy anyone and anything that posed a threat to his precious elskan.
His soulmate, however, seemed to have misunderstood his growl as being directed towards her, because in the next moment she waved an intricate pattern with her wooden stick in his direction, whispering “Exsilium!”
Then, Elijah was suddenly pushed out of the door and onto the porch by an invisible, powerful force. Jumping back on his feet in one swift motion, the slightly pissed Original brushed the dirt off his coat before looking at his soulmate, who had stepped into the house in the meantime. Well, her wooden stick wasn’t quite that useless. Still, Elijah would prefer if their relationship wasn’t quite that dependent on such violent tactics.
He was about to step back into the house, when he was stopped by an invisible barrier. With furrowed brows, he lifted his foot again to move it over the threshold, but was stopped once again.
“Your invitation has been revoked, vampire,” she said, a hard, unrelenting expression in her green eyes as she looked at him. “In fact, you’ve been banned from this house. The spell is permanent, unless I revoke it, so even if Jenna or one of the teenagers verbally invite you inside again, you won’t be able to enter.”
The frown on Elijah’s forehead deepened. In his millennium long existence, he had never once heard of a witch capable of doing that. Just what sort of witchcraft was this? He stepped as close to the threshold as the spell allowed him to, until only the invisible barrier was separating him from the woman he had been searching for for almost his entire existence.
“This is a dangerous game you are playing, Penelope,” he warned, knowing fully well that if she did this to another vampire - his brother for example - the consequences would be fatal.
However, there was not a single hint of fear in her eyes as she stared straight back at him. “I’m not playing any games. I’m simply trying to protect innocent people from ending up as a midnight snack.”
Elijah was about to inform her that he had no intention of feeding on the doppelganger and her family, when Jenna returned with a pack of canned tomatoes in her hand.
“Sorry for taking so long. If I didn’t know any better, I would think little imps are invading our house at night and are constantly rearranging our stuff in the kitchen. Things are never where I left the-“ She stopped when she noticed Elijah standing on the porch, her head tilted in confusion. “You are leaving already? What about the boxes?” She nodded at the boxes full of historical documents towering next to the staircase she had procured from the depths of her closet mere minutes ago.
“Yes, as it turns out, there are some…private matters I will have to take care of now,” Elijah replied, sending the strawberry blonde young woman a charming smile. “I will send for someone to pick them up for me tomorrow morning. Thank you so much for your hospitality and your help, Jenna. It is much appreciated.” His eyes glid back to his soulmate that was still glaring daggers at him from behind the barrier, a small smirk tucking at his lips. “It was my greatest pleasure to get to know you, Penelope. I am quite certain we will meet each other again.”
Without waiting for her reaction, he turned around and walked back to his car. His little excursion to the doppelganger’s house tonight certainly hadn’t ended the way he planned. He didn’t get to make a deal with Elena Gilbert, but he was way too happy about finally having found his Fated One to be upset about this minor setback. Granted, their first meeting hadn’t gone too well, but Elijah was nothing if not patient. One of these days he would be able to win her over.
༺༻
Penelope was starting to regret her temporary move to Mystic Falls. She might have gotten rid of an annoying The Daily Prophet journalist by doing so, but now she was surrounded by a bunch of annoying vampires, and by annoying, she was mostly referring to one particular raven-haired vampire with a penchant for leather jackets, bad jokes and inappropriate behaviour towards underage teenage girls. Or well, all women, to be honest.
Penelope was currently sitting in the back corner of the Mystic Grill, enjoying her late lunch while writing her letter to Harry and the kids as she heard the vampire in question’s voice coming out of the booth right in front of hers.
“So, John. Rumour has it that you know a lot, and won't say anything.”
Her first instinct was to ignore him. What he is doing at the Grill on this fine Friday afternoon and with whom really wasn’t any of her business, as long as he wasn’t endangering innocent lives. But then the other person’s reply caused her ears to perk up in interest.
“How do I know you can be trusted, Damon? Originals can compel vampires. And, according to Stefan, that's why Katherine's still in the tomb, because an Original has compelled her to stay there.”
