A/N The Vampire Diaries Settings and Characters all belong to LJ Smith and the CW. Any original characters and this story are copyright © 2011-2018 to Hopelessromanticgurl, all rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the author.


Stefan filled Elena in on everything going on with the Lockwoods and the suspicions he and Damon have. Elena was just as confused as they were. John never mentioned anything about werewolves. They only person who might have known was Isobel. There was only one person they could call and ask about that.

So the next say Elena met with Stefan, Lexi, and Damon, at the Boarding House and Alaric showed up not long after that. They had a quick meeting and found out Isobel's research was still at Duke, which meant one thing….road trip.

Elena went home to pack, but she was a little nervous. Stefan and Lexi would want to stay here and help Caroline, but that would evolve her going on this road trip with Damon and Alaric by herself. She didn't mind Alaric, but Damon….she was still having nightmares about Jeremy's death. The last thing she wanted was to be alone with him. She was just glad Ric would be there.

"Are you sure you want to do this?" Stefan asked.

"Which part? Digging through my birth mother life work or going to Duke with Damon?" She asked.

"Either…both."

"Well, I'm not sure about the first part but then again Rick is a good buffer so I can bond in our anti-Damon solidarity. I wish you were coming though."

"Maybe he can," Lexi said by the doorway.

"I thought you needed me to help Caroline?" Stefan asked.

"Vicki offered to help. She knows what Caroline is going through, so she offered to help. That way you can go with Elena to Duke, and she's not alone with Damon. Besides can you honestly tell me you'd be able to focus knowing Elena was going on a road trip with your brother?"

"No." Stefan laughed. "You know me too well. Thanks, Lexi."

"Not a problem, I've got all your stuff packed and ready to go. It's downstairs."

"Perfect. Thank you."

"Not a problem. Have fun."

Lexi smiled and turned around to leave.

After saying Goodbye to Jenna, everyone got into the car and headed on their journey. Elena was a lot happier knowing Stefan was going with her.


They drove for a while. Then Damon reached behind him to touch Elena's leg. "How are you doing back there? You know, this whole pretending to hate me thing is getting a little silly."

"Leave her alone," Stefan said pushing his hand away from Elena's leg.

"I don't think she's pretending. You did kill her brother." Ric said.

"There is a huge asterisk next to that statement: he came back to life." Damon

"Yeah, thanks to a ring you didn't know he was wearing." Elena pointed out.

"Why are you so sure I didn't know?" Damon asked.

"Did you?" Elena asked not believing him either way.

"Yes," Damon answered instantly.

"You're lying!" Elena growled.

"Elena, I saw the ring! It's a big tacky thing; it's hard to miss."

Elena just glared and looked out her window. She didn't believe him or trust him, so this was going to be an endless argument. Then Elena decided to have some fun.

"Damon are we there?" Elena whined.

"Does it look like we're there yet?" Damon groaned.

"Well, when are we going to get there?" Elena whined again.

"The more you ask, the longer it will take."

"Fine." Elena pouted.

Stefan poked her in the side, and she giggled. She looked to Damon. "Ow, Damon, Stefan poked me."

Stefan laughed knowing she was just trying to annoy him, and Stefan knew his brother well enough to know it was working.

"Damon, I'm tired. Damon, I'm hungry. Damon when can we eat?" Elena went on and on.

Stefan was laughing the whole time.

"Elena Gilbert one more word out of your mouth and I'll leave you on the side of the road," Damon said.

"Ric is driving. So you can't do that." Elena giggled.

"Stefan control your girlfriend," Damon said.

"She's having fun, why would I stop her?"

"Stop her before I eat her."

"You wouldn't. You care about her too much."

Damon didn't respond to that. He looked around. "I know what will shut you up. Look where we are."

Confused Elena looked out her window. She suddenly felt sick to her stomach. She felt her heart start to beat faster, and she started shaking. They were nearing Whickery Bridge. She let out a gasp for air which became more frequent as they got closer and closer.

"Elena, Elena, look at me, look at me!" Stefan said. He gently turned her face to look at him and then used his hands to prevent from looking anywhere else. "Hey, Elena, I have a question, can you answer my question, what's your favorite color? I don't remember."

"Bl-blue" Elena stuttered getting lost in his eyes, but slowly felt the weight lifting off her chest.

