CHAPTER FOUR | A WALK ON THE WILD SIDE

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AS ELIJAH STROLLED INTO THE COURTYARD AFTER SPENDING COUNTLESS HOURS AT THE GYM, HIS EYES DARTED TO RILEY. The strawberry-blonde vampire stepped into the view the minute she heard his entrance into the courtyard, and held the small calling card that had previously been delivered. It was clear, just by the look on his face, that Elijah was intrigued by the card in question. 

"What is that?" He asked with an inquisitive gaze once Riley had strolled closer to him.

"An invitation— for you." The vampire vaguely responded and noticed the confusion on his face did not disappear. With a sigh, she began to read the contents of the invitation to Elijah. "I do hope that you can come, old chum. Signed, guess who?" 

"Tristan." Knowing exactly who the invitation was from, Elijah let a frustrated sigh escape his lips. "When did this arrive?" 

"This morning. Some compelled tourist handed it to Hayley, so as you can expect, she's full of questions." 

"This is nothing you need to be concerned about." Elijah's face fell as he tried to step past the vampire, though she sped in his way once again. "Riley."

"You should really learn to stop pushing me away. We're together." The vampire's tone was stern which caused Elijah to relent. "And, I suppose I should really find a dress to wear. Since—"

"—No." He snapped.

"Huh. That sounds like you're arguing with me, again. You're obviously planning on going to this freaky ball, so I'm coming, too." Riley turned on her heels and headed toward the staircase. After strutting up the first few, she turned back toward him again. "You've got two options— You can either let me be your date, or I'll see if Tristan will save me a dance."

"The first option suits me perfectly." 

"I thought as much." Riley mused. Elijah couldn't help but scoff at Riley's desire to be at his side so much so that she would even consider a dance with their current enemy.

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If Riley knew one thing about the Mikaelsons, it was that every event they were invited to was lavish. The Strix party was a far cry for any Mystic Falls event that the female had ever attended. Her eyes cast around the ball room, noticing the burlesque dancers performing whilst the rest of the guests were wearing gowns and suits and masquerade masks covering their identities. 

"This is one hell of a party." Riley whispered toward to Elijah. The pair made their entrance, her arm looped around his as she strode forward wearing a beautiful emerald green gown. The further they walked into the estate, the more eyes fell to them. "They're all staring at you."

Elijah hummed in response. "I'm kind of a big deal around here."

It only took Riley a few short moments to finally put the pieces together on why Elijah's attendance had caused quite the stir. "They're all part of your sire line, right?" 

"Most of them, tragically, yes. You see, Riley, I wanted to assemble minds curious about the world and eager to improve it along with time and circumstance to do so. My desire was to create an elite brotherhood devoted to a new, better civilisation." The Original vampire explained as he led his girlfriend out onto the dance floor. "It was naive. Eventually, I was forced to abandon them once I realised I'd cultivated a legion of egomaniacal sociopaths."

"So, once you'd abandoned them, Tristan took the Strix and made them his own." Riley concluded with a nod as Elijah twirled her around before placing his hands at her waist. "I figured he'd have made an appearance by now." 

Elijah had been so consumed by dancing with Riley that he had failed to notice Marcel talking with Aya in the crowd of guests. Once he placed a gentle kiss against Riley's lips and pulled away, he finally caught sight of the Gerard vampire and immediately looked stunned. 

The vampire blinked in horror, noticing Marcel had realised they were in attendance, too. "What's Marcel doing here?" 

"I should've known."

"What?"

Elijah glanced around the room in distress, his hand gripped tighter upon Riley's waist as his gaze finally met hers. "This isn't a party. It's an initiation."

Once the realisation had finally hit the couple about the evenings true intentions for Marcel, an array of waitresses wearing masks stepped into the room and gently tapped champagne glasses with knives in an attempt to capture the guests attention for Tristan's arrival.

