Why don't you invite it in?

"You're a new face," Stefan acknowledged - though something about the girl looked familiar. Like a relative of someone. Actually, she reminded him of Caroline. This whole thing was... strange. He didn't know who had summoned them all here - and he still wasn't too keen on being summoned like a dog. It reminded him a little too much of Klaus. "Any idea what's going on here?"

Lizzie almost threw herself at Stefan the second he started talking to her, but decided to keep her composure, instead. She could feel her humanity trying to burst free, this night was already too much for her to bear, with wearing the gown that Sebastian gave her, and now Stefan showing up. She smiled, offering him a slight nod. "Brand new, actually. Literally just got into town not too long ago." Taking a look around, she shook her head. "No, no idea." Pausing, she'd keep her smile on her face as she approached him. "I'm Lizzie."

CLOSED STARTER for @inviteitin - damon LOCATION: The Lockwood Mansion / The Faerie's Ball

Damon looked over at Stefan, his eyes widening in surprise. "Well hello to you, too, brother. I thought you'd still be brooding that mommy Klaus got free." As he talked, he looked around to make sure no one was eavesdropping before continuing. "I've honestly got nothing, but I'm sure we'll find something out soon. We wouldn't have been invited without our host showing up at some point, right?"

Lizzie looked him up and down, weighing her options, then started shrugging. "Yeah, sure, why the hell not. I supposedly take after you anyway, why not just form an alliance right off the bat."

Damon grinned, shaking his head. "Well that's completely clear, considering I know everyone in this town." Pausing, Damon raised a finger to his lips, tapping against the bottom one as he looked up in thought. "Let me guess... single child who has decided to move back to town because you've been hearing about the dangerous animal attacks going on and wanted to see what all the fuss was about?" He began to pace back and forth, as he prattled on, feeding clearly giving him plenty of energy. "Or, and I'm just throwing it out there, you're an evil witch who is hell bent on destroying everything he touches?"

Landon nodded. That was a thought. “Well she just told me to leave and not come back, so I don’t think so,” he said. “Plus if you guys could have brought me back, you would have before now. And that doesn't example why we are in 2010,” he said, holding up the newspaper.

Lizzie's eyes widened as she ripped the newspaper out of Landon's hands. "We're in where?" Reading the date, it did indeed say 2010. Tossing the newspaper on the ground she shook her head. "Random time traveling? And that doesn't scream Hope Mikaelson to you, Landon?" Lizzie paused for a second, as if a lightbulb just came on over her head. "We're in a prison world, aren't we? That's why you're here, right? I bet Rafael will pop out at any second."

Hope hadn't planned on attending. The order in the letter was too demanding but then... something else had arrived at the motel room she'd compelled herself into. A dress. A beautiful dress, one addressed to her directly. It was something she couldn't ignore, because no one would send her a dress like that. Maybe Landon? But... he didn't have that kind of money. Only one family did, and only one of those had she actually spoken to since arriving in this time. Her dad chose this dress. So, of course, she was going to wear it. She entered the Lockwood Mansion - after being invited in - and opted not to drink. She wanted to be focused on what was going on, to be on guard and watch for any potential threats. She positioned herself near the back of the room, watching and waiting to see what happened.

Downing a glass of champagne, Damon winced as he set his glass down on an empty tray, wishing he could get something different to drink. He wasn't the type to like anything fizzy, really. As he looked around the room for a tray of food, his eyes spotted the feisty little short stack he'd encountered before. Since his nature was never to ignore anyone he knew, Damon made a beeline for her. "Don't tell me, you're going to pretend you're too cool to be here, standing in the back so that no one notices you in that gorgeous dress, while you get to watch everyone else?" He paused for a second, his left eyebrow raising in curiosity. "Or were you meeting someone?"

Why did Ana decide to go to this dumb thing? Right, because she wanted answers. A mysterious letter telling her to arrive to a ball, like they were back in the 1800s? Yeah, she was going to check that out. It was a threat, and Ana was well trained in figuring out what those meant for her and hers. She wore the dress provided to her, but only to blend in to the crowd - though, she supposed it wouldn't be that hard to blend in tonight. She figured that Tatia, Elena, and Katerina would also attend. She headed for the drinks and grabbed herself a glass of champagne. She downed one before taking another. "Let the games begin, I guess," she said, mostly to herself.

Lizzie wasn't very sure which doppelganger she had just spotted coming inside, but she felt confident enough that talking to any of them would be fine. Heading over to drinks section as well, Lizzie offered as polite a smile as she could. "So that I don't spend the whole night guessing, which doppelganger are you?"

Elena had merely been walking by when she stumbled upon the gruesome scene. And it was in that moment that part of her was thankful that she wasn't turned into a vampire. "Not following you, just happened to be walking by-" Stopping mid sentence as she witnessed the scene before her, her jaw nearly dropped. "What are you doing?" She asked, the question was silly as she knew this was who he was but to see it so out in the open.. and gruesome. "Damon..what are you doing?"

Damon's eyes rolled as he shook his head, moving as close to Elena as he possibly could. "What does it look like I'm doing, Elena? I'm feeding. I'm a vampire. I require blood to survive, and personally, I was getting sick of the blood bags that I've been forced to feed from, and wanted something straight from the source."

There seemed to be an overabundance of blondes demanding things in town and he couldn't stop himself from rolling his eyes, though the name she mentioned certainly gave pause. "Did you just say Hope Mikaelson? I think that you've got your wires crossed, love."

Lizzie's eyes widened in surprise, and ignoring his statement, blurts out the first thing her brain didn't filter. "Klaus... Mikaelson? How-- how are you alive? Wait, are we actually in a therapy box?"

"as charming as ever, mr. salvatore." one, two steps carry him out of the shadows, where he presents a handkerchief from the pocket of his suit. he offers it to the other for the speck of crimson that remains on his jaw. "but i'm afraid not. i've never been very good at sharing, and from my understanding, neither have you."

Damon shrugged his shoulders. "I don't mind sharing. People come and stay as long as they like at my house, drink my bourbon, and I haven't had your family kicked out of Mystic Falls yet. I just tend to get protective of the women I've fallen in love with." Damon paused, looking Elijah over. "I'm sure that's something you can understand, yes?"

Lizzie shook her head, putting her fingers on each side of her temples and starting to rub them. "What do you mean what's really going on? My Boutique isn't here! It's gone, missing, vamoosed! And I'm not blaming Hope for anything. I just suggested she had something to do with why my boutique isn't here anymore. But hey, just go defend Hope as you always do." Taking her fingers off her temples, she made a shooing motion with her hands.

"Elena is not the appointment I'm referring to, Blondie Klaus." Damon considered the woman in front of him, shrugging his shoulders as he moved closer to her. "You have anything fun in mind?"

Damon's eyes raised in surprise. "You see me feeding on a woman, you see me tell her to go leave, and your first instinct is to ask me directions?" Shrugging, he pointed behind him. "The Lockwood Mansion is that way, you can't miss it. It's the giant mansion."

Lizzie's eyes narrowed at the other woman, her patience growing very thin. "How does no one who's supposed to know who Hope is, know who she is? Hope Mikaelson? Daughter of Klaus, niece of Kol? The name doesn't ring any bells?"

"No, it's a different type of appointment." Damon tilted his head a bit, intrigued by the stranger. "However if you do decide to come, it could potentially turn into a chomping situation if you want." Grinning, he leaned against the back wall of the Mystic Grill, crossing his arms against his chest. "You know, most people wouldn't be giddy when coming across a vampire after he's done feeding. You're either very weird or very stupid."