author's notes: i apologize for leaving everyone with a cliffhanger, but i never said i was a very nice person. anyway, hope you all enjoy the new chapter. thanks so much for all your comments and reviews! please read & review!

characters: Jeremy, Katherine, Elena, Bonnie, Stefan, Amelia (OC), Damon

setting: AU from 1x14 - Fool Me Once onward

disclaimer: fic•tion [fíksh'n]: literary works of imagination

MALUM DISCORDIAE;;

chapter six

Jeremy sees her cross the street minutes after he leaves the Mystic Grill bar.

The cool night air that hits him once he makes it outside clears his head only a little, before fresh thoughts come swimming around in his head again. Anna was a vampire, and this Amelia is a vampire. And Damon, well, he had to be a vampire too, unless he was under some kind of elaborate mind-control spell, but that seemed too complicated a plot to be true. So if Damon is a vampire, then... then that means Stefan could be too. The fear strikes him again, gripping his heart tightly when he realises Elena hasn't been home in days.

He'd always seen Stefan as a decent guy, and he didn't push Elena in any way. They looked good together and Jeremy knows his sister loves him very much. What does all this mean? Amelia knows he's on to her, and before long Damon will probably know too. Will they try to skip town? Or will they try to kill him? All that worry comes to a momentary end when he sees his sister crossing the street.

"Elena!" he calls after her, but his sister doesn't turn, nor does she seem to register the sound of his voice. Jeremy pulls his backpack tighter over his shoulder, and runs after her. "Elena," he exclaims again when he's only a few feet away, and slowly, very slowly, Elena turns around. She seems different, somehow, but he can't quite put his finger on it. Her hair is curled, that's new, but then he hasn't seen her in days. "What are you doing here? Did you just come back from Stefan's?" he asks.

Elena's eyes narrow for a second, and she looks him up and down conspicuously. "I was just out for a walk." She nods slowly, as if she's not sure of the words herself.

"I just saw Damon," Jeremy says, unsuspecting. He doesn't notice how the woman in front of him is studying his every move, his facial features, and is questioning the ease he takes with her. "He seems to be better. I guess Stefan's feeling better too?"

"Yes. Of course," she answers, and takes a step closer to Jeremy. In the light of the full moon, her skin looks dead-pale, and Jeremy feels it, how his heart skips a fearful beat inside his chest, because the moonlight makes his sister look too much like a vampire. "I should get back there," Elena adds, and takes another step closer, until they're mere inches apart. She looks into his eyes, and focuses. "Tell me where I can find them," her voice is low.

Her words and the pull hit him simultaneously. "What?" Jeremy asks confused. It's almost like she's— no, that's impossible. It can't be.

Elena's eyes shift from left to right, and sweep down his body, in the exact same way Amelia's had in the bar. "Damon and Stefan, where are they?" Elena asks, looking up at him once more.

"Damon is at the Grill with Amelia," Jeremy answers, and frowns. He assumed Elena was just getting back from Stefan's, but maybe she'd stopped at home in the mean time first. "I guess Stefan is still at home." She's still looking at him curiously. "Elena, are you feeling okay?" Jeremy asks adamantly, because this doesn't seem entirely like his sister. He refuses to think about the one thing he fears the most.

"I'm fine," she smiles up at him, but it's more coy than he's used to seeing it. It's not a sisterly smile. "Just a little tired." He doesn't believe a word she's saying. He knows what his own sister looks like when she's tired; this woman, this thing in front of him is carrying none of the signs. Do humans know when they're turned into a vampire? Do they realise? Does anything of the person survive?

"Okay." It's the only word he manages to find. He has to get away from there. He needs to find Mr Saltzman and tell him everything he knows, but he's still at the bar with Aunt Jenna. "See you later then." He turns around without paying Elena another glance. Later then. Later he'll tell Mr Saltzman about what he discovered, and they'll work out some kind of plan.

Katherine stares after the strange boy curiously. The band around his wrist had contained vervain; had this town not changed? The tomb at the church was empty now, devoid of even her memory, but it seemed that the people of Mystic Falls still kept a wary eye out in case vampires strolled through this town again. That was most unfortunate.