"Distinguished friends, welcome." The leader of the Strix greeted as he finally made himself known to his guests. "It's so rare that we're ale to come together like this to revel for one night in the company of true equals. Now, I'd like to take a moment to welcome a very special guest— Mr. Marcel Gerard." Tristan extended his hand toward Marcel, whilst the rest of the guests applauded. 

Marcel painted an appreciative smile across his face. "I'm honoured. Thank you."

"Of course, before we tell Marcel all of our secrets, there's one small piece of business to which we must first attend. We must determine his worth."

"That's funny." Marcel seemed almost confused by Tristan's comment. "I seem to recall you being the one knocking on my door."

"You'll notice, Mr. Gerard, that over the course of the evening, someone had managed to take something quite dear to you." Tristan and Marcel finally stepped closer to each other. "Your daylight ring."

Marcel's eyes flickered down to his index finger which was free of his daylight ring. Riley started to panic, turning her attention to Elijah. "What the hell." Elijah gripped hold of her upper arm, desperate to keep her from intervening. 

"The test is quite simple— first, you need to deduce the identity of the thief. Then you are simply to take back what is yours." Tristan explained the rules whilst Marcel's eyes scanned the room for the potential thief. "Although, I doubt the prize will be easily relinquished. After all, despite our refinement, we're still a rather violent bunch. In victory, you become one of us. In failure, you meet your death. You have a few hours until dawn. I wish you the best of luck."

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"Marcel won't stand a chance against these vampires, they're all, what? Twice his age." Riley anxious spoke toward Elijah as the pair remained stood beside the bar. "How the hell is Marcel suppose to go up against one of them and survive?"

"With guile, courage, and perhaps a bit of trickery." Tristan de Martel wandered over with a smirk painted across his lips as he lowered his mask. "Admittedly, it's a long shot, but then sometimes the new candidates surprise us. Riley Evans, it is lovely to see you again." Tristan delicately gripped Riley's hand and gently placed a kiss against the top of it.

Riley tilted her head and snatched her hand back from his grasp. "I'd say the feeling is mutual, but I've been told it's poor manners to lie."

Tristan scoffed quietly before his attention moved to his sire. "Elijah, when I sent your invitation, I didn't dare think you'd come. Tell me as our founder and patriarch, what do you make of our latest candidate?"

 "Well, let me see. Marcel— he's arrogant. He's stubborn, prone to self-aggrandisement. He should fit in perfectly."

"If he survives." Tristan responded but then immediately noticed the pointed look that Riley had delivered. "I take it Mr. Gerard is a friend of yours."

"Yes, he's a friend. You'd probably have some if you weren't such a self-righteous bully." The vampire offered Tristan a tight-lipped smile. 

"A bully? My dear, you barely know me. Allow me to remedy that and, in so doing, I can explain our methods." He extended his hand for Riley to take, then gestured to the dance floor. Though, the female didn't take it. "Please. Just one dance if it's not an intrusion."

Elijah's eyes fell to Riley as if he were silently asking whether she was okay with dancing with Tristan. The vampire heavily sighed, finished her champagne and then reluctantly took his hand. Riley could feel Elijah's eyes on her as their enemy led her out onto the dance floor. 

"I'm glad you came, Riley." Tristan whispered gently just after he had twirled Riley around and pulled him back into his embrace. His hand brushed against her bare back and the mere touch alone made her squirm. "Tonight will allow you two make up your own mind about our organization."

"I have to say, attempting to kill my friend won't make the greatest first impression." Riley retorted with a pointed look only to hear a small chuckle leave Tristan's lips. 

"I think tonight you'll bare witness to the truth. At the very least, you cannot call us liars." The ancient vampire mused with a grin. His eyes flickered down Riley's body before they fell to hers once more. "There are few novelties left the the world, especially to us. A creature such as you is certainly among them."

Riley forced a fake smile onto her lips as she and Tristan continued to sway delicately to the music that enveloped them. "A creature such as what?" 

