The Darkness Within

Summary: AJ Echo, long time friend of Elena, knew about vampires and the curse for as long as Elena knew. But she never realized just how much of a role she would play in it. Lucky for her, she's under the protection of a powerful Original. But will he be enough to keep the darkness from tempting her, or will she succumb to the side of herself she vowed would never see the light of the day? Elijah/OC

A/N Hello all! This was just something I began to write. I've got a pretty good idea of where it's going and all that. The events in this story may not match those to the events in the show completely, or they may so sorry if you get confused! Anyway, I do not own the vampire diairies, only the character. Read and enjoy my imagination.(:

Chapter 1

AJ woke groggily, her head fuzzy and spinning as her senses returned to her. She was lying on something hard yet soft—a chair or bench or some sort. She opened her eyes briefly, to test them out, and then squinted as she slowly sat up and took in her surroundings. She appeared to be in some kind of fallen-apart house and the thing she was laying on turned out to be one of those old classic loveseats. The not-so-comfortable kind, which explained her aching back. The house lacked outside light, its only form was in gas-powered sconces on the walls and candles on tables. She thought back to what she remembered last—she had been on the phone with Elena and on her way to her car. At the Grille. Then someone grabbed her? She couldn't remember exactly, the details were still fuzzy, as was her head. Then she heard voices.

"Trevor, there's nothing to be afraid of! Don't you trust me?" a female's English accent echoed throughout the abandoned home.

"Of course I trust you, Rose, but I don't think you truly understand the situation. Of course he'll forgive you, but there is no way he would forgive me! I betrayed him, Rose! And do you know what the punishment is for that? Death!" That had been a man's voice, containing no accent other than that of a Northern American.

Trevor and Rose… The names were oddly not familiar to her. But they kidnapped her? Why?

"He will forgive you as soon as we present him with the girl! That's what he's been after, Trevor, he will surely be thankful for it," Rose replied with confidence in her voice.

AJ sat up, decidedly annoyed of people talking about her as if she weren't there. She entered a large room. It had a small descending staircase leading down the main part of it, but this part of the house was as run down as the rest. She thought that, in its time, it must have been a marvelous room. But then she focused on the two people in it. One, Rose she assumed, had short brown hair. She was standing with her arms crossed in front of a man with spiked blonde hair. Trevor.

"Uhm, excuse me," she said, interrupting what appeared to be a retort from Trevor. Both of them stared up at her with wide eyes. "But do you mind telling me where the hell I am?"

Rose recovered quickly, and then zoomed up the stairs to stand next to her, taking hold of her arm painfully. Ah. A vampire, of course. "You should be sitting down. I'm asking for your cooperation nicely, so I would very much like for you to do so. "

AJ stopped, pulling her arm out of the vampire Rose's grasp. "Not until you tell me where I am. Or why I'm here." She looked determinedly into the woman's eyes.

Rose huffed. "There's no use in telling you where you are since it's basically the middle of nowhere. As for the other part, you are here so that Trevor and I can be pardoned. We will finally be free."

"Free from…" She looked at Rose expectantly. She was all for freedom and everything, but not when it came to her own. She wanted to know as much as possible about what was going on.

"Too long of a story and we have too little of time," Rose said briskly, glancing back at Trevor who was now pacing back and forth, obviously nervous about something.

"Ever heard of 'long-story-short,' or are you from a different era?" she asked sarcastically. Really, she was being cooperative, so the least the woman could do was give her an explanation. And tell her who was coming for her.

Rose huffed again. "They said you were annoyingly persistent. Long story short, you are our ticket to freedom from the Original, Elijah."

Suddenly fear went straight through her body, finding a resting place in her stomach. "Original? As in an Original Vampire? What would an Original want with me?" She was completely perplexed—Elena was the doppelganger. She was the one that was always in danger. AJ was merely her friend, albeit a helpful one in the fight against vampires and werewolves, but still. Why would an Original be after her, of all people?

Rose looked at her, shocked. "You really don't know, do you? Oh, that's bloody wonderful. You, AJ Echo, are the Warrior. Yes, your friend is in fact the doppelganger—the final ingredient for the curse to be lifted—but you are the only thing that stands in the way of that." Rose gave her little speech with a tone that said it should have been completely obvious.

"Wait—I'm sorry, did you say Warrior? Aside from damaging my femininity, you've made me curious. What the heck is a Warrior and why haven't I heard the term before now?" AJ was confused. Warrior? Really? It totally figured that she'd play some part in the whole Klaus-evil-lots-of-death thing.

Before Rose had a chance to reply, there was a knock at the front door. Quickly Rose ushered AJ back into the large room, down the stairs and in the middle of it. AJ just stood there, her arms wrapped around herself due to the cold, pondering the idea of what it meant to be a Warrior. But as soon as she heard a deep, smooth voice, her heart began to pound. Keeping her face impassive, she watched as a man entered the room. His dark eyes landed on her the moment he stepped over the threshold of an area that used to hold a door. Her breath caught in her throat, but she remained emotionless. She wouldn't let them see her fear. She never let anyone see it. Now was no different, not even with an Original studying her.

His eyes traveled from her own, down her body, and back up.

