They had never heard her name. No one spoke of her. She is but a myth unknown, bent and broken. Her past changed her, made her into a monster. And now she's in Mystic Falls.
(Book One in The Demons Within series)
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She shouldn't have come, she knew. They'd try to kill her the moment they got the chance. Even now, she could see the Matt inching his hand over to the knife lying on the counter.
Yet she had come, driven by a force long buried and long forgotten.
"What the hell are you doing here?" Damon growled.
Lillian kicked her foot against the magical barrier keeping her from walking into the house, suppressing her hurt. "That is no way to treat a guest."
"Why would you help us?"
"I'm not," Lillian snapped. I shouldn't have come, she thought once again. Why did you? Another voice spoke inside her head. It was an instinct that had kept her alive for so long, one she had ignored on the drive to the Gilbert home. "I'm helping myself. I believe I know who took Jeremy, and I would be most happy for a... reunion... with her."
Damon clicked his tongue. Everyone else had yet to speak. Finally, Stefan said, "You mean Katherine. Why would you want to see her?"
"That is none of your concern," Lillian replied angrily. Why did they ask so many questions? Was help so rare to come by in Mystic Falls that it drew on so much suspicion?
"Well, we've already ruled Katherine out as a possible suspect," Damon said, waving his hand dismissively. Vaguely, Lillian remembered him questioning her earlier that night. Someone else had been with him, but she couldn't remember who. Lillian suspected it was because of the alcohol, which had begun to wore off after her thirty-minute nap.
"We all know Katherine wouldn't risk her life by coming within sniffing distance of Klaus, let alone kidnap Jeremy."
Standing just outside the door for the past five minutes, Lillian had already heard all of this. She wasn't keen on listening to it again, so she said, "Unless she has something she knows Klaus would want more than her."
Damon opened his mouth, but Elena interrupted him. "Where's Jeremy?"
Lillian smiled, pleased she had gotten their attention. "Why don't you all come outside? Then we'll talk."
Elena seemed to consider it and was stepping forward when Stefan put out his hand protectively. "No," he said to Lillian. "If you know where Jeremy is, you'll tell us, and we'll listen safely from in here." As Lillian stared at Stefan, a young boy of thirteen years flashed before her. He had the same forest green eyes, but in them was the innocence of a child. She shook the memory away.
"Then I guess I'll be going now." Lillian turned around. When she was stepping off the porch on her way to her car, Elena dashed in front of her. Lillian could see the desperation in her doe-like eyes.
"Please," Elena begged. "If I lose him--" She broke off.
Lillian stopped walking. She could smell the fear rising from Elena, see it in her eyes. Fear for her brother, something Lillian had once shared. She nodded.
"Why would Katherine bring Jeremy to this hellhole?"
Lillian had given Damon, Elena, and Stefan the address to the old textile factory, and the four of them now stood a few feet from the door. Behind them, Caroline shut her car door. Matt and Bonnie had stayed at the house, as per Elena's request. "I don't want anyone else to get hurt," the doppelgänger had said.
Lillian looked over at Damon. "There are many exits," she told them. She remembered all the doors she'd seen from her last visit. "And there's no chance of anyone else looking here."
The Salvatore vampire said nothing else. Leading the way, Lillian opened the door to the abandoned warehouse. The four others followed her.
It was near completely dark inside the building. The only light came from the center, where the smell of a lit candle filled the air. Lillian walked in cautiously, aware of her surroundings. Everything looked the same from when she'd been here last; each crate and machine were in the spots they'd been in, and it looked as if they hadn't been touched for decades.
They moved at a slow pace, watchful for any movement or sound. The only sound came from their shallow breathing and steps against the solid ground. Eventually, a muffled voice joined.
Elena must have heard it, because she called out, "Jeremy!"
In the darkness, Lillian glared at her. "Shut up," she growled under her breath.
"Hello, Lillian."
Lillian's eyes darted to the figure leaning against an old machine. She had wavy brown hair and a lightly tanned face, a few shades darker than Elena's. Even in the dark, the vampire could see how cold her brown eyes were. "Katerina."
The Petrova doppelgänger stayed where she was. Behind Lillian, everyone had frozen. Even Elena, whose rising heartbeat could be heard for miles. "It's been awhile," Katerina said. "How long now? Over 400 years?"
Lillian's last encounter with Katerina came rushing back to her. Katherine's fear of being found by Niklaus... her betrayal... the older vampire snapping her neck... "Where is it?" Lillian demanded. She paid no attention to the others as they raced to where the candle flickered in the center of the warehouse.
"No hug?" Katherine feigned a hurt expression. She sighed dramatically. "It's always straight to the point with you, Lillian. You don't know how to have fun."
"Where is it?" Lillian asked again. With enhanced speed, she was in front of the doppelgänger, pushing her against the machinery by the throat. "Where did you put it?"
Katherine smiled despite the force against her throat. "I see I got your attention by taking Jeremy."
Lillian pushed harder, her anger rising. "I don't care about him."
"You've always had a soft spot for younger brothers." Katerina laughed. It was the same cruel laugh Lillian often heard come from herself. "Tell me, how is little Sammy?"
Lillian's eyes blurred as guilt and grief washed over her, and for a short moment, her tight grip on Katherine's throat loosened. Her vision cleared just in time to see the Petrova doppelgänger reach into her jacket and stab a stake through her abdomen. Then she was gone.
Lillian fell to the floor, suppressing a scream of pain. The wooden stake protruded from her abdomen, and she was suddenly reminded of April. The Sinclair vampire shoved the thought away, grasping the stake in her hands. Slowly, she pulled it out.
Stefan stared out the window into the yard below, his thoughts on the previous night before.
He and Damon had returned late from Elena's house after seeing Jeremy to safely. The younger Gilbert had no recollection of what had happened, something Katherine had sought to.
But it wasn't thoughts of Jeremy that were haunting him. It was Lillian and Katherine. He had gone back to take care of Katherine when he saw Lillian throwing her up against the textile machine. He had listened and watched as the girl he had mistakenly loved mentioned the name of someone Stefan had never heard of; Sammy. And he remembered the look on Lillian's face. There had been pain and grief and guilt. In those few moments, Lillian had been vulnerable.