"What about your favorite movie?"

"I…I don't….I don't know." Elena said.

"What's your favorite memory of us?"

"Th-the Ferris Wheel," Elena answered slowly calming down.

"What about it?"

"Our kiss, you waking me up with a kiss, everything about that."

"What's your other favorite?"

"Lexi and I tickling you awake on your birthday."

Stefan chuckled. Once she knew they were safely across the bridge, Stefan removed his hands and gently tickled her stomach. "Oh yeah? You liked tickling me, well do you like this, huh, huh?"

Elena giggled and pushed his hands away. "Thank you."

"You're welcome." Stefan gently kissed her lips. "Are you ok?"

"I feel a little car sick, but the panic is gone."

"Good, Should we have Ric pull over?"

"No. Just keep rubbing my stomach," Elena said enjoying the feeling of him rubbing his cold hands on her warm bare stomach.

"Your wish is my command."

The rest of the car ride was spent with cuddling and comfort and ignoring Damon as much as possible.


It felt like hours, but they finally arrived. As they were getting out of the car and went inside, Ric spoke. "So Isobel was officially employed by the anthropology department given that most paranormal phenomenon has rooted in folklore."

As they entered a room, they saw a woman putting some papers into a file draw. "Excuse me, hi. I'm Alaric Saltzman; I called earlier." Alaric said.

"Yes, of course. I'm Vanessa Monroe; research assistant compare to folklore." The woman introduced. Vanessa gave Elena a strange look but didn't say anything about it. "Uh, let me just grab Isobel's keys."

"These are my friends Elena, Stefan and Damon. I hope this isn't too much of an imposition." Alaric said nicely.

"Oh please, Isobel's office is right through there. Isobel's was one of my first professors. I'm a grad-student. She was brilliant and one of the reasons I went to folklore." Vanessa suddenly went quiet. "Uh… I have to ask, has it been any news?"

"No, I'm afraid not." Alaric lied.

Elena inhaled and exhaled a shaky breath, but relaxed when she felt Stefan rubbing her back. They followed Vanessa to Isobel's office.

"I'll grab the light, feel free to look around. It's fascinating isn't it?" Vanessa left the room, and everyone started to look around.

After that everything seemed to go way too fast, even for a vampire. Vanessa came out with a crossbow and aimed it at Elena. Before she could blink, Damon jumped in front of her and took the hit falling to the floor.

Alaric pinned Vanessa to the wall.

Stefan ran to help his brother and Elena. Stefan removed the arrow from Damon's back. Instantly Damon went to kill her, and that's when Elena and him started to fight…again.

"She's dead," Damon said.

"You're not going to kill her," Elena said. She couldn't even think about someone else dying at the hands of Damon.

"Oh yeah? Watch me." Damon smirked.

"If you kill her I will never speak to you again." Elena glared.

"What makes you think that has any power over me? Because I took an arrow in the back for you? You're so overestimating yourself." Damon bit back.

"Right. I forgot that I was speaking to a psychotic mind who snaps and kills people impulsively. Fine, go ahead, do whatever you want." Elena said knowing deep down he wouldn't do it.

"You're trying to manipulate me," Damon smirked.

"If by "manipulate" you mean "tell the truth" okay, guilty." With one last glare, she walked over to Stefan and let out a deep breath. She hated Damon so much. He was making this whole trip that much worse. Stefan pulled her into a hug and rubbed her back kissing her head.


After explaining the truth to Vanessa, she agreed to let them see her real research and Damon did not end up killing her.

Vanessa brought a large box over to Elena and Stefan. "This box checks Katherine's arrival to Mystic Falls in April 1864."

"Is that all there is about her?" Elena asked as she and Stefan started to go through it.

"All that I'm aware of." Vanessa nodded.

When Elena found vervain in the box, she looked to Damon and then to Vanessa. "Here, take this."

"Does vervain really work?" Vanessa asked in a hushed whisper.

Elena nodded, but Damon spoke first.

"Nope, not at all," Damon answered not stopping what he was doing or even looking at them.

"Can he hear us?" Vanessa asked.

"No, that would be creepy," Damon answered again in a loud whisper

"Can he read minds too?"

"You know, if you want to see me naked, all you have to do is ask."

Elena rolled her eyes and shook her head. "No, that he can't do. He is very capable of being a first-grade jerk."