"A vampire with the ability to do witchcraft, of course. The only one among us who is capable of such power— it's impossible to do  both, as you know. You, Riley Evans, are one of a kind and a true beauty, at that." He spun Riley outward once more, yanking her softly back into his hold. 

An abrupt howling caused Riley's attention to sway from Tristan de Martel and toward the entrance of the party where she saw a drunken Klaus and Lucien stroll in with an array of women on their arms all dressed in halloween costumes. 

"My God, it's a room full of Elijah's." Lucien drunkenly slurred the moment his eyes darted around the room at the vampires that belonged to Elijah's sire line. 

Klaus nodded, throwing his arm over the two women that stood beside him. "I had that exact same nightmare once."

"Go and grab us a drink, love." Lucien asked the girl dressed in hot pink on his arm, who immediately pulled away from his grip with a smile. "Feel free to fetch one for yourself."

"And one for me, please. And one for her, and her, and her." The Hybrid innocently slurred again, then his eyes darted around the room. "Tristan! Tristan. Come out, come out wherever you are. Unless, of course, you're afraid."

"I'm sorry. Please, excuse me." Tristan whispered into Riley's ear, knowing he had to deal with the arrival of Klaus and Lucien. He stood forward, making himself visible to the two men. "You should, uh, move along. You're not welcome here."

Oh. Oh, okay. We're— we're not welcome here." Klaus mockingly laughed, clapping his hands together before he took a glass of champagne from one of the waitresses trays. "Or maybe you should move along before I make you cry in front of all your little friends."

"My concern is for your companions. They appear out of sorts without a shiny pole to ride upon."

"Ah! He's suggesting that you're exotic dancers, which, to him, is an insult if not somewhat hypocritical." Lucien slurred and then pointed to the burlesque dancers on the stage. "But, don't take its personally, love. He finds all work demeaning. The only dignified way to accumulate wealth is by birth." Lucien tapped his finger onto Tristan's nose. "Boop! Isn't that right, Tristan, hm?"

"Niklaus!" Elijah's voice echoed throughout the ballroom, causing the Hybrid to turn on his heels.

"What is it?"

"You're hammered." Elijah sighed with a sarcastic smile on his lips. "Which should come as very little surprise to anyone here, but it does hamper the festivities somewhat, so could I recommend that you find the nearest exit and— and could you take your playthings with you, too?"

Klaus chuckled softly, pushing his empty champagne glass onto Elijah. Riley noticed Klaus' drunken demeanour instantly fade and the two brothers shared a look before Klaus eventually stepped away. "You know, I used to find it insulting that I was barred from your special, little club. But now I realise that I lack the flexibility to become a member. I could never get my head far enough up my own ass." He bowed with a grin which caused Lucien and the girls to giggle. Klaus took hold of Tristan's champagne glass, downing it in disgust. "Cheap. Come on, let's go. This party's dead anyway."

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"Well, that was eventful, to say the least." Riley softly exhaled as she and Elijah stepped into their bedroom. She delicately brushed her hair to one side and turned around, showing the zipper of her dress to Elijah. "Could you?"

"Of course." Without hesitation, the Original placed one hand against her waist whilst his free hand innocently tugged down her zipper at the back of her dress. Riley gave him a thankful look as she let her dress fall from her body, caring very little about the fact that his eyes hadn't moved from her body for a second. "What was your impression of Tristan de Martel?"

"A pompous, arrogant dick." Riley immediately spoke as she heard a soft chuckle leave her boyfriend's lips. "But there was something  off about him. Like something was missing."

"He has a sister. Aurora. To be perfectly frank with you, Riley, I'm surprised that he's without her. His devotion to her is absolutely pathological. It's dangerous." 

"Do you think she'll turn up here?" The mere question that left Riley's lips caused Elijah's entire body to tense up. 

"I'd like to think not, but history proves that wherever Tristan goes, Aurora tends to follow." 

"Okay." Riley hummed. She strolled toward Elijah and wrapped her arms loosely around his neck. "Enough talking." Her lips pressed against his without a second thought.

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