Youth ☽ ☾ Klena

1.

At five-years-old, Elena was oblivious to the world around her as she lay back against her younger brother's back. His scruffy hair tickled at her neck as it brushed every time he slouched down in his boredom. Tonight they had nothing to do, no toys to play with an especially no parents to nag.

It was date night their parents had told them and that had left the both of them in Aunt Jenna's presence- which really wasn't much. Jenna, being in her teenage years, didn't particularly care for looking after the children. She was more worried about their simple needs before she had slunk off to the sofa to binge watch one of her new shows.

Jeremy and Elena, to pass the time, had already competed in an arm-wrestle- to Elena's annoyance as her brother was only three-years-old and had still beaten her- played with their Elena's, apparently stupid, doll house and ran around with cars in their little hands playing make believe.

Now, the quench their unending boredom, Elena and Jeremy had found themselves rummaging through their parent's wardrobe, trying on their parent's oversized and baggy clothes- Jenna oblivious to what the two children were doing. Everything, naturally, was draped loosely over the children's frames causing them both to stumble as they ran around their parent's bedroom, the clacking of the heels echoing around the house yet Jenna, with her headphones now stuck in her ears, was still oblivious- shamefully so.

They tried on outfit after outfit, ripping dresses and suits that could have cost as much as hundreds of dollars. Oblivious to the damage they were doing, the children continued until their little hands were too tired to reach up and drag yet another shirt from its hanger.

Finally, the clothes were bundled on the floor and both Jeremy and Elena were left in the pyjamas they had been in before. They giggled quietly, trying to muffle their voices as to not alarm Jenna yet, in their fantasy world, they could not even think to believe how much noise they had been making before.

Finally, with an enormous pile left behind, they snuck into their separate rooms. The night had left a smile on her face, one that would be so easily wiped away from the events that were to come. That night, she would lose her family and although she would gain a new one, it would only cause her pain. It would let her lead a closed off life, even if there was a smile on her face. She was going to live with monsters- monsters that had her just to use her. She was there to break a curse, such stupidity on her part to believe that she was there for something more.

Yet, she knew, he knew, that wasn't all she was there for. She was there for more and despite her own insecurities growing the older she got, they knew that the events that took place were for her benefit and his.

She was five, though, for now. Yet, that didn't change a thing, did it? Because despite her oblivious now, you don't stay oblivious forever.  

-

Klaus looked up at the open window once again before reaching a conclusion. He was better to take a willing doppelganger when young than an unwilling, much older, one. He didn't want for another one to scamper off again.

It hadn't taken him long to figure that the young girl was the next doppelganger of the Petrova line. Elena clearly resembled a young Tatia as well as the elder Katherine. Her young features were still as dainty as the elder doppelgangers just as her smile was just as wide.

She was a beautiful child and Klaus knew that she would grow up to be a beautiful woman, just as the ones before her had been. He had fallen in love with one and seduced the next, he was sure he could befriend another.

Klaus abruptly broke off his train of thought and concentrated on his plan. Despite his haste nature, he had to think this through. He was weighing a lot on this plan and if it were to go wrong, he would have a crowd of police on his trail.

He wished it would be as easy as killing her but if her blood proved pointless, her death would be for nothing and this was Klaus, the man who had taken pity on a child once before. And, if he could help it, he would rather not kill more than he already had. Their souls weighed heavier on his shoulders than the rest. His next plan of action was simply to fake her death. It seemed easy in theory and maybe it would be but he couldn't help but notice the flaws in his plans. For example, if a vampire were to take part in the investigation of the death at any point in time, all things could easily lead to a kidnapping. He would have to rely on his instinct- only humans would be involved. He wasn't sure if this was his best plan but if he wasn't going to kill her and he wasn't going to let her grow old without his presence, his only option was to take her.

He spotted a young Elena in the window, leaning her face against the window, fogging up the glass as she breathed gently onto it, almost asleep already despite not so much as touching her bed. It was a late for a child, Klaus knew, despite his lack in the modern way of raising a child. His experience was minimal. His own step-father had been cruel and his real father was dead and the one time he had to experience fatherhood had ended in a vengeful son. If he was going to do this right, he would have to everything in his power to be kind to this girl. No matter how much it would strain him.

He let the monster flood his mind and all thoughts of consequences disappeared as he leapt onto the windowsill, smiling down at the sleeping girl. He huddled her in his arms before falling backwards, landing on the ground with the girl still safely in his arms. Before anyone could notice he had stowed her away in the backseat of the, disappointingly slow, getaway vehicle.

As he shut the door he couldn't help but think that it would be easier to kill her but he had too much blood on his hands and he couldn't risk this not working. He had to free the wolf within him and if that meant he would have to live his life with a snotty child for a few years, he would make that sacrifice.

Shaking the thought away, he drew his attention back to the house, bustling through his pockets until he found his lighter. Not that it would do much without fuel. Opening the boot of the car, he found a container of petrol and lugged it up to Elena's room, carefully spreading as to not let the fire spread further than her room but enough the char the furniture...along with a body.

As soon as he let the lighter fly to the floor, the room lit up like a torch. He hurried out quickly and opened the boot once again, picking up a body of a young girl, one he ordered to be dug out from the graveyard- similar looking to the girl still sleeping in the back, and threw her into the fire, mercilessly watching the dead girl's body burn.

Before long, he had jumped into the driver's seat, shut the door as quietly as he could not to wake up the sleeping girl and revved the engine before driving down the dimly lit street, the only light coming from two dim street lamps and the ablaze room behind him.

Soon enough, he would reach his destination and take the plane, one of his own collection, to meet back with the rest of his newly-awakened family where he could forget that he ever did this horrific crime and get on with his blood-ridden life. 

-

Elena, on that night, had been stripped of her family, of her life. Whatever fate had planned for her had been ripped to shreds. It didn't happen often, fate was all powerful- yet, even the largest of forces had anomalies. Elena was just one of them.

Yet, nature always tried to fix its problems and they knew the way home...or so it thought. It would reveal it all the day she became an adult. The day humanity said she could live for herself, fate would show her a better life, one that she could try to return to.

Fate didn't know just how ungrounded their plan was.

Even when Elena would be shown on her eighteenth birthday, anything could happen. She could run back to her family, she could run to her friends that were supposed to be, she could stay with the monsters she would learn to call parents or she could simply live life alone. There were infinite options other than those, too. Fate has to control too much and trying to set one girl back on track won't always be easy, especially if the girl was a doppelganger.

word count: 1075

edit 1 - 22.04.17 - new word count - 1562