Immortals [Klaus Mikaelson]

6

I avoid Damon the whole next day. No one dares to breathe a word about him around Alaric in fear of sparking some revenge plot, so it's actually pretty easy to avoid any contact with him for the most part.

Elena let me crash on her floor because Alaric is currently hogging the couch. I don't bother asking about the empty bedroom at the end of the hallway, considering Damon's statement about Caroline having more parents than either of them. And, since Alaric refuses to enter said room, I figure it must be a touchy subject.

I also try to keep as much distance as possible between Elena and me. I can tell she has barely found anything about the necklace that renders itself useful, so staying clear of her desperate questioning about a topic I don't want to revisit seems like the best choice.

As he is the only one around that I actually want to talk to, Alaric and I have become quick video game buddies.

"So, Clara," Alaric asks, stabbing an attacking zombie with his travel knife, "You may be an oh-so-powerful witch in the real world, but can you kick ass as a mortal in a zombie apocalypse?"

"You tell me," I use my controller to maneuver my character into a backflip, splitting two flesh-eating zombies in half.

He pauses, amazed, before laughing, "That's not even in the game! How the hell did you do that?"

I flip my hair dramatically, putting on my best smile, "I'm probably two thousand years old, Ric. I need to put some of that extra time into something."

We continue on like this for the remainder of the day until Elena decides to make an appearance around nine o'clock.

"You coming, Clara?" She questions, bounding down the steps.

I pause the game amid a fierce battle, causing Alaric to groan in annoyance beside me. I ignore him, looking up at the brunette.

"Coming where?"

"Caroline, the blonde you met yesterday, is forcing me into doing some senior pranks at the high school. She says we need all the help we can get." Elena grabs her car keys off of the front shelf, "So...? You are coming or not?"

I glance over at Alaric. He's watching me, probably trying to read my expression. "You should go. Your last day here shouldn't be spent murdering zombies on the couch for eight hours. Go, have some fun."

Giving me a slight shove, I follow Elena out the door after saying a quick goodbye. Her expression doesn't change when I make my decision to accompany her—hopefully meaning it doesn't bother her that I'm joining in on something meant for her and her senior friends.

Maybe Damon put her up to this. Of all the people to forgive him so easily, it wouldn't be much of a surprise that Elena would be the one to do it.

"You're leaving Mystic Falls?" She asks after a few minutes of silence in her surprisingly clean car.

I nod, "Yup. There's no reason for me to stay."

Elena fixes her rear-view mirror while keeping her eyes on the road, "What about Damon? He was so happy to see you in Chicago."

I gaze out the window. I'm not going to ask her to understand my decision, because it was a hard one to make. I'm sure she's just asking because she's curious about our close friendship, but there has never been any hesitancy to part with Damon before. We are old friends with a strong bond. Elena really should stop being so pathetically jealous.

"Damon will understand. He did in the twenties." I reply, calmly.

Within minutes, we pull into a school parking lot. There are other cars littered around the parking lot, some as new as Elena's, and others barely surviving.