Love Sucks [Kalijah & Haylijah]

CHAPTER 2

Elijah's POV

She'll be fine, Elijah, I replay the words Rebekah said to me before I left. I'll keep an eye on her. She promised me she would keep Hayley safe, and I believe her. So why do I have this strange feeling in my stomach? Is it really my concern for Hayley, or maybe it doesn't involve her at all? Am I really so nervous to see Katerina again?

I haven't had this feeling since 1492, the night I first laid eyes on her. Her resemblance to Tatia, the villager Niklaus and I had both cared for over a thousand years ago, was uncanny. Those brown eyes, the ones that made me feel like my soul was melting with hers; that fine, olive skin, silky to the touch; her soft hair; it was all Tatia's. But she wasn't Tatia, she was so nervous, so confused, the complete opposite of what Tatia had been. But there was something about her, something you would only see if you were looking for it: pride. She went through a lot, I'm sure, but she'd pulled through it like any warrior would. And that was the first of many things about her I fell in love with.

-

Mystic Falls hasn't changed much in the short time I've been away. There's hardly anyone on the streets, barely any movement inside the stores to my left and right. They're hiding, from what? I turn the corner and find my answer. The first newspaper I see reads, ANOTHER DEATH, ANIMAL ATTACK OR SERIAL KILLER? The next says, BLOOD SUPPLY STOLEN! Looks like there's still vampires here, not that it surprises me. Mystic Falls has always been a magnet for the supernatural.

I drive to the Salvatore boarding house, hoping that Stefan and Damon still reside here. Before I even get to the front door, Katerina stumbles out of the house, wearing her hair up inside a baseball cap, black pants, a vest, and sneakers, as if she's going out for a run. I laugh silently at the thought.

She doesn't seem to know that I'm there until she turns around. She jumps a little and gasps, raising her hand to her chest to calm herself down. "Oh my god, you startled me," she says, the last word barely a whisper. "Elijah, what are you doing here?"

"I know it's an unexpected visit, but I need to talk to you," my voice shakes and I hope she doesn't notice.

If she does, she doesn't acknowledge it. "Actually, I was on my way to meet up with Matt," she says it like she's not planning something diabolical. If I didn't know any better, I'd say that all she'd want with a bus-boy is to torture Elena, but that's not what she's doing. She talks as though she's going to meet up with a friend, and maybe that's all he is, but I can't help but feel a wave of jealousy bubble up inside me. "Can we talk later?"

I manage a smile, "Of course."

She touches my shoulder with unsteady hands and smiles back at me. Then, she walks to the car I recognize as Damon's, and drives away.

That was extremely odd. She doesn't seem like herself, not as confident or alert as usual. There's definitely something going on.

Hayley's POV

I shouldn't have followed him, but I had to. Maybe it's my stupid pregnancy hormones, but I can't lose him, he's the only person I trust.

He drives to Mystic Falls. You couldn't have chosen a worse place to go, I think. I have enough bad memories of this place to last me a lifetime. Offering up twelve of my hybrid-friends to be slaughtered; sex with Klaus, well not the sex, but this baby; finding out my birth parents are dead; being used by Shane. This place is definitely not one of my favourites.

He stops at a mansion, which looks more like a hotel than a house to be honest. I get as close as I can without Elijah being able to notice I'm here. He's talking to someone, but I can't see who it is through the trees lined up along edge of the property. Not long after, a blue '69 Camaro backs out of the driveway. I follow them, knowing they'll either be or lead me to the woman Elijah's "in love" with.

The car turns onto a dirt road, leading to the woods beside the cemetery. Ok, this is officially scary. I park the car in town, and decide to travel the rest on foot, staying far enough behind so the driver won't notice. The car stops, and a woman steps out, I can only see her backside. She walks toward a man standing next to a truck. I remember him from the Miss Mystic Falls pageant, he was the winner's escort. They say their hellos, and then she's doing jumping-jacks and push-ups and all the other physical workouts I can think of. She's not very good, she's clumsy and weak. I didn't come here to watch someone sweat, I grunt.

Right when I decide to leave, another woman approaches them. I wrinkle my nose, vampire. Being a werewolf means I have heightened senses, smell being one of them. Vampires have a very distinctive, repulsive scent. I'd know that smell anywhere.

She's holding something in front of her: a note. She reads it, then slaps the other woman. The man doesn't look concerned, just surprised. The one who was slapped turns to leave, and I see her face. I see who she is.

Katherine. The vampire that promised me she would help me find my birth parents. The psychotic bitch that sent one of her minions to kill me after I did her dirty work. I should've known it was her, Klaus has been looking for her for centuries, and she always seemed like the type to have men wrapped around her finger.

Vampire, the word repeats in my head over and over. Katherine doesn't have that repulsive scent, she's not a vampire. I don't know how that's even possible, but it is.

I back away from the group, being even more careful now that there's a vampire here. When I'm far enough away, I take out my cell phone and dial a number. Come on, I bounce impatiently. Pick up!