𝗉𝗎𝗇𝗂𝗌𝗁𝖾𝖽 𝖿𝗈𝗋 𝗌𝗎𝗋𝗏𝗂𝗏𝗂𝗇𝗀

━━━━━━━━━━

Nightmares, the demons of Evelyn's dreams, came to educate her, to test her, if she was brave enough to look into these dark recesses of the mind. It was a fear for her. Like a knife in the gut, slowly twisting from a young age, and as the years passed by, it would grow, as a painful constant hammer in the head that never ceased to leave.

She did her best to get some sleep that night, but it just didn't seem to fade away. No matter how hard she tried, filling her thoughts with the happy moments yet the bad outweighed the good. It always did. The heartbreak still felt fresh, and right now, when she felt especially alone, the memories all returned, hitting her with the truth, that this was her reality.

A cursed reality that was marked on her permanently.

Evelyn saw herself back in the car, her parents at the front, sobbing, when she realised her mother had already left the world, Elena unconscious and her father trying to break the window so his daughters could make it out safe.

And while, she also tried her best to make sure at least one of them could be there for Jeremy, not wanting to leave him alone, Evelyn finally gave up, accepting her fate and the last thing she witnessed was a glow around her, and her eyes covered in darkness, breathing for one last time.

Presumed dead for 12 minutes, Evelyn was miraculously brought back to life. How? No one knew, but they were grateful she was alive. Evelyn wasn't.

She remembered waking up, confused, a short term memory loss, asking for her parents as Jenna broke down in front of her telling her of the tragic news. Evelyn denied it, her eyes fixated on the hospital door of her room, waiting for her parents to walk in with balloons and ice cream, screaming 'you've been pranked' but they never returned back.

Leaving behind a reminder that she was now an orphan.

She was filled with remorse and all she wanted to do was be with her parents. In peace. But Jeremy and Elena needed her and so, she prioritised their lives over hers. She lived for them. It felt right. She didn't care about herself.

Her life had no meaning to it anymore.

She lost touch with reality.

Twisting and turning in her sleep, Evelyn sighed and got up from her bed, opening the door to her bedroom and tiptoeing, being careful not to wake up her siblings and aunt, all in a peaceful slumber which she envied.

Letting the cool breeze hit her body, Evelyn sat down on the steps of the porch, looking up at the perfect velvet sky and underneath were twinkling stars blinking every second, a crescent moon almost full and illuminating the night sky.

Bringing her knees close up to her chest, she rested her arms on top and placed her head on them, tilting it up so she could gaze at the starry night when two caught her attention, igniting more than the rest, and a smile slowly crept on her lips.

"I miss you two," she whispered to the people that had shown her what the meaning of love was.

"You both are probably shouting at us for mixing ourselves in trouble," she laughed followed by a sad sigh escaping her lips just seconds later.

"They're a mess without you," she paused for a second. "I am, the most." she forced herself to not let the tears fall.

Gulping down the lump forming in her throat, she took a deep breath followed by another, shaking her head and rubbing her face with her hands, trying to ignore the tight feeling twisting in her chest.

She felt suffocated.

The guilt she was carrying was suffocating her too much and she wasn't sure how to get rid of it.

"EJ?"

Evelyn quickly wiped a hand over her face and straightened herself up, looking over her shoulder to see a sleepy Jeremy leaning against the doorframe.

"Jeremy? What are you doing? Go back to sleep," she motioned for him to leave.

Jeremy ignored her and sat down besides her. "Nightmare?" He asked.

"No," she shook her head, avoiding to meet his eyes. "Needed fresh air."

"I'll ask again." He made her face him. "Nightmare?"

Evelyn stared at him and she slowly nodded. Jeremy let out a deep sigh. "Why didn't you wake me up?"

"Because I didn't want to ruin your sleep," she shrugged, glancing back up at the stars. "It's not your problem."

Jeremy eyed the side of her face, her eyes were glossy, threatening to spill, but he could tell his sister was fighting it.

He was the only one who saw right through her. Well, most of the time.

His eyes then caught her hands, that were slightly trembling and were resting on her lap. Moving closer next to her, he placed his on top of hers and intertwined it with hers, giving it a gentle squeeze.

"It's okay," he whispered. Evelyn pressed her lips in a thin line, understanding the double meaning behind it.

"I– I don't want to," she whispered. "I can't."

"But you need to," he watched as she shut her eyes for a brief moment.

Feeling a drop fall against her skin, the water was making her dull eyes heavy. A rattled sigh passed through her parted lips, causing her breath to hitch up, obscuring her vision, as she took in the feeling of the water, bruising her skin and leaving behind an invisible scar.

A reminder that this life was given to her with no choice.

Evelyn sobbed, "I'm sorry."

"Don't be." Jeremy brought her into his arms.

"I– I just need them," she mumbled against his chest. "Why does it still hurt so much?"

Jeremy continued to comfort his sister as she cried in his arms. "It's all my fault," she whispered.

"It's not," he reassured her. "You're being too harsh on yourself."

But it was.

No one would know.

━━━━━━━━━━

"Rise and shine sleeping beauty!" Jenna strode into Evelyn's room with a bright smile on her face, opening up the curtains and Evelyn groaned, squinting her eyes as the golden sun focused on her.

