AN: Hi everyone! I'm trying something new here, so I hope you like it :). Unlike my other stories, this one is Vampire Diaries TV-Show universe, not book-universe. If you don't know about Klaus's curse and the doppelganger, you might be a bit confused in this first chapter (I only wrote about it briefly). But don't worry, everything will be explained later on. So, book-fans, there's no reason why you shouldn't read this, the way I write the characters is exactly the same :).

Disclaimer: I don't own the vampire diaries, those amazing writers do.

Enjoy!

1864 –MysticFalls

Two brothers, Damon and Stefan, loved a girl. She was sweet, innocent and beautiful. Her name was Katherine, and she had a secret. She was a vampire. The brothers didn't care, knowing her better made them love her even more. They wanted her forever, and both chose to live with her in the world of shadows. Katherine was fond of the boys, and changed them both. But it didn't take long before the brothers began competing and fighting for her affection, and eventually, they agreed that something had to change. They asked her to choose. Katherine was torn, but she knew that her boys wouldn't share. Before she was able to tell which brother she loved most, a grave danger she had been running from caught up with her. In the night before she was taken away from them, she told her boys about the doppelganger.

"Why are you so afraid, Katherine? You must know that my brother and I will protect you with our lives." Stefan said, taking Katherine's hand. She looked frightened and breakable, and he didn't understand why she hadn't told them she was in danger.

"My dear Stefan," She said, stroking his cheek. "You can't protect me from Klaus, he'll kill you. That's why I don't want you near him." Her eyes were wet with tears.

"We'll run away with you, they would never find us." Damon said.

"I've been running from him for hundreds of years, he found me and he won't let me get away now. The minute I set one foot outside of this house, he'll take me." She sobbed. Damon reached out to wipe her tears away.

"But why do they want you?" Stefan said.

"There is a curse, and Klaus wants to lift it. But to do that, he needs the doppelganger. There is only a doppelganger once every few centuries, and I was the doppelganger when I was human. In the ritual of breaking the curse, the doppelganger has to die. I became a vampire to save my own life, and prevented them from breaking the curse. Klaus wanted revenge, he wanted to kill me, so I ran. I haven't stopped running."

Stefan and Damon both didn't know what to say.

"Katerina!" a voice sounded from outside.

Katherine whimpered and hugged both boys. They could feel her tremble in their arms, and didn't want to let go.

"I have to go now, or he'll kill both of you, too." Katherine kissed their cheeks.

They started to argue, but she was gone instantly.

Stefan and Damon ran outside, calling her name. They stopped short when they saw her. Klaus had his hand around her throat, and she was struggling for air. He was smiling pleasantly at them, his hand closing even more when Damon tried to come closer.

"Please, let her go." Stefan said, he couldn't stand to see Katherine's tears. "We'll do anything, just let her go."

He saw Katherine shake her head.

"We will find the doppelganger for you." Damon said.

Klaus tilted his head, looking interested.

"Yes!" Stefan said, "we'll find the doppelganger, we'll bring her to you."

"If you bring me the doppelganger, you can get Katerina in exchange. If she's still alive, of course. Maybe I'll lose my patience over the years. Prepare yourselves, there's a long time between doppelgangers. Believe me, I would know."

And then he was gone, taking Katherine with him, leaving Damon and Stefan stunned in front of the house. He was gone faster than they would've believed, and for a few moments, they didn't quite know what to do.

Then they began organizing.

Present Day

There's something special about today,

Stefan wrote in his journal.

I feel like something is going to happen, something important. We have been waiting for so long now, for centuries, and something tells me that the waiting is finally over. I can't let myself hope, but I keep imagining what it would be like to finally find her. My brother is tense, too. But he won't admit it. We can both feel it in the air.

We don't know what we will do when we have Katherine back. Our truce will be over, and for one of us, everything we have done will lead to nothing. I won't resent him, or Katherine, if she chooses him. I keep telling myself that all I want is for her to be safe, away from Klaus, and with whoever she loves most. But if that person is not me, I will leave. I won't look for her ever again, because I wouldn't be able to bear the sight of her and Damon together.

For now we just have to focus on finding the doppelganger.

Stefan looked up from his journal when his brother walked in. Damon had been on the phone with someone for a long time, and Stefan had been wondering if it was the call they'd been waiting for. He looked at his brother expectantly.

Damon's eyes shone with excitement, he gripped the edge of the leather couch, forcing himself to stand still.

"Pearl called. We found the doppelganger, Stefan." Damon said, his voice rough.

Stefan let out the breath he'd been holding.

"So what do we do now?" He asked, getting up immediately.

"We'll go and get her. And then we start looking for Klaus." Damon said, frowning.

