THE VAMPIRE DIARIES
S02:E10
C H A P T E R S I X:
Faded Fifties.

"You really have a friend named Slater? Who names their child Slater?" Anastasiya questioned, walking up the stairs to an unfamiliar apartment. Rose looked back at her and gave an eye roll as they neared the door. The platinum blonde's heals clanked against the concrete stairs, alerting anyone around them of people coming. "Why'd I come again?"

"Slater?" Rose knocked on the apartment door, "Slater, it's Rose. Open up!" A moment of silence goes by, Rose looking faintly worried toward Elena. "He's... not home, sorry."

"Mm-mm. No. We didn't come all the way out here for nothing," insisted Elena, who had to know whether she would live or die by the hands of Klaus. Rose sighs with a blank look and then pushed the door open with vampire strength. Elena peaked inside as Anastasiya waltzed into the apartment with no care at all.

Rose, gesturing for Elena to enter, announced sarcastically, "After you."
The brunette met Anastasiya in the living room and watched as she picked up a picture frame and pointed the guy out to her. "Slater?" Rose had left the two alone, looking for her friend around the apartment.

"I don't think he's gonna be much help!" Rose called out, alerting the two girls. They ran up to the vampire, only to see another dead on the floor. Everyone's eyes went wide, but Elena's had a hint of disappointment.

The vampire drags the dead one away, into the kitchen, as Elena controls her breathing and walks over toward the computer desk, sifting through papers .

"Looks like whoever blew up the coffee shop found him and killed him for his information," Elena stated, trying to find anything left of Slater's useful information on the desk.

Rose walked beside the brunette and
included, "Yeah, probably to stop him from helping people like us. The guy was a vampire almanac. Knowing too much information just bit him in the ass."

Already inching toward the door, Anastasiya informed, "I'm... gonna step out. I don't know about you guys, but the smell of death in the next room isn't my favorite." Rose nodded, not looking toward the girl. Elena, on the other hand, gave Anastasiya a quizzical look as the platinum blonde stepped out the door.

She slowly let the door click closed and faced away from it, ready to venture elsewhere. What she did instead, was freeze. There he stood, clad in a pressed suit and shiny shoes, his watch shimmering in the dim hall. He smiled softly, almost apologetically. Anastasiya cocked her head at him in question, but he simply sighed.

"I knew you wouldn't stay dead long..." her voice stayed at a whisper, mind caught in a daze. He held his hand out toward her. She felt safe with this so called 'villain' in some complicated way. Her hand fit into his, and the hall had emptied out.

~

In a cozy ice cream shop, the two sat at a booth with desserts out in front of them, next to Anastasiya's phone and their waters. The whole place was retro and it was of Elijah's pick. The floors were checkered black and white while all of the seating was either teal or pink and the tabletops were marble-pale grey. A jukebox sat a the back, the neon light on it matching the ones decorating the ceiling.

"Why'd you pick ice cream?" Anastasiya wondered, breaking the peaceful silence between the two.

"It tends to make people happy," Elijah reasoned, putting his spoon into the cup of Neapolitan ice cream in front of him. The girl hummed, observing the restaurant they'd found themselves in. "Anastasiya?" She looked back over to him, nodding. "Is there something bothering you?"

"The restaurant is all fifties, Elijah," her voice sounded like a soft scold, but she hadn't meant it that way, "I'm not stuck there." The original nodded, understanding that she barely even remembered that time. "Does Klaus know about Elena?" Elijah, taken aback from the quick topic change, tensed. For a moment, he didn't respond, but quickly gathered himself and cleared his throat.

"Yes and no," he admitted, taking a bite of ice cream. "He knows there is another doppelgänger, but, I assume, has yet to find out about her specifically."

Anastasiya licked her ice cream, gaining her thoughts, and replied, "And we can keep it that way?"

Frowning, the original told, "There is no guarantee that he has not already found his key." Anastasiya frowned and ate her ice cream. Elijah took another bite of ice cream and looked off guilty, watching as people walked by the window.

"Does he know?" the platinum blonde inquired, Elijah focusing back onto her. His face was absent for a moment before he furrowed his brows and the girl continued, "About me, I mean."