"Aunt J, you're dreaming. Go back to sleep," Evelyn shooed and Jenna laughed, yanking the covers off her.

"Jenna!" She shrieked, too tired to even get the cover back off her.

"Get ready," Jenna ordered.

"No," Evelyn buried her face on her pillow. She felt the bed dip besides her and Jenna hovered over her, brushing the hair out of her face.

"Eve. School. Now."

Evelyn pouted, turning around to face her. "I have this amazing idea. How about you ring up the school, tell them i'm not feeling well and we can have an Aunt J and Evie day."

Jenna titled her head, thinking for a moment. "Tempted but here's an amazing idea. How about I drag you by your legs off this bed and get your ass out of this house," she mimicked with an innocent smile and poked Evelyn on her nose.

"You're no longer the cool aunt," Evelyn swatted her hand away and Jenna laughed, leaving her room.

Evelyn sat up and blew out a breath. "My life sucks," she grumbled.

"Jenna!" Evelyn laughed when she heard Jeremy shout at their aunt for waking him up too.

━━━━━━━━━━

Opening up the fridge, Jenna huffed out in frustration. "Eve!" She shouted out the girl's name who had yet to make her appearance downstairs. "She really wants me to drag her by the legs to school," she mumbled.

Elena and Jeremy chuckled, the two eating their breakfast and watching as Jenna ran around in the kitchen. "Evelyn!"

"What?!" Evelyn exclaimed and Jenna shrieked when she heard her niece standing close behind her. Turning around, she placed a hand on her chest, calming her rapid heart beat down.

Evelyn laughed, pointing at the horrified look on Jenna. "Got ya."

Jenna rolled her eyes. "Don't ever do that again," she warned and Evelyn continued to laugh.

She grabbed an ice cream from the freezer but that was snatched away immediately and replaced with a piece of toast in her hand. "Real food for once," Jenna said.

"Ice cream is real food," Evelyn argued.

"Not for breakfast," Jenna sipped her coffee, walking away. "I better see that plate empty Eve." She had been trying to get her niece out of the habit of having breakfast instead of ice cream which was occasionally and when it wasn't ice cream, Evelyn would skip breakfast which concerned Jenna.

Grumbling under her breath, Evelyn sat besides Jeremy. "You okay?" He whispered and she nodded.

Jeremy eyed her and she sighed. "I'm fine," she reassured him.

Evelyn looked down at the toast on her plate, and scowled, poking it. "Elena?" Her twin glanced at her. "Please?" She pouted and Elena took the plate from her and ate the toast quickly before Jenna could catch them.

"Here," Elena slid the ice cream tub to Evelyn. Her smile brightened and she dug in immediately with a spoon. "Be quick before she sees it."

Evelyn waved her off and concentrated on eating, her siblings laughing at the reaction on her face. She was beaming with excitement.

Hearing Jenna's footsteps approaching, Evelyn quickly finished and threw the tub away in the bin and sat back down as Elena slid the empty plate back to her, the Gilbert's composing themselves and hiding their smiles.

"Finished?" Jenna asked Evelyn.

"It was tasty," Evelyn nodded. "I wish I could have more but i'm full." She patted her stomach.

"Good. You should stop eating ice cream for breakfast," Jenna scolded lightly and Evelyn rolled her eyes, placing her backpack over her shoulders. 

"No promises," Evelyn cheekily replied.

"Whatever. Now leave my house, you pesky children," Jenna teased as she opened the front door for them.

"You love our annoying asses," Jeremy mused.

"The only annoying ass is yours," Evelyn remarked and bumped her shoulders with Jeremy. 

Jeremy walked up behind her, pulling on her backpack as she stumbled back a little but quickly regained back her balance. "Bitch!" Evelyn scowled, turning around to face him and hit him back.

He smirked and quickly ran inside his car, locking it before she could hit him. "Loser!" He laughed and drove off.

"Evelyn! Did you have the ice cream?!" Evelyn's eyes widened when she heard Jenna shout from the house.

"Jeremy did!" She ran inside Elena's car who had been laughing at her.

━━━━━━━━━━

Resting her head against the window, Evelyn hummed to the song playing on the radio as Elena drove them to the boarding house first before they went to school.

"Eve?"

She was brought back out of her thoughts when Elena called her. "Hm?"

"What's wrong?" Elena took a brief glance and returned it back to the road.

"Nothing," Evelyn dismissed it.

"So– have you spoke to Tyler yet?" Elena slowly asked and Evelyn winced at the name.

Ah Tyler Lockwood. Her ex boyfriend.

The couple had broken up recently and it didn't go too well. The three words he had expressed to her had given her quite the scare and she could no longer be with him.

Tyler on the other hand felt like a train had hit him when Evelyn ended it with him and to make matters worse, his anger had gotten the upper hand and cursed at her for leading him on.

Evelyn cried that night to Jenna and when Damon and Stefan heard of the news too, they were ready to kill the Lockwood for hurting the sweet girl but Evelyn stopped them.

And since that day the exes had not spoken to one another. Evelyn wanted to but she was afraid he would lash out on her again and she wasn't prepared for that again.

