Author's Note: I am so unbelievably sorry about how long it took to upload this chapter. I have a list of reasons why, but I'm sure you would much rather read the new chapter I will try my hardest to finish and upload the next chapter by tomorrow or Tuesday since this one took forever and a lifetime.
Previously on the Vampire Diaries:
It would take a miracle for Damon to believe she was Katherine, let alone for him to buy the story she was about to feed him, but pretending to be Katherine showing up to give away Stefan's approximate location seemed to be the only way Elena could get Damon out of town long enough for her to get something done. So for three miles, she walked with her head held high, hips moving from left to right trying her hardest to get the impersonation of her self-centered doppelganger down pat.
Chapter 2: Right away, Miss Katherine
Just breathe. It'll be fine. Just breathe.
Elena repeated these words in her head over and over again as her mind went through every possible scenario of this plan failing. She imagined Damon attacking her, leaving Elena with no vampire strength to fight back. She imagined Damon mentioning something of his and Katherine's past that Elena had no knowledge of, leaving her at a loss of words. She imagined every single possibility in great detail until she was shaking with anxiety.
About a mile of the walk was like this; Elena picturing how terribly wrong things might go. She was having serious doubts about whether or not to go through with the plan. She could easily get Caroline to actually have bonding time with her, and forget this whole stupid idea even occurred to her. The only thing holding Elena back from doing just that, was her memory of Stefan. As much as she had been picturing this plan going wrong for the past 25 minutes, she pictured horrible things happening to the man she loved even more. This was what kept Elena going. The thought of Stefan kept Elena pushing through her immense doubts.
When the boarding house driveway came into view, Elena focused all of her attention onto two things: Stefan, and pretending to be Katherine. She walked down the driveway wearing a smirk on her face, in case Damon was watching her, and a particular swag to her walk.
Approaching the door, she decided that Katherine wouldn't knock, but would instead barge right in. So, with a bust of courage and strength Elena threw open the heavy boarding house door and drawled, "You sure have let the place go, Damon. It's a shame Stefan isn't around to see. He's always so sexy when he's angry." Elena felt a stab of pain at throwing Katherine's love for the other brother in Damon's face, but she knew it was the perfect thing to say.
Damon instantly blurred towards Elena and pinned her to the wall, his arms on either side of her, leaving Elena shaken up, but not actually hurt. Fear instantly swept over her, but she kept the fear and the shock off of her face, and sneered, "Still can't keep your hands off me, I see."
"What are you doing here Katherine?" Damon growled, staring daggers into Elena's eyes.
"I was in the neighborhood, so I thought I'd come check up on my favorite doppelganger. And with a lack of Stefan these days, I figured she would be here. With you," Elena said emphasizing the last two words. She could see Damon's expression changing from anger to rage at the mention of Elena, and finally to something Elena couldn't quite read.
When Damon didn't respond immediately, Elena smiled and teased, "What? Stefan left and you thought that Elena would end up with you? Come on Damon, you and I both know that'll never happen." Elena leaned into Damon, as close as she could possibly get, and whispered, "Just face it, it will always be Stefan." The words just poured out of Elena before she could put a filter on them. She didn't have time to think about the consequences of her words, she was too focused on staying in character, and playing Katherine was making her stomach do flips; or maybe it was being so close to Damon, she couldn't really tell.
Through all of this, Elena looked calm, collected, and to be quite frank, bithcy, but on the inside her mind was running on overdrive. Her main goal at this point was to slow her pulse down. She couldn't believe that Damon hadn't heard her heart beating a mile a minute because to her it felt like it was about to fly right out of her chest.
"Why are you really here?" Damon asked, ignoring everything that Elena just said.
Elena's mind went completely blank and she realized that she never really came up with an explanation to give to Damon, nor did she think of a city to claim that Stefan was currently in. Anxious and ready to find Stefan, she forgot to think up the most important part of the plan. How could I be so stupid, she thought. Mentally freaking out, Elena realized she needed more time to think, so she did the first thing that popped in her head. She cupped Damon's face in her hands and whispered into his ear seductively, "Maybe I just wanted to see you."
"Sorry, but that ship sailed a long time ago Katherine. How many times do I have to tell you, you just don't do it for me anymore," Damon responded, pulling back from her grasp. Immediately, Elena grabbed Damon's face between her hands, and kissed him. It started out slow, but after a few seconds, Damon was nipping at Elena's bottom lip, forcing her lips to part. He began kissing her roughly, and Elena started to kiss back, when she realized just who it was she was kissing. She instantly pulled back and stumbled forwards into Damon. She hadn't even realized that he was supporting her weight. Elena took a few seconds to gather herself, while Damon stood before her still in shock.
"Looks like you aren't as over me as you thought," Elena quipped. "Might want to reconsider chasing that annoying little doppelganger."
