A/N - Hello everyone! I'm back. I'm so sorry it to so long to post this. I have been really busy with school and now I'm in a play so I have practices after school. Because of that and the fact that my chapters have gotten longer and longer, I don't think I am going to be able to post a chapter a day. I will try to post at least a chapter or two every week, but I can't make any promises.

Also, I think it would be great if I could get a beta reader for this series. Whenever I go back and read old chapters I always find tons of little mistakes that I wish I could fix. Being as I don't really have enough time to reread everything before I post it, I was wondering if any of you wanted the job. I always think it's a good idea to try and get a second opinion on my writing. So let me know if you are interested.

And to the guest that was upset that I made Stefan and Elena get back together, don't worry. It won't last too long. :)

Anyway, I hope you enjoy the first chapter of book 3, thank you for reading, and, as always, I love getting reviews so feel free.


BEGINNING OF BOOK 3:

The Pierce Struggle


"Here, put her on the couch." Elena directed Caroline as they struggled to get Lexi's body in the house. Together, Elena, Caroline, and Alaric had somehow managed to get everyone back to the Salvatore's, including the body of Elena's dead doppelganger, at the request of Caroline.

They laid Lexi out on one of the couches. On the floor lay Stefan and Damon, who had thankfully only been knocked out, and the doppelganger had been put on the other couch.

Damon stirred just as they finished. He sat up and looked around. "Did we win?"

Caroline sighed and slumped down into a chair, covering her face.

Damon watched her and the others as they reciprocated her actions. "I'm going to take that as a 'no'." He stood up and walked over the bottle of bourbon, automatically pouring two drinks. He handed one to Alaric before taking a sip of his own. "Do I want to ask what happened?"

Elena walked over and poured herself a drink. Damon watched her, finding it amusing that she was drinking, but didn't comment. "Well." she began. "It was a blood bath. You, Lexi, and Stefan were down immediately, and we were no match for Klaus. He broke the spell."

Damon shrugged. "I figured. So where do we go from here?"

"I don't know." Elena answered.

There was a quick gasp and Stefan's eyes flew open, followed almost immediately by another gasp from Lexi.

"Hey Stefan, Lexi. Welcome back to the land of the living." Damon said.

The two of them looked around. Lexi sat up as Stefan came to join her on the couch. "So," Stefan said, "I'm assuming it didn't go so well?" The grim looks on his friends' faces gave him all the answer he needed. He nodded. "Thought so."

"So Klaus is a hybrid now?" Lexi asked.

"Yep." Alaric answered, popping the 'p'.

"Um . . . guys," Caroline started. The rest of the group turned to her. "I, think you need to know something." She hesitated, worried about what their reactions were going to be. "I . . . I gave her some of my blood." She said, pointing toward the Elena doppelganger. There was silence as they took in her words, slowly realizing what it meant. Caroline quickly continued, trying to explain herself. "I mean, she was hurt, and confused, and I needed to get her out of that clearing as fast as I could, so I gave her some blood so that she could make it out. And then Klaus came and killed her, and now . . ."

Everyone turned to watch the dead body, wondering when she would take her next breath.

"Who is she?" Elena asked. "How does she look exactly like me? I mean, Katherine is my twin, so it makes sense that we're identical, but this girl wasn't a vampire, which means she certainly isn't old enough to be a long lost triplet or something."

No one had an answer.

"Well," Alaric said, pushing off from the couch he had been leaning on. "If it's okay with everyone, I would like to head home and clean up. Nothing like a night of failing to stop an evil immortal vampire to sap all the energy out of you." The group nodded as he headed out the door. A second later they heard his car start and he drove away.

"I think I am going to do the same." Caroline said, motioning to where the teacher had just disappeared.

Lexi stood up and nodded at Caroline. "Me too." she turned to the others. "I'm heading upstairs to shower. I don't want any of you bothering me, okay?"

The group nodded and the two blond vampires took their leave.


Alaric decided that he need to get out. Otherwise, he would spend the whole day thinking about Isobel and worrying about what Klaus's next move would be. Thinking about his wife would drive him mad because he kept wondering what he had done wrong that drove her to become a vampire and turn off her emotions, while worrying about Klaus just made him extremely paranoid about something he had no control over.

He pulled up the contacts list on his phone and called the first person whose name made him smile. She answered the phone almost immediately and agreed to meet him as soon as he suggested it.

About fifteen minutes later, he walked into the Grill, looking around for her familiar face. She sat up and waved him over as soon as he spotted him. He made his way over and slid in the booth across from her. "Hey stranger." She said, by way of greeting.

He smiled, already glad he had made the decision to call her. "Hi Jenna. Thanks for meeting me."

She shrugged like it was no big deal. "Of course. You sounded like you needed a break from something on the phone and I'm totally cool with being a healthy distraction from whatever has you so upset."

Alaric noticed she didn't ask what was bothering him. He appreciated that. She knew he had something going on, and she respected the fact that maybe he didn't really feel like explaining the fact that he had just seen his wife killed a second time after finding out she was an emotionless vampire.

"So," she continued after a moment, "I bet you can't beat me in a round of pool."

Alaric's eyebrows shot up. "Oh really?"

