The Original

Old Friends

"I swear it was her, brother."

"You must have been hallucinating, Elijah. She's been dead for centuries."

"Kol, I'm telling you, I know what I saw."

Kol sighed. His brother could be so stubborn. Sometimes it came in handy. But, in times like these, it was more of a nuisance.

"Very well. I'll ask around about her. But please keep this between us. I'd rather not have the rest of our siblings believing you're going mad."

Elijah smiled and thanked his brother. "I'm not going mad. I promise."

Genevieve sat, drinking a glass of whiskey, in front of the library fireplace in the Salvatore mansion. Everyone was still at the dance, so she just let herself in. It wasn't hard. They didn't lock the door because the only people who would really try to get in are vampires, and most of the ones they want to keep out haven't been invited in. Luckily for her, she didn't need to be. And even if she did, she had already been invited in many years ago. They just didn't remember.

So there she was, drinking and trying to forget her past with Mikaelsons, when she heard a noise. A creak. Like someone walking on old wood. She stood up and listened, and heard another creak. She raced across the room, to one of the bookshelves. She reached for a book titled 'Hidden Doors and Secret Passageways", and, pulling on it, a door opened, revealing a hidden room on the other side. She went in and closed the door, just in time. As it shut, Elijah strutted into the room. Little did he know that his quarry was on the other side of the wall. He walked around the room for a bit, searching, scanning, looking for some sign of her, when his eyes fell on the whiskey glass, sitting on a table in front of the fireplace.

"Odd..." he thought, knowing the occupants of this house were not the type to leave alcohol untouched in a glass.

"Did you find anything, brother?" Kol said, suddenly appearing behind Elijah.

Gen gasped a little when she heard his voice, which she immediately regretted. They both turned to the wall of books, confused as to the source of the sound. They studied the bookcase, but found nothing. Kol raced off to search the rest of the house, while Elijah stayed in the library. He looked at each and every book, until his eyes landed on a particular book. Even though it seemed to obvious, it was exactly the kind of thing the Salvatores would do. He pulled on it, and a door swung open. He walked inside the room, his hopes high, but they were let down. The room was empty. Or so he thought.

Gen stood mere inches away from him. She could feel his breath on her skin, while she held hers. She longed to reach forward and take his hand, but it was an impulse she overcame. She looked in his eyes, and saw, behind the charming exterior, and the 'I-couldn't-care-less facade', darkness, sadness, and pain. Not unlike her own. He sighed, before turning around and leaving the room, shutting the door behind him. Not until she heard them leave the house did she allow herself to breathe again, though, to be honest, she would rather stop breathing altogether than have to face Elijah.

"So, tell me again, what they were doing in our house? Because you lost me after 'secret room'," Damon asked.

"They were looking for me. Elijah saw me at the dance. Only for a moment, but apparently it was enough. They came here in the hopes that I might be hiding here, presumably because they knew that if I was here, then I must be a vampire, and if I'm a vampire, then I must know you, because no vampire comes through Mystic Falls without running into the two of you."

"Okay I get that. But can you repeat the part about the secret room in the library? And also tell us how you got in here? Because we never invited you in."

Gen sighed. "There's a secret room in the library, built by your descendants, in case vampires should ever come calling. I know this, because I was here when the mansion was originally built, and I was able to come in, because I had already been invited in by your nephew, Zach."

Stefan and Damon glanced at each other, both a little wary of her answers, but since everyone else seemed to buy it, they thought it best to drop the subject for the time being.

"Well, why don't you just confront them? Or are you running from them just like everyone else we've come across?" Elena remarked.

"In a manner of speaking, yes, I am running from them."

"Well," began Damon, "tonight might be your last night of freedom."

"Why? What's happening?"

"We're kind of throwing a party tomorrow. Here. To celebrate graduation," Caroline said shyly. "And, knowing them, they'll probably crash the party."

"Of course," Gen huffed. "They always did like to interrupt a party they weren't invited to. Well, I suppose I was going to meet them again one day. The world is only so big and there are only so many places to hide."

"How is it that you know them, exactly?" Alaric asked.

Gen smiled slightly, and looked away, staring off into space while she remembered her time with them. "We're old friends."