Amelia Salvatore

What An Unpleasant Surprise

Hours.

That's how long I'd been waiting for Elijah to awaken. I was sitting beside his body, twirling the dagger around in my hand distractedly as I read Loki fanfiction on my phone. It was about six in the morning, which meant the sun was rising, and I really hoped that Elijah woke before my brothers did.

I'd briefly wondered how furious they'd be with me if they realised what I did, but I didn't particularly care. It was a mistake to dagger Elijah in the first place, and I was just setting things right. I was just a little concerned about how angry Elijah would be when he woke up.

The main thing that had been on my mind though, was Klaus. I was slightly amused at the fact that I'd been insulting him right in front of him, under the impression that I was talking to Alaric. I scowled, knowing how smug he'd be, considering that the last thing I'd said to him was that I'd rather stake myself before speaking to him again, yet I'd had several conversations with him without even realising it. That was just like him. Ugh, he was already getting on my nerves.

I was pulled out of my bitter thoughts when a loud gasp broke the silence. I looked up to find that Elijah's eyes had snapped open. I was at his side in the blink of an eye, and he stared up at me with wide, alarmed eyes.

"Amelia," he managed to say.

"Shh!" I urged him, hoping desperately that neither Stefan or Damon would wake up.

"I can't breathe," Elijah gasped, clutching at his chest. "I can't be in this house."

Realisation hit me. "You haven't been invited in."

In a second, Elijah was on his feet, bracing himself on the door frame for support. In the blink of an eye, he disappeared. Cursing internally, I quickly followed after him, appearing by the front door in the next instant.

Elijah was slightly hunched over, drawing a deep breath before he straightened, glaring directly at me.

"Welcome back to the land of the living," I remarked, leaning against the door frame.

"What happened?" he demanded.

"Not here," I replied, pointing up at the ceiling with my finger. Feeling confident that Elijah wouldn't kill me, I strolled out of the house, indicating that he follow me with a tilt of my head. "Come on, I'll buy you a drink."

I realised a slightly problem when we were halfway to the Grill. People were going to find it odd that Elijah was walking around in clothes that had met the match of a flame thrower. Elijah had come up with a solution though, making an odd request to go to the Lockwood residence.

If there was one woman who shouldn't be mayor of Mystic Falls, it was Carol Lockwood. The fact that she'd appointed Damon as head of the secret vampire hunting Founder's Council said enough.

"Elijah," Carol stated, surprised when the two of us appeared at her front door this early on a Saturday. "What are you doing here?"

"I'm afraid I request your assistance," Elijah replied, looking directly at her. It took me a moment to realise that he was compelling her. "As you can see, these clothes are somewhat unsuitable."

"Well, my husband's old suits are upstairs," Carol said. "I'll dig around and see what I can find. Why don't you both come in and have a seat?"

"Lovely."

As soon as Carol had left to go upstairs, I turned to Elijah, raising an eyebrow.

"How'd you manage to get her off vervain?" I asked.

"I convinced her to stop drinking her herbal tea weeks ago," Elijah responded. "Right before you and your little friends daggered me."

"Okay, a, I Elena's not my friend, and b, I already told you, I had nothing to do with that," I reminded him, browsing the foyer of the house. "In fact, I was actually against it."