"Well. I see that this was truly worth the visit, Rose," he said in his silky voice as he circled AJ, still taking in her features. He stopped directly in front of her, gazing into her hazel eyes. His own were a liquid brown, a striking color on him. His hair was a lighter shade of brown, styled nicely. His clothes looked to be worth thousands of dollars. One could even tell that by the way he carried himself. Yes, she thought to herself, this was definitely an Original.

"Hello, there," he said, speaking directly to her. She lifted her chin in acknowledgement but did nothing else. He began to inhale deeply—smelling her scent. He moved in towards her, first close to her lips but then he shifted so that he could smell the blood pulsing through her neck. It was a delicious scent.

"So are we pardoned?" Rose asked meekly, but with just an edge of confidence that he chose to look at her. AJ was glad for the distraction—his intense gaze was making her heart do a marathon. She knew he could hear her heartbeat, but she could at least still control her emotions, if nothing else.

"Yes, Rose, all is forgiven. After five-hundred years of running, you are free," he said simply, elegantly. But he only held eye contact with Rose, not Trevor.

Trevor, who then decided to speak up, "Elijah, I have waited so long for this day," his voice broke as he stood a few feet away from the Original, "I cannot express to you how sorry I am for betraying you. I don't know what I was thinking, I—"

"Yes, Trevor, tell me. What were you thinking?" Elijah stepped away from AJ and began circling Trevor. Like a lion playing with its prey. "Where did your loyalty lie? It surely wasn't with me, now, was it? Rose was simply being loyal to you, and that I respect. But who were you loyal to?"

"Elijah, I—"

"I have pardoned the both of you," Elijah stopped right in front of the blonde vampire. "But I have not forgiven the fact that you willingly betrayed my trust. Tell me, what do you think a proper punishment is for that?"

"I—"before he could get another word out, Elijah slashed his head off. It landed with a thump on the floor in front of Rose as his body toppled to the ground where he had stood. Blood sprayed through the air, but Elijah was careful to keep it off himself, therefore none of it reached AJ.

Rose cried out as if in pure agony at the sight of her friend's death. "Trevor!" she cried, holding on to the railing in front of her for support as streams of tears ran down her face.

"You are free Rose. Trevor still had to accept his poor choices. Be wise now." Elijah's voice was cold, but he turned to look at AJ again. She had stood her ground. She didn't even jump when Elijah had killed Trevor. She was tough, she could take it. He was impressed, but he would never admit it to anyone.

"You and I shall be on our way, then," he said, grabbing hold of Echo's arm.

"Wait!" she shouted, finally letting desperation win out over her impassiveness. He raised an eyebrow. "I know where the moonstone is. I can take you to it." She thought that was her best bet at negotiating—and it could possibly give Stephen and Damon time to figure out that she was missing. She wondered if they even knew that yet. She was supposed to have plans with Elena, so surely they did?

"You know about the moonstone?" he asked, surprised yet again by the girl. She was an odd creature. He looked over at Rose, wondering if she had been keeping this from him. That would not end well for her if it was true.

Rose shook her head, still holding on to the railing and mourning her friend's death. "This is the first I've heard of it." Her voice was hoarse.

He nodded, and then returned his deep stare to AJ. Compelling her, he asked, "Where is the moonstone?"

Echo shook her head defiantly, "It doesn't work that way."

"Well, what's this doing here?" He looked down at the necklace at the base of her throat—the one Damon had given her—and grabbed it, breaking it off. She was shocked to say the least—she didn't think any vampire could remove vervain from a human.

"Now, I ask again, where is the moonstone?"He saw, contently, that her pupils dilated. The command worked this time.

"It's in the tomb with Katherine," AJ answered robotically. When the compelling was over, she glared at him. How dare he do that to her!

"Hmm. Interesting," he said, smiling wickedly. Suddenly there was a loud crash from another area in the house. He whipped his head around to look at Rose. "Are there others here?" he demanded.

She shook her head fiercely, "Not that I know of." There was another crash.

Elijah painfully grabbed AJ's arm, leading her up the small staircase and into the foyer. There were spurts of movement all around them, making him look this way and that. AJ knew who it was and smiled in relief.

"Up here," a voice rang out from the top of the large staircase. Elijah let go of AJ's arm, preparing to dash up the stairs when the same voice said, "Back here," right before Elijah was hit with a large two-by-four. In a flash, AJ was in someone's arms and suddenly still again. She looked up, seeing Damon. She went to say something to him but he put a finger over her lips, silencing her. She decided instead to give him a grateful look, to which he smiled widely at.

"Give. Me. The. Girl." Elijah's voice was absolutely deadly and he sounded extremely angry. AJ noticed Stephen now standing with them with the vampire Rose. AJ looked from both Stephen then Damon before deciding what she would do. Before she turned around, she felt Damon slip a dagger in her hand. She tucked it into the waistband of her jeans.

"I will not tell you again—"

"Okay, okay," AJ said as she appeared at the top of the stairs, looking down at the Original. "They were just trying to help, please don't hurt them."

He appeared in front of her, so she took the dagger and ran it into his chest. He cried out in pain. Suddenly Damon was impaling him with a broken wooden coat rack. AJ watched as the Originals face grayed and withered. She thought the sight was odd, and she thought it was even odder that an Original could be killed so easily.

AJ turned around to look at Damon and smiled. She went up and hugged him, pulling him close. "Thank you," she whispered into his ear. If it hadn't been for him, she would surely be dead. Or worse.