"No, I haven't," Evelyn replied, fiddling with the sleeve of her top.

"Caroline told me that he triggered his curse," Elena said and Evelyn's eyes widened giving her full attention now.

"What?! How?" Evelyn shot questions at her and Elena patted her knee to calm her down.

"At the masquerade ball," Elena explained the story and Evelyn now felt guilty for not being there to comfort Tyler.

"I– I should talk to him," Evelyn murmured.

"Are you sure?" Elena asked.

"Yeah. He's most likely afraid and I should be there for him. I don't want him to think he's alone," Evelyn said.

Elena smiled at her sister. She was always concerned about others before herself.

She reached out to hold Evelyn's hand, giving it a light squeeze. "You don't have to."

"I have to," Evelyn disagreed, returning her attention back to the window.

━━━━━━━━━━

A smirked curved on Damon's lips when he was met with Evelyn and Elena standing outside the front door. "Salvawhore." Evelyn stepped inside first when he let them in.

"Shitbert." Damon wrapped his arms around her and she scowled at him, pinching the side of his stomach and he let go of her, laughing.

"Ew. I don't want your germs on me." She pretended to dust off herself and he rolled his eyes.

"Kidding," she smiled.

"Missed me already?" He asked.

"No. We saw each other yesterday. Get over yourself," Evelyn scoffed.

"It's not good to lie," he tutted, bringing her back into his arms and she laughed when he kept a tight hold on her.

"Um– is Stefan here?" Elena asked, breaking the duo's conversation. "He called, said it was important."

"You two are back together?" Evelyn turned to face her sister. "Didn't you break up like two days ago?"

"We're not together," Elena confirmed.

"Hey," Stefan appeared and Evelyn's smile widened.

"Hi Stefano." She waved at the vampire and he waved back, sending her a warm smile.

"Why did you call?" Elena asked Stefan. He moved to a side and Rose came into their view. "You," she gasped.

"Oh my God. Rose! Hi!" Evelyn's eyes lit up and she ducked under Damon's arm, running towards the vampire and crushed her petite body against Rose's in a hug.

Rose's eyes widened and she slowly wrapped her arms around her, awkwardly patting her back.

"Hey," Rose smiled, finding it extremely odd that Evelyn hugged her, especially after kidnapping her.

"Eve," Evelyn said and Rose raised a brow, confused. "Call me that. I don't like my full name," she rambled, doing weird gestures with her hands.

"What the hell just happened here?!" Damon asked, tugging Evelyn away from her and shielded her away from Rose protectively.

"Hey!" Evelyn pushed Damon away and stood in front of him.

"What's going on?" Stefan asked, confused as he glanced between Rose and Evelyn.

"Rose gave me chocolate," Evelyn said. Stefan and Damon gave her a look. "I was hungry. She was nice to me," she shrugged.

"You gave her chocolate?" Damon asked Rose. "What kind of a kidnapper are you?"

"I couldn't say no to her," Rose shrugged.

Stefan chuckled. "She gave you the puppy eyes didn't she?" Rose nodded.

"In my defence I was hungry," Evelyn gave them a sheepish smile.

"Oh, I'm sorry about Trevor," Evelyn said and a sad smile was now fixated on Rose's lips. "And you're welcome here."

"No she's not," Damon glared at Rose. He didn't trust the vampire at all.

Evelyn smacked his arm. "He likes to joke. Right?" She gave him a look and Damon forced a smile.

"You can stay here. I guess," he mumbled and Evelyn cheered to Rose who returned an awkward smile back.

They all sat down to talk about the most pressing issue: Klaus.

"Ok, you have to understand, I only know what I've picked up over the years, and I don't know what's true and what's not true. That's the problem with all this vampire crap, but Klaus, I know is real," Rose said, pacing in the living room.

"Klaus." Evelyn felt a weird sensation forming in her body when she tested his name.

"Who is he?" Elena asked.

Damon answered her instead. "One of the Originals. He's a legend," he said from his position behind an armchair, across from a very worried looking Evelyn.

"Of the first generation of vampires," Stefan added.

"Like Elijah?" Elena asked.

"No," Rose said, rolling her eyes. "Elijah was the easter bunny compared to Klaus. He's a foot soldier, Klaus is the real deal".

"I find it hard to believe that Elijah is a foot soldier. They're the Originals for a reason. Trevor said so himself," Evelyn spoke up, noticing the looks she earned from the people in the room.

"He literally chopped off Trevor's head with his hand!" Evelyn exclaimed and gestured with her hands how Elijah did it. "Bitch slapped him."

"Okay," Elena drawled out, making Evelyn put her hands down and patting her on the knee to calm her down.

"Klaus is known to be the oldest," Stefan began.

"Ok so you're saying that the oldest vampire in the history of time is coming after me?" Elena asked.

"If what she's saying is true," Damon butted in.

"Which it is," Rose interrupted him, who continued nonetheless.

"And she's not just saying that so we don't kill her–"

"Which i'm not." Rose rested her hands on her hips.

Evelyn looked between Damon and Rose when they were standing next to each other. They look cute together. She thought.