"You would know the moment he did, Stasiya," Elijah chuckled, easing back into the seat. "Niklaus is-"

"Sentimental in his own way," Anastasiya finished for him, Elijah's lips parting in shock. "I remember only so much."

~

The original vampire sat with the platinum blonde on the painted, brick staircase. They watched as people walked by, going to and fro between various stores around the block.

"He doesn't even acknowledge me," Anastasiya complained, her chin in her hands.

Elijah smiled warmly at the girl, advising, "He takes time to warm up to people, I assure you that Niklaus is sentimental in his own way once you truly meet him." Anastasiya nodded, smiling small to show the Mikaelson her appreciation.

"I suppose you're right," she sighed, "It just makes me wonder what he really thinks. I mean, Rebekah is an open book, and you're very caring, Kol is the lovely man who tried- emphasis on that- to pick me up, but Klaus is a mystery."

"You just haven't been properly aquatinted yet, Anastasiya," he soothed, putting a hand on her shoulder.

She laughed and changed the subject, "Did you know that Kol was trying to boogie-woogie with me?" Elijah rolled his eyes in amusement, both at the girl and Kol's actions.

"Call him Daddy-o the next time you see him," Elijah teases, "tell me what he does."

"I'm not sure if he'll take that in a 'we're just friends' way or not."

~

"Do you remember all of us?" he asked, setting the empty ice cream cup down and giving her his undivided attention. As the platinum blonde went to answer, her phone began to buzz on the table.

She picked it up and read the name aloud, "It's Elena, should I-"

"Let her know you're in good hands," he instructed, watching as Anastasiya answered the call.

"Elena, Hi," she greeted sweetly, and after a moment said, "Oh, no! I'm fine. Yeah, just went off into the town..." Elijah used his vampire hearing to listen to worried Elena on the other end of the line "Okay, sure."

"Elijah, I'm s-"

"I know you are, Anastasiya, it's alright."

~

As she walked back up to the door of Slater's apartment, a familiar back caught her eyes. His toned back was covered with a leather jacket. "Damon? You're here?"

The mentioned man turned around, cocking his head and questioning, "And where were you?"

Anastasiya stopped at his comment, her eyes downcasted, and she mumbled, "On a walk." The two walk into the apartment without another word, standing in the man room.

Elena walks in, smiling at her blonde friend. "Anastasiya! I'm so glad you're okay." The platinum blonde's smile quickly diminished once she noticed Damon behind the doppelgänger, and then she fake smiled to keep it up. Elena turned and gasped at the sight of him.

"What're you doing here?" he asked in rude concern, his nose scrunched.

"What are you doing here?" Elena countered, glaring at Rose as she walked into the room. "You called him?"

Rose gave a guilty look toward the girl, apologizing, "I'm sorry, Elena."

"You said that you understood," Elena restated, stepping back from the vampire unconsciously.

"Well," Damon shrugged, "she lied." Alice, the girlfriend of Slater, gasped and smiled brightly at the male vampire, and then looked surprised toward Anastasiya.

"Damon Salvatore! and Anastasiya Nilsson? but... you're dead!" she claimed, stars twinkling in her eyes as she looked between the two.

Damon turned to Rose and demanded, "Get rid of her."

"No way!" Alice shrieked, waving her hands in protest.

"Dead?" Anastasiya wondered, stepping further into the room and furrowing her brows. "So, I've lived two lives?" Rose grabs Alice and leads her to another room, Anastasiya following behind.

"Please, do you have proof of my past life?" Anastasiya questioned desperately, holding Alice's shoulders. The girlfriend, eyes still wide, nodded and went around the platinum blonde toward a desk. Anastasiya turned, curiously watching the girl shuffle through a box and grab a few discolored papers from it. Her foot tapped as she waited for Alice to turn around and say something.

"Okay," Alice faced Anastasiya, sighing in preparation. She looked at the papers in her hand and explained, "These are from the 1950's." Without another word, she handed the creased papers over to Anastasiya, who realized they were photos. Her faced showed a mix of emotions, a small smile set simply contrasted against her unsatisfied, lonely eyes.