"Yep." She replied, her eyes glinting playfully. "You're the newbie in town. I've lived here almost my whole life. You'd be surprised how much I've picked up about pool."

"Well then," He said, getting up and backing towards the pool table so as not to turn away from Jenna. "It seems I have a bet to win." He spun around quickly and rushed to the pool table with Jenna following close behind.


"So, what do we do now?" asked Stefan. He looked around, first at his sort-of-girlfriend, then his brother. Neither of them had an answer for him.

"Well, what have you three gotten yourselves into now?" Katherine strutted into the room.

Elena groaned. "What do you want Katherine?" she asked.

Katherine shrugged and made her way over to the couch where the identical copy of both her and her twin was laying. She turned to Elena. "Who is this?"

Elena shrugged. "That's the problem. We don't know who she is or why she looks like us."

Katherine studied the body. "She's dead?" She asked. Both noticing the fact and asking the other question that needed to be answered when you were lived in a world of vampires.

Elena caught on to the actual question. "Not for long." she answered.

As if to prove Elena's point, the girl suddenly sat up, taking in a deep breath. She quickly looked around, trying to get her bearings, before shying away from the window. Elena noticed this and nodded at Damon. "Could you shut the curtains?"

He stood up quickly and made his way over to the window, drawing the heavy curtains across the old window panes.

Elena took a step toward the girl who seemed to just be noticing the fact that there were two other people in the room that looked identical to her. She shrunk back in her seat, quickly glancing at Stefan and Damon the only "normal" people in the room from her point of view.

"Who are you people?" She asked. "What happened? The last thing I remember I was at the store and then some crazy guy grabbed me, saying something about a spell and he told me not to move, and then I couldn't. And then he took me to a clearing in the forest somewhere and then . . ." she hesitated. "I don't really remember anything after that." She looked around again, begging them to explain to her what was happening.

Katherine glanced at Elena. "Wow, you three really have been busy. Trying to stop Klaus's spell? That was rather ambitious of you. How'd that turn out?"

Elena glared at her twin again. "Maybe you should leave." She gestured at the girl. "You're freaking her out."

Damon snorted. "Maybe you're freaking her out Elena." He said, raising his eyebrows.

"Actually," the girl cut in, "You're both freaking me out. There's another question; why, or how, do we all look identical?"

Elena glanced at Katherine, and then back to the girl. "Well, Katharine here is my twin, so that is why we look the same, but I don't know why you look like us too. That is one question that I don't have the answer to. However, there are a few things you should know, and then there will be a lot more questions that I will have the answer too."

The girl crossed her arms. "What are you talking about?" she accused. "Stop beating around the bush. What's going on? You haven't answered any of my questions."

"What's your name?" Stefan asked, speaking up for the first time since the girl had woken up.

She seemed slightly taken aback by his change of topic and genuine concern. "Max Fletcher." she answered him after a moment.

"Hi Max." He said, "I'm Stefan, and this," he gestured to his brother, "Is my brother Damon. That's Elena, and that's her twin sister, Katherine." He pointed to each person as he introduced them. "The man who kidnapped you, his name is Klaus. He got away, but you're safe now."

"Okay . . ." Max said, taking in all the new information. "So, what is it that none of you want to tell me?" There was an uncomfortable silence as each person in the room would take the responsibility of telling her of her new 'dead' status. She looked around expectantly. "You didn't really think I didn't notice how all of you were acting? There's something you're not telling me. Something big."

There was another pause before Katherine threw her hands up into the air. "Oh for goodness sakes." She looked at Max. "You're a vampire."


Jeremy walked up to his front door and tried the knob. He knew his Aunt Jenna had gone out to meet with his teacher, but he wasn't sure if she had remembered to lock the door. Apparently she had because the door didn't open. Jeremy reached above the door to find the spare key they kept hidden on the door frame. He ran his fingers along the length of the tiny shelf made by the frame, but there was no key.

"Looking for this?" Said a voice to his right. Jeremy looked toward the speaker. A man stood there holding the house key out to show Jeremy.

"Who are you?" Jeremy said. He knew he shouldn't talk to strangers, but this stranger had the key to his house and Jeremy couldn't get in.

The man pushed off the side of the house where he had been leaning. "That's the question, isn't it? Everyone wants to know who I am. Well, I recently redefined myself. I'm the first ever hybrid." Jeremy started to back away. This man was clearly crazy. "However, I am having a bit of a problem." The man continued. "You see, I tried to sire more hybrids, but they all died. So now, I need a witch to help me speak with my dead mother so she can tell me what I did wrong and how to fix it."

Jeremy started looking around, searching for a weapon as the stranger continued to advance toward him. "Well," he said, "I am not a witch, so I'm afraid you're out of luck." Jeremy decided to play along with the man's crazy ramblings.

"No. But the witch I want isn't going to help me willingly. I need leverage. And I'm willing to bet that she will do anything for anyone in this town. You're just an easy target." The man lunged, his face suddenly changed into something demonic.

Jeremy tried to pull away but the man bit into his neck. He struggled to get free but had no luck. He felt himself going faint and collapsed to the ground the moment the man let him go. His vision went black.