Why had he called her Elena? Why had he treated her like a family member or a close friend? It wasn't the first time that night that she'd been called the name. Earlier, as she was lingering near some window shops, a group of teenagers had wished her a good night. Who is this Elena? And what is her business with Stefan and Damon? She decides there and then to pay Stefan a visit. Pearl won't miss her for another few hours, and until she finds out who this Amelia is, she'd best steer clear of Damon. But that's only for the time being.

As for Stefan, it shouldn't be too hard to find out where he was residing now. She'd went by the old house in the woods, but there was hardly anything left of it. A shame really, she had enjoyed the time she'd spend there with the Salvatore brothers. Now it seemed there were new players in town, making a pass at her boys' hearts. She'll have none of that, not now that she's found her way back. Not now that they can truly be together forever.

She compels an innocent passerby to tell her where she might find the new Salvatore residence; she doesn't taste his blood. It's imperative that her presence in Mystic Falls goes undetected for the time being. If people insist on mistaking her for this Elena girl, that's even better for her.

She likes the new house when she lays eyes on it; it's nowhere near as extravagant as the old one, but this one had its charm. In a very small-town kind of way.

The doorbell chimes through the entire house behind the door, and she hears the mumble of voices behind it. It's a human that runs to get the door, that much she can tell, perhaps even the mystery Elena herself. She braces herself when the door opens, but the sight she sees is one not even she could have suspected. It's almost as if she's looking into a mirror across time. No wonder people have been mistaking her for Elena. "Goodness gracious," she says, and looks the girl up and down, much in the same way she had that boy earlier. "You must be Elena." Is this why Elena had stood a chance at Stefan's heart? Because she looked exactly like her? After all these years, was he still not over her?

"Katherine," Elena exclaims. Part of her is paralyzed with fear, because Stefan had told her how cruel she could be, what she did to him and Damon. Another part of her rejoices, because in front of her not only stood her identical twin, but also Stefan's cure. Her hair is curled, like on the picture, only her clothing has been updated to the times. "Where's Damon?" Elena frowns suddenly; Katherine seems to be alone.

"In town, with Amelia," Katherine answers easily. It's curious to her how Elena seems to know her, the surprise in her eyes is not nearly great enough for her existence to be a complete mystery to the human girl. Right now, it seems a bigger surprise to her. She hears someone mumbling upstairs. "Is that Stefan I hear?" she asks curiously. He doesn't sound right. What was it that the boy had said? Damon was better. Better from what? She knew about the dead vampire in the woods; she'd done her best to cover him up once she'd found him. Were Stefan and Damon suffering from the same illness?

"He's dying," Elena blurts out. Didn't Damon tell her? Didn't Damon send her here? She could hardly be here because she heard from someone else. "Only your blood can cure him," she explains still, because she's right, that is Stefan upstairs, suffering beyond belief. Katherine is his only hope now. "Because you created him."

Katherine considers it for a moment. This illness was only cured by the blood of the creator? Curious. But then, how had Damon survive?

Katherine strolls in slowly, and stands in front of Elena, studying her features. There really is an uncanny resemblance. She recognises so much of herself in Elena, except for the carefully chosen ensemble outfit, the long straight hair, and oh yes, the innocence still present in her eyes. Such a human thing to have.

"ELENA!" someone upstairs shouts, and then there are hurried footsteps down the stairs. Another human joins them, but stops in her tracks at the top of the stairs. "El—" the girl starts, but her eyes go wide when she lays eyes on Elena and Katherine.

"Bonnie, what's wrong?" Elena asks, looking up at her best friend. There's terror in her eyes.

"It's Stefan," Bonnie says, "I think he's—" no, she can't say it. Her hands clench hard at the railing of the stairs. Stefan can't die. She can't watch him die, and she can't watch Elena suffer. There's been enough pain already. "Elena, you have to hurry up. Now!" she shouts, and runs back up the stairs.