They all chuckled, and Vanessa put the vervain in her pocket.

After a few hours of searching Damon came over.

"Any luck?" he asked.

"No, nothing about Katherine we don't already know."

"Too bad we aren't friends anymore I could tell you what I know," Damon smirked.

"Now who is manipulating who?" Elena asked. She mentally sighed knowing she'd never get the information out of him unless she agreed to forgive him and be his friend again. Before more could be said, Alaric called them over. He had found something.

"There's no record of werewolf mythology in Mystic Falls but here are some records of some the lesser known legends. Everything from Scandinavian skin walkers to Aztecs legends," Vanessa said as she handed Elena and Stefan a book with drawings in it. "It's translate into the "curse of the sun and the moon."

"It's Native American?" Alaric asked.

"Aztecs," Vanessa answered. "It explains one origin of the werewolf curse traced through Virginia. The short story: 600 years ago, the Aztecs were played by werewolves and vampires. They terrorized the countryside, made farming and hunting impossible until an Aztec shaman cursed them, making vampires slaves to the sun and werewolves servants of the moon. As a result, vampires could only prowl at night and werewolves could only turn on a full moon. When the full moon is crossing the sky, who's ever unlucky enough to fall into the werewolves curse turns into a wolf."

"Can they control the transformation?" Damon asked.

"If it were a choice, it wouldn't be called a curse. Werewolves will attack humans, but instinct and centuries of the rivalry have hardware them to hunt their prey's choice: vampires."

"Well, if werewolves were hunting vampires, I would know about it," Damon said.

Vanessa shook her head. "Not if they aren't many werewolves left alive. Hundreds of years ago vampires hunted them almost to extinction."

"Why would they do that?" Elena asked.

"To protect themselves. According to the legend, a werewolf bite is fatal to the vampires."

Elena and Stefan shared a look. If they were right and Tyler was a werewolf, Lexi and Caroline would be in a lot of trouble right now. Stefan quickly grabbed his phone and ran outside to call Lexi and warn her.

"Hey, have you done any research on doppelgangers?" Elena wondered.

"Well, the world means a lot of different things to different cultures but typically a doppelganger is a living, breathing double of oneself," Vanessa answered.

"Did Isobel have anything that explains the link between me and Katherine?"

"That's all she had on Katherine, unfortunately, but I can tell you that doppelgangers usually torment the people they look like, trying to undue their lives. It's not exactly uplifting."

Elena sighed. "And more things we already know. Just… I want to know why we look alike."

"Head scratcher isn't it?" Damon smirked walking over.

"Do you know something or are you just being yourself?" Elena asked in an annoyed tone.

"Well, if I know anything, I'm not going to tell you with that attitude."

"That's good, Damon and this is coming from someone who wants to be my friend, but you know what? Friends don't manipulate friends; they help each other." With that, she stormed off in search of Stefan.


Just as Stefan hung up Elena walked over and into his arms.

"You ok?" Stefan asked.

"He's torturing me." Elena sighed. "He knows something. I know he does, but he is using it at leverage to get me to forgive him. I can't forgive him, Stefan. If it wasn't for the luck of that ring, Jeremy would be…." Elena shook her head not even able to say the words.

"But he was, and that's what's important. We got the answers we need about werewolves. We will get the answers out of Damon another time. There are ways?" Stefan said rubbing her back.

Elena looked up at him. "How?"

Stefan smirked. He pointed to his lips, then his ear and back inside. Elena nodded. Stefan took out his phone and sent her a text message.

Damon is extremely ticklish.

Elena giggled and texted back. Really?

Stefan nodded. Lexi is stronger than him too, so if needed she can pin him down, and we can tickle the answers out of him. So don't worry ok?

Elena giggled and nodded. "Thank you, Stefan."

"I love you."

"I love you too."

They shared a kiss and a hug.

When they pulled back, Stefan said, "I'm going to make one last call to Lexi before we leave, all this news about werewolf bites being deadly just…I want to be sure she and Caroline are ok."

"Go, I'll meet you in the car."

They shared one more kiss, and Elena headed over to the car. Of course, it had to be locked. She groaned softly. She heard the car beep singling it was unlocked. Then Damon appeared and opened the door for her. She went to get in, but Damon stopped her.