"Then we're looking at a solid– maybe," Damon finished.

"Look, Elijah's dead, right? So nobody knows you exist," Stefan assured Elena.

"Not that you know of," Rose countered.

"That's not helping," Damon interrupted.

"Yes it is. It's useful information. False hope won't get us anywhere, Damon," Evelyn deadpanned with an eye roll.

"Look, I've never even met anyone who's laid eyes on him. I mean, we're talking centuries of truth mixed with– fiction. We don't know he's real, for all we know he could just be some stupid bedtime story," Stefan continued, trying to make Elena feel better.

"But he does sound scary," Evelyn mumbled.

Damon looked over at Evelyn again. He couldn't help but notice her eyebrows furrowing, her lips pouting slightly as they did when she was upset or confused.

"He is real, and he doesn't give up. If he wants something, he gets it. If you're not afraid of Klaus, then you're an idiot," Rose stated.

"So basically Damon and Stefan are idiots?" Evelyn asked, a cheeky smile on her face.

Stefan threw a pillow at her and she laughed, throwing it back at him.

"Alright, we're shaking. You've made your point," Damon rolled his eyes and told Rose.

"Where are you going?" Stefan asked as Elena started walking towards the door, making her turn around.

"School. I'm late. Come on, Eve," Elena said and Evelyn stood up from her seat.

"Let me grab my stuff. I'll go with you two." Stefan said, standing up from his position on the couch.

"It's okay. I know where it is," Elena said, holding Evelyn's hand as they walked away.

"Bye!" Evelyn waved.

Damon ran after them, calling them as they came to a stop. "I need to talk to you," he pointed to Evelyn.

Evelyn looked at Elena and shrugged. "Go wait in the car." Elena nodded and left them.

"What's up?" Evelyn asked.

"You seem a little down. Are you okay?" He asked, moving closer to her.

Evelyn fixed the strap on her backpack and hesitantly nodded. "I'm great."

"You sure?" He pressed it further.

"110%," she smiled.

Damon slowly nodded, bringing her into his arms. "I'll see you after school?" He asked.

Evelyn scoffed, "No. I know that i'm your only friend but I have to share my attention with the others as well. You have to book an appointment with me."

"But i'm your best friend," Damon pointed out.

"I'm everyone's best friend." She pulled away and moved over to the front door.

"Do you think Rose will want to be my friend?" She asked in a hushed tone. "She's really nice."

Damon snorted. "Who wouldn't want to be your friend?" Evelyn smiled.

"I don't trust her," he frowned.

"Damon I think she's telling the truth about this Klaus guy," Evelyn shrugged. "I wonder how he looks," she murmured to herself.

"Such an odd name. Klaus," she thought.

"Why am I even thinking about him?" She shook off her thoughts and looked back at Damon.

"Anyways i'm leaving. Don't be mean to Rose."

"I'll try my best," he shrugged.

Evelyn eyed him, a smirk playing on her lips and he raised a brow at her. "Why are you looking at me like that?" He asked.

"Nothing," she smiled to herself and left.

"No. You have to tell me what that look was for!" Damon shouted.

━━━━━━━━━━

As Evelyn arrived at school she saw Bonnie and Jeremy walking together and ran slightly to catch up to them but every movement she made felt tiresome, as if her energy was being drained step by step. Why was she feeling like this today?

She wrapped her arms around both of their shoulders, smiling. "Watcha you both doing?"

"Hey," Bonnie smiled, wrapping her own arm around Evelyn and hugging her close to herself.

"We're going to the Grill later on. You want to join?" Bonnie asked.

"Sure," Evelyn nodded.

"Excuse me!" A voice called out and a boy walked over to them. "Do you guys know which way is the office?"

He eyed Evelyn then quickly averted them away when she made eye contact with him.

"Yeah, yeah. Through the double doors then straight ahead, quick left and then your first right. You must be new here," Jeremy presumed.

"Yeah, I am. It's kind of hard to hide it. My name's Luka." He shook Jeremy's hand.

"I'm Jeremy, this is Bonnie and my sister,
Evelyn," Jeremy introduced him to them.

"Hey," Luka smiled.

"Hi," Bonnie smiled and Evelyn gave him a wave.

Evelyn now took a closer look at Luka and felt an odd vibe emanating from him, but chose to focus on the more pressing matters in her head.

"Anyway, Luka. I'm actually heading in that direction. Why don't you follow me? It can get confusing," Jeremy offered.

"I'll go with you as well," Evelyn chimed in.

"Thanks. It's nice to meet you Bonnie." Luke looked at Bonnie before leaving with Evelyn and Jeremy.

━━━━━━━━━━

"No," Jeremy shut his locker and Evelyn leaned against the one next to it. "You're not talking to Tyler."

"You're saying like i'm asking permission from you," Evelyn scoffed. "I just want to make sure he's fine, Jemmie. It's taken a toll on him from what I heard."

"Did you forget what happened a couple of weeks ago? He hurt you," Jeremy reminded his sister and Evelyn glanced down at her shoes, rocking back and forth.

"He apologised after," Evelyn murmured.

"Yeah after he made you cry," Jeremy countered.

"It was my fault what I did though," she pointed and Jeremy sighed.

