Thicker than Blood
Summary: The youngest Salvatore wasn't Stefan – it was his twin sister. They were polar opposites while her and Damon were thick as thieves. That all changed when Katherine Pierce arrived in Mystic Falls.
From 1864 to the present, this is her story – the story of the Salvatore family. The Original family says "Always and Forever", but the Salvatores are loyal to each other by a bond thicker than blood.
Prologue
In 1865, the Battle of Willow Creek tore my family apart.
The Civil War is known in the history books for forcing families apart by pitting brother against brother; father against son. In my family, it was not the war, but rather one person the war brought to our doorstep.
Her name was Katherine Pierce. She looked like an angel, but in reality, she was a devil in disguise. She tore my family in two and turned my brothers against each other and my father against his sons.
My family never recovered. Even now we are still tormented over a century later by her misdeeds.
Perhaps I should start at the beginning.
My name is Elizabeth Marie Salvatore and I am a vampire.
~ Elizabeth Salvatore's Diary
1865
The screams were everywhere.
Torches were lit and the men all carried weapons. Guns, swords, and pitchforks—anything and everything. In the distance, a fire raged.
It began in her house, down the hall from where she lay sleeping. Elizabeth Salvatore kicked off the covers and slid a loose-fitting dress over her shift. Her feet found a pair of shoes beside the bed. Hastily presentable, she opened the door.
"Father? Damon? Stefan?" she called, hurrying down the hall toward the noise.
The door was wide open and a woman's prone body covered in dark fabrics lay on the floor. She recognized the figure as Katherine Pierce, their houseguest. Stefan knelt beside her, his chest bare. Above, their father hovered.
"How did you know?" Stefan asked softly, almost wounded.
"Your sympathy for their plight," their father said in a cold, emotionless tone. "I didn't raise my sons to be so weak. The sheriff. Now. Go! Quickly!"
Her brother caught his shirt, but stayed down for a moment as their father urged him to go.
As he rose from the floor and fled the room, Elizabeth turned to enter. "Father? What's happened?"
"You shouldn't be here, Elizabeth. Go back to your room. Bar the door. Don't open it for anyone other than myself."
"What happened? Is Miss Katherine alright?" She glanced at the prone woman. She was conscious, but it seemed unable to move or speak.
"She is a monster. A vampire."
"I don't understand."
"Go back to your room, now, Elizabeth!"
"But, Father—"
"Go, Elizabeth!"
Frightened, she backed away. Instead of running to the safety of her room, she ran for the safety of her older brother's arms. Damon would know what to do. He always knew what to do, especially when Father was upset.
She opened the door to his room, only to find his bed empty. Frustrated, she ran down the stairs and out to the carriage house, where Katherine was staying. Perhaps he was waiting for the two-timing vixen there.
"Damon! Damon, come quick!"
The door to the carriage house opened as she sprinted across the lawn. "Lizzy? What's wrong?"
"Father's gone mad! He's spouting about vampires and Katherine is hurt—"
"Katherine? Where?"
"Stefan's room. Damon, wait!" She had to take two hops to every one of his long strides to attempt to keep up. "Damon!"
Damon ran ahead of her, through the house and up the stairs, but it was too late.
She saw two men pulling their houseguest from Atlanta out of her brother's bedroom with what appeared to be a muzzle strapped over her face. The brunette's head was tilted forward and she appeared drugged or unconscious.
Their father grabbed Damon at the doorway, holding him back.
"No! Don't take her," her brother protested.
Father pinned him to the door as they carried her past. In the hallway, Liz crossed her arms, shrinking away from the men and the vampire they carried. Vampire. Such an ugly term.
"Do you know they'll do to you if you're branded a sympathizer?" Father hissed at Damon. "You'll be killed along with them."
"Then let me be killed."
Liz's heart broke. "Damon, no! No, please… don't…" she cried, stepping toward them.
"Elizabeth, go to your room!" their father snarled, still restraining Damon.
"Father?" Her voice trembled. "Don't make me…"
"Go now, girl!"
"Damon…"
"I'm sorry, sister."
Just like that, he pulled free of father's grasp and left the house. Their father gripped her shoulder. "You need to stay away from this, Elizabeth. Let the men handle this. Go."
Liz wiped her cheeks, watching her father follow after her brother. She felt alone and forgotten. How could Damon choose that woman, that demon, over his own blood? Why was he willing to die for a woman he could never trust, who slept with their brother? What hold did Katherine Pierce have over her brothers?
Instead of cowering her in her room as she should, Elizabeth ran outside.
She ran through the woods, avoiding the torches and the men wielding them. She had spent her childhood amongst the trees, chasing after her brothers. She knew how to navigate the area. It wasn't long until she spotted the police cart used to transport the vampires.
The back was open and two figures huddled over a third lying in the dirt. She saw the familiar shapes and the dark wavy locks of her brother.
The figure on the ground had to be Katherine.
A rifle cracked and Damon fell backward into the leaves. Liz held in a gasp as she hurried closer to the site. Likewise, Stefan hurried to his side. She couldn't hear his voice as she ran, nor over the yells of the townsmen closing in. Stefan picked up a rifle to defend himself, but it was too late.
Crack!
"No! Damon! Stefan!" she shouted, picking up her skirts as she broke into a run.
Another crack and Stefan joined him on the ground, bleeding out. In a moment, both her brothers were ripped away from her.
"No, no, no!" Tears blinded her as she neared their prone forms.
Elizabeth could no longer hold back the tears. A scream ripped from her lungs as she ran flat out toward their bodies, praying they were still alive, praying it had been a graze or a mistake. Praying that she wasn't alone.
"Damon, Damon! Wake up! Wake up, please!" she begged, shaking him. There was a sticky substance on the center of his waistcoat. It felt warm. She pressed her hand against it. "Damon?"
"Elizabeth, I told you to stay in your room. What are you doing here, child?" their father called, a rifle in his hand. "You should not see this."
"Father? Damon—"
"They chose this for themselves, my dear. I'm sorry. You weren't meant to be here."
"You…" She turned to see the rifle in his hand, the barrel still smoking. "You did this. You shot them? How could you?"
"They sided with the vampires."
"This is Katherine's fault! They were blinded by her!"
"You need to leave. It isn't safe here."
His hands gripped her arms, pulling her away from her brother's body. She tried to fight, but she was too weak against him. "Father…"
"It is too late for them. Now go. I will not lose three children in one night."