Originals? What was this, a supernatural species she didn’t know about? Now, Penelope never claimed to be all-knowing, but she did possess a vast knowledge of the supernatural world, thanks to her extensive studies. For her to come across something she had never heard or read about was, in fact, a rare occasion.
“Only because all of the vervain had left her system,” Damon retorted, sounding a little smug. “Stefan and I, on the other hand, are chock full.”
His conversation partner seemed surprised at that. “You guys are drinking vervain?”
Penelope was eagerly soaking in all the new information with almost gleeful excitement. She had heard of cases in which vampires were consuming vervain - a plant that weakened them and caused their skin to burn for unknown reasons - to try and build up immunity against it, but this was the first time she had heard of them using it to avoid compulsion. Did that mean Originals had the same weaknesses as vampires? Could those species even be related to each other? How fascinating. She would have to ask Padma if she had come across any mentionings of these creatures on her travels.
“It's an acquired taste,” Damon stated nonchalantly. He was starting to sound rather impatient. As if to undermine her thoughts, his voice suddenly shifted and turned cold and threatening from one moment to the next. “I don't see that magic little ring on your stitched finger, so if you know something about Klaus, you better start talking, or I will kill you in your sleep.”
Penelope’s heart made a strange little jump at the new name thrown into the room. The frown on her forehead deepened. Klaus? Who was this? Could he be one of these Originals? The way Damon was spitting out his name didn’t make it seem like they were friends.
The other person clicked their tongue in annoyance, seeming anything but impressed by the not so subtle threat. “Is that any way to convince me that you and I are on the same side? First, I need to know that I can trust you, Damon, that I can count on you. Then we'll talk.”
Penelope quickly shifted her focus back on her letter when the two men stood up from their seats and went their separate ways, pretending to be oblivious to the conversation she had just overheard, not that any of them seemed to have noticed her presence. One of the advantages of being in Mystic Falls, where no one knew about the wizarding world or her status in it: she was basically invisible.
It was a nice change from her life in London. Here, no one recognised her on the street, no one was bothering her with interview or autograph requests or questions about Dumbledores last moments, how many Death Eaters she had killed in the war or if You-Know-Who had truly been as scary as the stories of eye-witnesses tried to make one believe.
Here, she could just be a random woman sitting in the town’s only restaurant and bar, writing letters to her loved ones. No one, absolutely no one, was batting a single eyelid at the sight of her. Perhaps Mystic Falls wasn’t all that bad after all. She would get used to the vampires…or not.
“I didn’t think people are still writing letters in this day and age.”
Penelope froze when the familiar, smooth voice of the vampire she had met at Jenna’s house a few days ago, drifted to her ears. She didn’t need to look up from her table to know that he was standing right in front of her. She could feel him, like an annoying itch she couldn’t get rid of.
“It’s a compliment, in case I wasn’t clear enough about it,” he continued. “I always found handwritten letters to be more personal and sincere than e-mails.”
Realising that ignoring him wouldn’t make him leave her alone, Penelope sighed and finally looked up from her letter, mustering the vampire appraisingly. He looked just as dashing as on the day she first met him, and she hated that his closeness was causing a shiver to run down her spine - and not the bad type. Why did he have to smell so bloody good? This wasn’t fair at all.
Penelope shook her head, snapping out of whatever hormonal haze she was threaten to sink in. She couldn’t afford to be careless now. There was still a vampire with a polyjuice supply out there, that wanted something from her. For all she knew, the culprit was just standing right in front of her.
“I figured you would be back to take your revenge on me soon, but I didn’t think you would do it out in the open like that.”
The vampire gave her a puzzled look. “Now why would I want to take revenge on you?”
Now it was on Penelope to shoot him a bewildered look. Just what sort of game was he playing with her? “I banished you from the Gilbert Residence. Most people would be mad about that.”
He shrugged his shoulders in a nonchalant manner before elegantly sliding into the seat across from her. “A minor inconvenience at most. I got what I wanted either way. Besides, I am sure you had your reasons.”