"You did what was right for the both of you. He should've understood. I'm not letting you go near him, EJ," he replied sternly.

"Who's older again?" She asked and Jeremy glared at her. "Huh?"

He sighed in defeat, "You are."

"If it makes you feel any better, i'll call you immediately if anything happens," Evelyn assured him, tugging on his hand slightly. "And I have my pepper spray in my bag. So i'm all set. Yeah?" She showed him her pepper spray.

"Fine," he shrugged.

Evelyn walked away, looking over her shoulder as Jeremy watched her go towards Tyler who had been near his locker. She stood behind him, tapping on his shoulder.

Tyler whirled around when he was met with his ex girlfriend. "Hey Ty," Evelyn beamed with a wide smile to ease the tension.

"Hi Eve," Tyler mumbled. "I have lesson now."

Evelyn blocked his way, refusing to let him walk away. "Look I know we're not on the best of terms right now but can we talk? I mean I really don't want it to be like this between us for the rest of our lives and I want to mend what I broke," she rambled. "Oh man, i'm talking too much." She palmed her forehead.

"Hey, calm down." Tyler placed his hands on her arms to stop her from fidgeting. "Come on," he nodded and placed a hand on her lower back, directing her to an empty classroom so they could talk.

Evelyn looked back at Jeremy and gave him a thumbs up but he didn't seem pleased at all.

She took a deep breath as she stood in front of Tyler, he was leaning against a desk with his arms crossed over his chest.

"I heard about what happened to you." Was the first thing Evelyn blurted out and Tyler stiffened in his spot.

"What are you talking about?" He tried to play dumb.

"About your curse," she whispered. "Caroline told Elena who told me and that's why I wanted to talk to you well this and the breakup– i'm talking too much again aren't I?"

Tyler chuckled under his breath, nodding then composed himself. "You know about werewolves and vampires?" He asked.

"You know about vampires?" She asked instead.

"Caroline told me she's one," Tyler said and Evelyn nodded. "Are you–?" He trailed off.

Evelyn was quick to deny it. "Oh no no. I'm not a vampire. I'm human. Just human," she confirmed and Tyler nodded.

"Ty, I know this is a lot for you take in right now but I wanted to let you know that i'm here for you." Evelyn's hand instantly grabbed his and she smiled. "I don't want to change that between us."

Tyler let out a smile and gave her hand a gentle squeeze. "Thanks. I know I could always count on you."

"Always. You look like you need a hug, come here." She embraced him in a tight hug and he wrapped his arms around her too.

"You're not alone in this," she murmured, pulling away from the hug and he nodded. She giggled nervously when they stood in silence for a moment.

Tyler made a move towards her and Evelyn furrowed her brows taking a hesitant move back. "Um– Tyler what are you doing?" His eyes were boring into hers as Tyler's lips brushed against Evelyn's lips and she moved her head back more.

"I'm pretty sure exes don't do this," she murmured, still moving back.

Suddenly Tyler felt Evelyn's hand collide with his cheek harshly, hearing the loud slap and groaning in pain as he felt his jaw crack at the sheer strength of her action. Evelyn gasped, a hand clamped over her mouth when she realised what she did and distanced herself from him.

"I'm so sorry– you– you were going to kiss– and my hand did that by accident. Shit what the hell was I thinking. I'm– I'm sorry Tyler but you can't kiss me like that!" Evelyn stammered over her words and without wasting a second, she ran out of the room leaving a shocked and angry Tyler alone.

Her eyes scanned the hallway and Evelyn found Jeremy who instantly pushed himself off the wall he was leaning against and took long strides towards his sister. "What happened?" When he noticed Evelyn's eyes were slightly glossed and one hand rubbing the palm of the others, hissing in pain and cursing herself.

"He was going to kiss me and then my hands just suddenly touched his cheek. Very harshly might I add. Then I ran away because I made it more awkward and he looked very pissed. Oh God, I definitely ruined our friendship," she sniffled and spoke too fast for Jeremy to understand.

"First of all, stop crying," Jeremy wiped away her small tears.

"But– but I hurt him." Evelyn bit her lip. "That was very mean of me."

"What did you do?" He asked, his eyes quickly glancing over her shoulder when he seen Tyler step out of the classroom, the wolf's eyes glaring at the back of Evelyn's head and stormed away.

"I sort of slapped Tyler," Evelyn winced.

A proud smile crept on Jeremy's and Evelyn groaned. "Stop smiling! My hand is burning and I need ice to cool it." She showed him her right palm that was red.

"Let's go cool that down," he chuckled, wrapping an arm around her and she sought comfort in his embrace.

"I think I broke my wrist. I don't know how I had the strength to do it that harshly," she mumbled, remembering feeling an immense amount of energy coursing through her body when she hit him.

━━━━━━━━━━

"You want me to distract Stefan?" Evelyn spoke to Elena on the phone as she walked out of the school.

"Please Eve. I don't want him to know what I'm up to and I really need to get answers from Katherine," Elena pleaded.

"But I'm terrible at distracting even worse at lying! He'll see right through me," Evelyn complained.