"You're not going to be able to hate me forever," Damon said moving in front of Elena to stop her from getting in.

"Can we just go?" Elena asked stepping back as he got too close for comfort. To Elena's surprise, he handed her a book.

"You didn't dig deep enough."

"Petrova?" Elena asked reading the title. "I saw it on the shelf."

"Katherine originally came from Europe. Petrova was her real name. Katarina Petrova, to be exact." Damon explained.

"How did you know that?" Elena asked.

"Back when, I saw it engraved on an old heirloom. Men snoop too, you know. Let me know what you find, I'm very curious myself."

Elena nodded and tried to get back in the car, but Damon once again stopped her.

"You have every right to hate me, I understand, but you hated me before and we became friends. It would suck if that was gone forever. So, is it? Have I lost you forever?" He asked.

Elena almost felt bad for the way she had been treating him, and for a split second considered forgiving him. But then she had a flash of him killing Jeremy and all she could say was "Thank you for the book, Damon." Then she got in the car and closed the door.


Once everyone was in the car and headed home, Elena waited until Damon was in a conversation with Alaric and then gently tapped Stefan on the leg. When he looked at her, she showed him the book.

Stefan used only his eyes and looked to Damon and then back to the book. Elena nodded knowing what he was asking.

Stefan took out his phone and texted Elena.

You know, I was actually looking forward to pinning him down and tickling him. Now we can't do that.

Elena giggled and texted him back. We can still do that. Just not for the reason of getting answers out of him.

Stefan chuckled. He put his phone away and smirked at Elena. She giggled knowing he was planning something. She leaned into his arms and stayed cuddled in his chest the entire ride home.


They arrived back at Elena's house late. She thanked Ric for driving and helping her with the journey. She kissed Stefan goodbye and got out of the car. Damon followed her.

"Aren't you going to stop him?" Ric asked.

"Nope," Stefan answered.

"Why not?"

"As much as I hate to admit this, Damon needs to talk to Elena and he needs to tell her the truth about not seeing the ring. He needs to try and make things right with her. As much as I hate to admit it he does care about her more than he lets on."

"You're a brave man."

"He won't hurt her. He knows we're watching him."

"I hope you're right."

They sat in silence as they watched Damon and Elena talk. As much as Stefan wanted to he didn't listen in. He gave them their privacy.

Once they were finished talking, Damon vampire sped away. Elena stood there looking hurt. Stefan sighed.

"I'm going to go check on her. I'll run home, thanks for everything." Stefan said.

"Yeah, not a problem." Ric nodded.

Stefan nodded and got out of the car. Ric drove away, and Stefan noticed Elena had gone inside. Stefan knew Jenna wouldn't allow him to come inside because it was so late. He also knew Elena needed him. He smiled when he heard her opening her window and whisper his name.

He chuckled, and vampire sped over to her window and jumped up and landed inside.

"How'd you know?" He asked.

She shrugged. "I didn't. I was just hoping."

Stefan sighed. "I'm sorry. I should never have left you alone with him."

"It's not your fault. Besides I needed to hear what he had to say. I needed to hear him admit to not seeing the ring. I needed him to be honest with me, and he wouldn't have done that if you were there."

"Yeah, but he hurt you. I can see it in your eyes."

Elena sighed. "I'm not like her, Stefan. I am not her. Just because we look alike doesn't mean we are the same person."

Stefan walked over to Elena and wrapped his arms around her. He kissed the back of her head. "You are not Katherine. I know that. Damon is mad, and he's hurt, and he's scared. When he feels those things he lashes out and hurts anyone who gets in his path. But you have to remember you are not Katherine, and you never will be Katherine."

"Thank you, Stefan. I needed to hear that."

She turned in his arms, and they shared a kiss.

"Can you stay the night?" Elena asked.

"Jenna will kill me," Stefan said.

"You're right." Elena sighed. "I guess I'll just see you tomorrow."

Stefan kissed her forehead. "I'll stay until you fall asleep then I'll leave."

"Thank you."

Elena went and quickly got changed and then climbed into bed grabbing her bear and snuggling it close to her chest.

Stefan kissed her once last time and sat at the end of her bed and stroked her hair until she fell asleep. Then he left. It had been an exhausting day, and he was tired. He just hoped Lexi had some luck with Caroline.


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