Over the years, finding Klaus had become a bigger problem than finding the doppelganger. Everywhere, there were vampires keeping an eye out for someone looking like Katherine. But Klaus was almost impossible to find. They sometimes got information from people who worked with him, but those witches and vampires often disappeared, too.

Stefan was feeling dizzy. He'd been dreaming about this for so long now, planning everything out, and suddenly he didn't know what to do.

"Pearl's in Mystic Falls, we're meeting her on the outside of town. I'll start the car." Damon said, and headed outside.

Mystic Falls. Who would've thought that they could've just stayed where they were, and they would've found the doppelganger eventually. Stefan shook his head and then followed his brother outside.

When they were on their way, a tense silence hung between them. They were both looking at the road, avoiding each others eyes. They hadn't fought much over the years, which had surprised Stefan. He guessed it was their agreement to free Katherine which held them together. And they needed each others company.

When they were nearly there, Damon parked the car. They quickly caught Pearl's scent and followed it until they saw her standing next to her car. At Pearl's side was a girl, her hands tied in front of her,Pearl held one of her wrists.

Stefan had thought he was prepared for this, but clearly he wasn't. His mouth opened in shock, he couldn't move, couldn't think. She looked exactly like Katherine. The only thing different were her clothes. The girl was wearing jeans, and Stefan found it odd to look at Katherine dressed like that. But she wasn't Katherine, he needed to get that in his head. When he was able to move, he looked at Damon. Damon was surprised, too, he could tell. His eyes were troubled, shocked and confused, all at once. Then he seemed to pull himself together, and his face didn't show any emotion.

"So, you definitely found her." Damon said.

Pearl nodded. "I know, the resemblance is amazing. Her name is Elena."

"Elena." Damon repeated. He winked at her, and she scowled at him.

Pearl nudged Elena forward, she stumbled a bit and fell against Stefan. He caught her but she wriggled out of his light hold and backed away.

"Don't touch me." She said, her voice shaky.

Damon sighed and went to stand in front of her. He held up her chin and looked into her eyes.

"You'll do as I say." He said slowly, his voice hypnotizing.

Stefan knew what he was doing, but it didn't seem to be working.

"Um, yes, I was going to tell you that." Pearl said. "Compulsion won't work. My daughter, Anna, is friends with her brother, and I'm afraid she told him about the vervain."

Damon cursed.

"It will be out of her system soon enough." Stefan said.

"What about my brother? You have to leave Jeremy alone." Elena was almost begging them.

"We don't care about your brother." Damon told her without looking at her.

Stefan frowned. "Did you tell Anna about any of this?"

"Anna doesn't know. She spends too much time with that Jeremy to notice anything. But you should stay away from Mystic Falls. My daughter's not stupid and it wouldn't take her long to connect your presence to this girl's disappearance. I hope you find Katherine, and you should be glad she and Anna never met."

"Thank you for your help." Stefan said.

Pearl nodded at them and then got into her car.

Stefan and Damon watched her drive away and then turned to Elena simultaneously.

"So what do we have here?" Damon smirked, circling her.

"What's going on?" Elena asked, turning around so she could watch Damon. "Who are you?"

"Long story, very boring." Damon said.

Stefan sighed. He couldn't imagine how scared she must be. "We'll tell you, but my brother's right, it is a long story, so we're leaving first." He didn't want to stay in Mystic Falls for too long. "I'm Stefan, and that's Damon." He said, gesturing at his brother.

Damon walked over to the car and opened the door to the backseat. Elena didn't move.

"Don't make this difficult," Damon complained, looking at Elena. "if you want to stay conscious, you get in the car by yourself."

Stefan shot his brother a dark look, and Damon rolled his eyes in return. "She's not a baby." He muttered, while closing the door.

When Damon started driving, he made sure all the doors were locked. Something told him that this girl wouldn't mind jumping out of a driving car if it meant she could escape. And he knew that Stefan didn't see it. Stefan didn't see that this girl was filled with fire, he would give her anything because he wouldn't want her to feel scared. Damon told himself he wouldn't be fooled by her big, sad eyes. When he looked in the rear-view mirror, he noticed that those eyes were crying.

Elena curled up in the back of the car, pulling her knees up and wrapping her arms around them. She was feeling strangely numb. She didn't really understand what had happened, it seemed unreal, as if she were watching a movie of someone else's live. Why had they been talking about her brother? Would they take him, too? Because that was what they had done, they had taken her away. Away from her home, from her family. Pain pierced through her heart when she realized that it was likely she wouldn't see them again.

AN: I hope you liked it! This was kind of an introduction to the story. Please tell me what you thought about it. Love? Hate? Should I continue with this? Where do you want this story to go? Don't be shy ;)