"Eve, as my twin sister, do you promise or not?" Elena asked and Evelyn pinched the bridge of her nose in frustration.

"Not the sister code!" She groaned. "Okay. I promise."

"I love you," Elena said. Evelyn could practically see the wide smile on Elena's face and rolled her eyes with a smile of her own.

"I love you too," she murmured, ending the call and immediately found Stefan walking out.

"Stefano! Stef!" Evelyn shouted to catch his attention and Stefan turned around when she ran up to him.

"Hey, slow down," Stefan quickly caught her before she could trip over her own foot and fall on the floor.

She placed her hands on her knees and took deep breaths. "I seriously need to go the gym," she muttered.

"What's up, Eve?" He asked and Evelyn straightened herself back up.

"Guess what day it is?" She asked.

"It's Tuesday," he pointed out the obvious.

Evelyn rolled her eyes. "I know that but what day is it?"

Stefan raised a brow and shook his head. "I have no idea. Can we talk later? Elena went home sick, I just want to go check up on her."

"She'll survive without you," Evelyn waved it off and blocked his path. "It's your lucky day today." She placed her hands on her hips.

"I'm so confused," Stefan said.

"It's your day to spend time with me. Yay!" She cheered, her hands dazzling in the air.

Stefan chuckled, "Can we change the day? I'm worried about Elena," he said, moving away and she let out a low groan.

"I really need to talk to you," she murmured softly and Stefan stopped once again. Evelyn was looking down at the ground, playing with her fingers, a pout on her lips.

"Uh, talk about what?"

"Tyler."

Stefan's eyes widen. "Did he hurt you again?"

"The other way actually," Evelyn rubbed the back of her neck.

"What did you do?"

━━━━━━━━━━

Stefan chuckled, watching Evelyn as she took her time in eating her burger and fries. "I could eat this for the rest of my life," she took a sip of her lemonade. "Along with ice cream. Stefan this is heaven on a plate. I would share but this is so good."

"You would never share," Stefan countered and Evelyn looked offended. "Don't even deny it," he quickly spoke before she could.

"You're right. I guess," she mumbled.

"Are you ever going to tell me what happened?" Stefan asked, drinking his liquor and Evelyn nodded, popping a fry in her mouth.

"Hold up," she wiped her mouth with a napkin. "I slapped Tyler." Stefan's eyes widened and she continued to tell him the story.

"I think he took my hug as a wrong signal. This is all my fault," Evelyn groaned.

"Eve, you didn't do anything wrong. Don't blame yourself," Stefan reassured her.

"Well, I'm pretty sure that our friendship has definitely gone down the drain."

"Definitely," Stefan laughed and Evelyn buried her face in her hands.

"Not helping," she mumbled.

"Give it a few days and talk to him again but this time don't be too–" Stefan paused for a second. "Eve."

"Great advice," she scoffed sarcastically.

"Why did you even break up with him?"

"He said I love you and I freaked out." She played with the straw on her glass of lemonade.

"Oh that's horrible," Stefan grimaced.

Evelyn sighed deeply, "I don't feel it with him. I thought he was the right one but I guess I was wrong. I'm definitely destined to be single and in misery my whole life," she laughed it off.

"That's a lie. The right person is out there waiting for you, and you won't ever have to work so hard to be happy because it'll just happen," Stefan smiled at her.

"Well if it ever comes to that day, you will be my maid of honour," Evelyn smiled back and he laughed.

"Caroline won't like that," he pointed out and she laughed.

"You're a good friend to me, Stefan. Don't tell Damon or else he'll cry and throw a fit."

"Come on!" He smirked. "I want to rub it in his face."

They continued to talk for a while with Stefan cheering Evelyn up who felt at ease with herself and enjoyed spending her time with him.

"Okay, now I need to leave." Stefan stood up, finally deciding to leave.

"Wait!" Evelyn exclaimed.

Stefan eyed her, noticing the way she panicked, "Eve, you have two seconds to come clean."

"What do you mean?" She frowned.

"I'd believe the whole innocent act a little bit better if I didn't know how good you were at providing a distraction or lie on demand," Stefan pointed out and she slumped in her seat.

"What?! I was telling the truth about Tyler. I mean look at my hand. It's still a little red and burns," she shoved her palm in front of his face. "That shit hurts you know."

Stefan moved her hand away. "Where is Elena?" He demanded.

"I– I can't tell you," she averted her gaze away from him. "Sister code. I also virtually pinky promised with her through text."

"Pinky promise? Sister code? Are you kidding me?!" Stefan stammered over his words in disbelief.

"Okay okay. She's not ill because she's– she's uh– playing strip poker." Evelyn tried to come up with the best excuse but instead laughed at what she said. "I don't even know why I said that. What is wrong with me today?"

"Evelyn!" She frowned at the mention of her full name and Stefan face softened now speaking quietly. "Where is she?"

"I'm sorry but I– I can't tell you," she shook her head. "Stefan, I am your friend but I'm also Elena's sister and the sister code comes first so I'm not going to tell you where she is. She is safe if that gives you a bit of peace."

Stefan looked at her with disbelief and shook his head at her, leaving. "Does that mean I can eat your fries?!" She asked. "I'll take that as a yes!"