"Where's Stefan? I know that's why you are here so for once in your life stop toying with me and just tell me what you came here to tell me," Damon begged, raw emotion dripping in every word. Elena rarely saw Damon like this, and she felt extremely guilty for causing his despair. However, she felt a lot guiltier for something else at the moment.
"You were much more fun in 1864. But if you must know the last I saw of Stefan was in Denver and that was three days ago. They move on fast."
"They have to with the trial of bodies they have been leaving," Damon stated unemotionally. By now, he had wiped all the emotion of his face and was back to the cold, heartless Damon that most people saw. And Damon going from extremely emotional to cold was never good.
"Well you know Stefan. He'll be back to brooding and bunny chasing as soon as you bring him home," Elena said hoping that it was the truth. Damon's statement about bodies scared Elena. It scared her to her core, because no matter how many stories Stefan told her of his ripper days, it could never amount to the real Ripper Stefan. She never wanted to see that side of him, and it looked like she just might have to.
"Maybe," Damon muttered. He walked into the parlor only to immerge moments later with the keys to his Camaro in his hand. "As much as I love our little talks, I have bigger fish to fry. Feel free to let yourself out."
"If you get sick of chasing after Elena, I'm always ready for a good time if you know what I mean," Elena teased as Damon walked out the door.
The moment Elena heard Damon's car pull out of the driveway, she let a breath she didn't even know she was holding. She stumbled over to the stairs and held onto the banister trying not to cry. Stefan was leaving a trail of bodies. He was off the rails again, and this time he was murdering innocent people. And to top it all off, Damon knew this all along and didn't tell her. Elena wondered what else Damon knew about Stefan that he was keeping from her. Well, she thought, I'll just have to find out.
Elena stormed up the stairs, anger pouring through her at Damon's betrayal. He knew how desperate she was for information on Stefan, and yet he kept such a vital detail hidden from her. Screw him. I hope it hurts when he finds out that it was me downstairs and not Katherine.
Trying to put Damon's betrayal out of her mind, Elena started to think. If Damon had information on Stefan, he had to have it somewhere. He would definitely keep it at the boarding house, but where? In his room?
Deciding that was where she needed to start, Elena walked into Damon's simple, but elegant bedroom. The first thing she saw was his king size bed. Immediately, her mind was drawn back to one month ago, to when she held a dying Damon in her arms. To when she kissed Damon. I thought he was going to die. I just wanted him to be happy. That's it. That is all it was. And earlier I just needed to buy time. I couldn't blow my cover. Me kissing Damon is really helping Stefan, because now I can find him and bring him home. That is all it was.
Next, Elena remembered Katherine's debut. It's okay to love them both. I did. Elena had never wanted to hit anybody, besides Damon, in her entire life until this point. But at that moment, she wanted to hit Katherine for implying such a thing. Elena loved Stefan with her whole heart. The only love she felt for Damon was comparable to the love she felt for Jeremy. Katherine was just angry that Damon had moved on from her.
Shaking her head, as to clear it, Elena walked to Damon's dresser. I need to focus on finding out everything that Damon knows about Stefan's whereabouts. She looked in Damon's dressers and armoire. She looked under his bed, and in his bathroom. She looked everywhere she could think to look, and she found nothing. Not even a trace.
Three hours later, Elena had looked in every nook and cranny in the boarding house, yet came through empty handed. She was about to have a breakdown, when she realized that there was one room she hadn't checked. The room she hadn't been in in over a month. And what better place to hide information from Elena in, than the room she didn't dare go into: Stefan's bedroom.
Elena hadn't gone into Stefan's room since he left with Klaus. She didn't want to be reminded of his absence. Even walking past it made her heart ache. She wasn't sure that even now she could handle it. But once she thought about it, she was sure that any information Damon had on Stefan would be in Stefan's room.
Excited by the thought of finally finding something out about Stefan, Elena ran, as fast as she could, into Stefan's bedroom. She went looking in his closet first, and what she saw left her speechless. The closet walls that once held clothes and shelves filled with treasures from all the years Stefan had lived were now filled with newspaper clippings and internet printouts of articles that all told similar stories. Brutal deaths of teenage girls. Major blood loss. There were pictures of gory crime scenes scattered around. Elena had never seen anything like it. No CSI or Criminal Minds TV show compared. This was sick, and the worst part was that every victim was extremely similar. They all had long brown hair and brown eyes, about seventeen or eighteen. They all looked like Elena.
Author's Note Part 2: Thank you so much for sticking with it! Once again I am so sorry for keeping you waiting for so long. I know I absolutely hate it when my fanfics make me wait this long. Well anyway I would love it if you took a minute or two to tell me what you thought about this chapter. Reviews are wonderful. Hope you enjoyed!
P.S. Props to everyone who got the joke of the title. That means you are true Vampire Diaries fans