In the pictures, were Anastasiya accompanied by different Mikaelsons. The first, creased at the stop corner, was of her and a smirking man sat in a circle booth. His arm rested around her bare shoulders as she gave a flirty smile to the camera. She turned it to the back and read, "Kol and Anastasiya, Fall of 1954. Seattle, Washington." The next picture she looked at had two men in suits, both standing on either side of Anastasiya. She liked knowing that the one on her right was Elijah, and that made the other one Klaus. They were in a bar scene, standing under the lights above the stools. Flipping it over, she read,"Niklaus, Elijah, Anastasiya, Spring of 1956. Phoenix, Arizona." Seeing the third photo of her and a woman, Anastasiya smiled. She knew they had a great bond, but could barely remember why. The women were in heavy coats, near an iced-over pond, hugging to keep warm. The woman's arm was held up in protest to the picture as Anastasiya laughed next to her. On the back, it read, "Rebekah and Anastasiya, Winter of 1958. Edinburgh, Scotland."

"You died shortly after that picture," Alice informed, whispering softly. Anastasiya nodded curtly, put the pictures in her jean pocket, and left the room with a blank look.

~

Sat on the couch in a dead man's living room, Anastasiya repeatedly looked over the pictures Alice had given her. She wondered what they were doing before those pictures, and why they were taken or who took them. Thinking about knowing these people for years, taking vacations with them, made Anastasiya smile sadly.

Walking back into the room, Damon announced, "Time to go. Alice is soundly sleeping and won't remember a moment of this horribly stupid day."

"What vampire has their girlfriend off vervain?" Anastasiya wondered aloud, wondering if Slater even cared for the girl. Before anyone could answer, three men burst into the large apartment. The three girls stand and Damon turns toward the men.

"We're here to meet the doppelgänger," the left one greeted, getting straight to the point.

"Thank you for coming," Elena greeted back, going to walk toward them. Damon pulled her back by the forearm and glared, threatening, "I will break your arm."

He looks over at the left man with a cold glare, "There's nothing here for you." The middle man grunted and toppled forward, revealing Elijah. The vampires and Elena, stared in shock at the sight of the original. Elijah super sped toward the other two vampires, looking between everyone in the room. Rose ran out in fear for her life as he looks at her. Elijah puckered his lips in annoyance at the doppelgänger and Salvatore.

Elena shakes her head in confusion as Damon, with furrowed brows and a scrunched nose, claims, "I killed you, you were dead."

"For centuries now," Elijah dismisses cooly, no ounce of emotion showing on his stone face. He then turns to the intruding vampires and simply asks, "Who are you?"

"Who are you?" the bearded one fired back.

"I'm Elijah," he informs, knowing that would click something in the younger vampire's mind.

The bearded vampire froze for a moment, his mouth agape as his eyes widened at the man. He spoke, babbling, "We were gonna bring her to you-" Elijah looked off toward the other three. Elena diverted her eyes in fear and embarrassment as Anastasiya gave him a questioning look. Damon  glared at the man for not staying dead "-For Klaus. She's the doppelgänger. I don't know how she exists, but she does. Klaus will want to see her."

Elijah didn't look over at the vampire as he calmly asked, "Does anyone else know you're here?"

"No," the bearded vampire responds quickly.

Elijah barley smirked, nodded at Anastasiya, and looked between the two vampires, "Well, then you have been incredibly helpful." He plunges both of his hands into their chests, grabbing each heart and pulling it from the vampires bodies, which fell limp to the ground. Elena gasped, her eyes going wide. Damon's slightly widened eyes watched as the vampires fell. The original dropped the hearts to the floor.

Anastasiya clapped twice, a sardonic look returning to her face as she joked, "Good job, show off." Elijah turned and winked at the platinum blonde, speeding away as soon as he noticed Damon step forward with a daring look etched on his features. Elena let out a breath she was holding. Damon hesitantly looked away and toward Elena, who threw a questioning look. He turned his head back and stared at the spot Elijah once stood, his eyebrows furrowed and eyes curious.

~

A/N
give some feedback please! also, thanks for getting the book to 300+ reads already and putting it at #69 for #DoveCameron!