━━━━━━━━━━

After looking for Elena for a while, who had told her she was in the tomb, Evelyn found it and stepped inside, finding the doppelgängers speaking to one another.

"Ah, my favourite Gilbert." Katherine announced when she spotted the girl.

"Someone's jealous." Katherine smirked when she noticed Elena rolling her eyes.

"Hey, my great great great–" Evelyn smiled and Katherine now rolled her eyes.

"Shut up," Katherine said.

"Okay," Evelyn said. "Grandma," she added, giving her a cheeky smile.

"I told you to distract Stefan," Elena spoke to her sister.

"I did but then he caught it and left," Evelyn said.

"What if he followed you?!" Elena panicked.

"Relax I made sure he didn't stalk me like he did with you," Evelyn sat down on the ground with her sister. "Did you get your answers?"

Elena nodded, "Need a few more though."

Evelyn glanced over at Katherine who looked pale and miserable. "I have a present for you. Here you go," she handed a blood bag to Katherine.

Katherine reached out to take it but Evelyn moved her hand back. "You forgot to say the magic word," she said.

Katherine glared at her and Evelyn waved the bag in her face, smiling. She reluctantly gave up and sighed, "Thanks," she mumbled and took the blood bag, greedily drinking it.

"Why'd you give her all of it?" Elena complained.

"Because she's starving and looks like shit," Evelyn shrugged.

"Take tips off your sister, Elena," Katherine interrupted them, finishing the blood bag.

"Can someone please tell me the story?" Evelyn asked and Katherine began.

"It's a long story, Klaus and I. Goes all the way back to England, 1492 after I left Bulgaria. Or– was thrown out. My family, your true ancestors... they disowned me. My indiscretions were not tolerated at that time. I had a baby out of wedlock, the shame," she explained dramatically.

"It was kept secret," Elena stated.

Katherine agreeing before continuing with her story. "My baby was given away. I was banished to England, and I had to learn to adjust, so I quickly became english. It was there that I caught the eye of a nobleman named Klaus. I was taken with him at first, until I found what he was and what he wanted from me. And then I ran like hell."

"So– What did Klaus want?" Elena asked.

"Wait–" Evelyn spoke up. "As Rose mentioned, he wanted the same thing with Katherine that he does with you. He wants to break the curse by sacrificing the Petrova doppelgänger."

"I've always liked you better, Eve. So smart and logical. He would really like you," Katherine said. Evelyn raised a brow, not liking the way she emphasised the word 'like'

"What does the Petrova bloodline have to do with Klaus?" Elena this time asked.

"It's really tedious, but– the curse was bound by the sacrifice of Petrova blood. Witches are crafty with their spells. The doppelgänger was created as a way to undo the spell. Once a doppelgänger reappeared, the curse could be broken," Katherine explained.

"So you ran before he killed you?"

"Something like that."

"Rose never ended up taking you back to Klaus, did she?"

"No, but not because she had a change of heart."

Evelyn listened closely and quietly as Katherine told the story of how she turned. She had been listening closely for hours now, when Elena started asking specifically about the curse, which caught Evelyn's interest.

"Moonstone, witch, werewolf, vampire and the doppelgänger. That must be a complicated spell." Evelyn thought, sighing and running a hand through her hair, her eyes widening when she came to a realisation.

Katherine eyes caught Evelyn's furrowed brows and smirked. "Looks like someone figured it all out."

"Eve?" Evelyn looked at Elena then flickered her eyes over to Katherine.

"Caroline. A vampire. Tyler. A werewolf. Bonnie. A witch," Evelyn voiced out her thoughts.

"I like the poetry of it," Katherine laughed.

"So you were gonna hand us over to be killed?" Elena asked, her voice shaking with anger.

"Better you die than I," Katherine smirked.

━━━━━━━━━━

"Lena, he won't find about you," Evelyn assured her as she watched Elena pace around.

Katherine scoffed and kept her gaze longer on Evelyn. "Oh sooner or later, Klaus will. He always gets what he wants." Evelyn frowned at the words, not understanding the hidden meaning behind it.

"Well he ain't getting anything. He needs to learn that life isn't fair," Evelyn snapped, feeling frustrated now.

Katherine bursted out into fits of laughter. "He's definitely going to like you."

Elena started to say something when Stefan appeared. "Elena. Eve."

"Stefan, what are you doing here?" Elena asked and he frowned.

"I could ask you the same question," he replied curtly. "But it didn't take long for me to figure out what was this important that you'd have to keep it from me."

"I knew that you would stop us," Elena argued with him.

"Listen to me, whatever she said to you is a lie. Do not listen to her. She's a liar, Elena," he pointed towards Katherine.

"You'll be even more surprised for what he truly wants," Katherine mumbled, lingering her gaze on Evelyn who was toeing the ground with the tip of her shoe, oblivious to Katherine's stare.

"Ignore her," Stefan warned the sisters.

Evelyn shook her head. "What if she isn't? You didn't hear what she said. You don't understand!"

Stefan frowned and looked at Elena imploringly. "You don't have to worry, I'm not gonna let anything happen to you."

"That's the problem, you won't but you'll die trying. How's that any better?" Elena said, her voice breaking slightly as tears appeared.