Penelope grimaced at that. She would like to say that she had good reason for what she did at Jenna’s house that evening, but the truth was, it had been a rather impulsive reaction. When he growled at her, her instincts had taken over - a result of her traumatic past. Not that she planned on letting him know about her PTSD.
“Speaking of, I’m wandering this earth for quite a long time now and yet I have never come across another witch capable of practising such magic.”
Penelope scoffed at that. She knew exactly what breed of witches he was talking about. “You’re thinking of pagan witches, those that claim to serve nature and are dabbling in dark arts more often than not. No, they wouldn’t know how to do this spell, because it’s not something that’s written down in any Grimoire or spell book.”
The vampire looked at her appraisingly. “I wasn’t aware that there’s such a distinction between witches, yet your magic seems vastly different from the one I usually see being practised.”
Penelope shrugged her shoulders. “I guess so.” She stopped for a moment, watching the vampire intently. “Have you ever heard of polyjuice potion, by chance?”
It was a test, to see how he was going to react. If he was indeed the one that compelled her, maybe she was able to catch him off guard with this sudden and direct question. However, the confusion on his face seemed pretty real.
“No, I can’t say I have. Might I know why you’re asking?”
Penelope shook her head, trying her best not to scowl in disappointment. If he was the vampire in question, then he was a bloody good liar. “No, it’s nothing. Forget I was asking.”
She averted her gaze, and instead was focusing it on the bar, where she spotted Damon sitting with Jenna and an unfamiliar young woman with shoulder long, light brown hair. It was too far away to hear what they were talking about, but it seemed like Jenna was introducing her friend to him. That didn’t seem to go too well apparently, because just a few seconds later, Damon stood up from his chair to join Elena Gilbert at the dartboard. The woman’s gaze followed him, looking disappointed.
“Well, it’s probably for the better,” Penelope thought, grimacing. The poor Muggle probably had no idea what sort of massive bullet she just dodged. Perhaps it was a bit unfair to judge the vampire even though she barely knew him, but Damon Salvatore gave off extremely predatory vibes. Penelope trusted him as far as she could throw him.
She was about to turn back to her letter, deciding to ignore the vampire still sitting across from her, when the woman lifted her arm to brush a rebellious strand of hair out of her face, revealing a very familiar birthmark on her wrist.
Penelope froze for a moment, eyes growing wide. There was another one. That would make four of them. Four different people around the same age, all sporting the very same birthmark on different parts of their bodies. This couldn’t be a coincidence. Penelope decided then and there that she would solve this enigma, no matter what it took.
For now, however, it was probably for the best to conceal the Muggle’s birthmark via magic. After all, there was still a vampire out there that was looking for them, and the woman had no magic and probably no knowledge of the supernatural world to protect herself with.
“I’m getting something to drink,” she muttered underneath her breath before getting up from her seat and making her way over to the bar and the woman, hoping the vampire wasn’t looking too closely. As she brushed past the Muggle as discreetly as possible, her fingers gently and briefly touched the birthmark on her wrist.
“Occulo!” she whispered, watching contently as the birthmark disappeared from view. The woman would surely wonder why it was suddenly gone, but at least she was safe for now. Penelope would tell her everything as soon as she had some answers herself.
Unbeknownst to her, Elijah had been watching every single one of her movements with hawk’s eyes, an amused smile tucking on his lips. It was adorable how she believed herself to be acting discreetly when every vampire in the building would have heard her spell. He decided to leave her that illusion though, seeing as Damon Salvatore was the only other vampire around currently and he seemed far too busy throwing yearning stares at the doppelganger to pay any attention to the witch. Besides, that little triumphant smile on her face was too beautiful to destroy.
A part of him was even proud of her for protecting the woman who was no doubt one of his siblings’ soulmate, though a part of him wondered if she knew of the significance of these soul marks. Her defensive behaviour towards him, however, was saying otherwise.
He sighed woefully. It was truly a shame that her efforts would be for nought. The majority of his siblings were rotting at the bottom of the ocean and Niklaus…well, if Elijah’s revenge plans bore fruit, he would soon be gone from this world.