Katherine shuffled back to the opening of the tomb. "There's nothing you can do, Stefan. I haven't even told you the best part of the story." She went on to explain how she had run home only to find her family slaughtered.

"He killed them, my entire family, just to get back at me for running. Whatever you do to escape Klaus, he will get his vengeance on your friends, your family and anyone that you've ever loved," she warned.

Elena immediately looked over at Evelyn who was now on the verge of panicking. "No, look at me. No, do not listen to her, okay?" Stefan moved over to Evelyn and placed his hand on her arms to make her look at him.

"O– okay," Evelyn hesitantly nodded but she was still frightened at what Klaus was capable of doing.

Katherine smirked. Oh how the girl in front of her was actually the most protected here.

"Always the protector," Katherine scoffed to Stefan. "But even you must realise that she's doomed. There's nothing you can do to stop it– unless of course you have this." Smirking, she pulled the moonstone out of her pocket for them to see.

"What?"

"Oh no. There it is. It's the ultimate lie, isn't it? You spun this whole thing so that we would have to get the stone from you, didn't you?" Stefan scoffed.

"I didn't spin anything, Stefan. It's the truth," Katherine replied.

"No, let me guess. You want to trade that stone for your freedom, you manipulative, psychotic bitch," he sneered.

"My freedom?" Katherine snorted. "That's where you're wrong, Stefan. I don't want my freedom because when Klaus shows up to kill us all and he will, I'll be in the tomb, where no vampire will enter because they can't get out. I'll be the safest psychotic bitch in town." She turned and walked out of sight, leaving them to stare after her.

━━━━━━━━━━

As soon as Evelyn stepped inside her house, she tiredly threw her keys on the island, and found Jenna sitting on the couch in the living room. "Rough day, Evie?"

Evelyn took off her jacket, walking towards Jenna. "You have no idea." She laid her head on Jenna's lap and sighed in content when her aunt threaded her fingers through her hair.

"Cuddles?" Jenna asked.

"With lot's of junk food, face masks and a movie?" Evelyn tilted her chin up to look at her.

"Yeah," Jenna smiled widely and Evelyn removed herself off the couch, running upstairs to change into her pyjamas and came back down quickly with a whole load of junk food in her arms and of course her ice cream.

"What do you want to watch?" Jenna scrolled through the movies.

"I'm in the mood to cry," Evelyn planted herself back on the couch.

"Movie night?" Elena asked when she found her sister and aunt in the living room.

"You in the mood to cry?" Evelyn turned around.

"Yeah," Elena laughed and sat besides Jenna.

Jenna wrapped her arms around her nieces, the twins resting their heads on her shoulders, a blanket thrown over them as they played the movie.

An hour later, Jeremy walked down the stairs, coming to a halt when he found the three crying and blowing their noses with tissues. "Great! Another sappy movie night," he sarcastically remarked.

He chuckled when three pillows were thrown in his direction and tried to dodge them.

And this was normal enough for the Gilbert family. As long as they were still a bit of happiness for them.

━━━━━━━━━━

Evelyn didn't even know why she returned back to the tomb.

Clutching the journal closer to her chest, she slowly and quietly walked towards Katherine, watching as the vampire tiredly sat down, leaning against the wall. "What are you doing here?" Katherine sensed her presence.

Evelyn sat opposite her, handing her the journal. "I found this. I thought you'd might want to keep it with you."

Katherine opened it up, finding a sketch of her and her parents before she had turned into a vampire. A sad smile formed on her lips as she trailed her fingers over the paper.

"I'm sorry," Evelyn whispered.

Katherine looked up at her. "Why are you apologising to me?"

"Not to you. I'm sorry for Katerina. She was just an innocent girl who lost everything at such a young age. She didn't deserve what was given to her."

"Why are you so nice?" Katherine asked.

"I don't know," Evelyn shrugged. "I think some people deserve a bit of kindness."

"It will just cause you more pain," Katherine said. "You'll just be used to their advantage."

"I'm fine with that," she smiled and Katherine held a small sympathetic smile for her too.

Evelyn made herself comfortable as she spoke up, "Was it a boy or a girl?"

Katherine stared at her for a moment before she answered, "A girl."

So Evelyn continued to speak to Katherine giving her a bit of company for now. Katherine found herself feeling comfortable around her no matter how much she wanted to hate Evelyn, she just couldn't.

After a while, Evelyn stood up, dusting off the dirt off her pants and nodded at Katherine before she left.

"Be careful, Eve," Katherine spoke up.

Evelyn turned back to look at her and smiled at her. Katherine slowly returned one back.

"This world is a horrible place for you," she murmured as she watched Evelyn leave the tomb.

And she wondered how this woman so sweet and filled with so much pureness in her heart, willingly offered her kindness to those who don't even deserve it, and was bonded to a ruthless killer, a man who had no remorse for the innocent.

Hey besties, how are you?

So about 4-5 chapters left till Klaus makes his appearance and then the real drama begins! So excited for them to meet again. I missed writing about them together and their petty arguments.

I am going to try and update as much as I can in the next couple of weeks for you all.

Take care of yourself and I love you!