"Please, we have to hurry," Elena says fast, and is running before she's finished speaking. She hopes Katherine still cares enough to do this for Stefan. Elena rushes up the stairs without looking back, without checking whether Katherine is following her. All she knows is that Stefan is giving up, letting go, and she needs to be there for him. Bonnie is standing at the foot of the bed when she runs into the room, a hand covering up her mouth. Elena rushes to be by Stefan's side.

"Oh my God, Stefan," Elena exclaims, placing a hand softly to his forehead. Please God, don't let it be too late, Elena thinks, even though she's never been a very religious person. She can't watch this, something inside her tells her, she can't watch him die. She's not going to survive that.

"Out of the way," Katherine sneers, suddenly there, and settles her body down next to Stefan. She plants her fangs in the skin at her wrist, breaking through the skin. When the first few drops of blood hit Stefan's lips, there's a double intake of breath from Elena and Bonnie, now both standing by the foot of the bed. Katherine rolls her eyes without them seeing. She gets what Stefan might see in Elena, but really, why bother with a meek little lamb when he can have the tiger? Why bother with a human, when he and his brother can have her?

Stefan stirs on the bed a few minutes later. It's the first sign of life he's shown in a while. "Stefan," Elena breathes, and moves to walk over to his side again.

Katherine blocks her path before she can blink. Elena wants to protest, but immediately she feels a pull in her chest. "Stay away from him," Katherine says, hoping to compel Elena, but her eyes fall on her necklace almost immediately. "Does everyone in this godforsaken town wear vervain!" she shouts, and hits Elena across the face. Elena crashes to the ground hard.

"Elena!" Bonnie rushes over to her friend's side.

Katherine grabs her by the hair. "I don't think so, witch," Katherine says, and throws Bonnie down on the ground as well. She walks over to Elena, and without giving it another thought, without caring what it does to her skin, she rips the necklace clean off Elena's neck. The pain doesn't matter. The pain always goes away.

"Please," Elena begs, but it's too late. Katherine moves fast, sweeping her hair aside, and plants her fangs deep in Elena's neck.

His teeth slice through the young woman's skin like a knife through butter; he savours every single drop of blood he takes, but he's careful not to kill her. He promised Amelia. Already he feels his strength growing, the fire in his veins extinguishing, and slowly but surely he's regaining his control over his emotions. He drinks deep, taking his fill, and before soon he feels his hunger waning, everything he's been looking for all day. His lips leave the young woman's skin, and his tongue sweeps across his teeth.

"Are you sure you don't want a taste?" He turns his head to look at Amelia.

They're in the woods, crashing some party. It hadn't been difficult to lure the girl away from the crowd, and it wasn't difficult to make her forget any of this is happening. One of the advantages of being a vampire living on human blood. Amelia is leaning against a nearby tree, making sure no one disturbs them, and regarding Damon as he feeds off the human girl. She's always admired how he fully embraces his existence; she has met others like him, of course, but Damon did it with a grace found in few others.

She admires his taste for the hunt, how he stalks his prey and is merciless even in the face of danger. He reminds her very much of how she started out in this existence. But that was behind her now, the thrill of the chase, the feeling of victory even though they all know their prey is more feeble than them. Part of her misses it; it's part of her existence, and she'd adapted to it fast because there was little other choice. Part of her is content seeing it in Damon, because she's already lived too long, been too many things, felt too many things. She's done and seen everything in this world.

Still, for Damon she's willing to make an effort, especially since she fears she will lose him completely very soon. Amelia walks over to where Damon is standing, the girl pinned to a tree, and brushes the girl's hair to the side on the other side of her neck. She leans in, brushing the tip of her nose across the girl's skin, and breaths in. The hunger overtakes her seconds later, burning in her veins, and she sinks her teeth into the soft tissue hard.

Damon watches her in fascination, how gracious she moves, the real animal inside gaining momentum once more. He's surprised to see her do this now, because he's been suspecting that some part of his creator, her hunter's instinct, had started waning under the pressures of time. He's seen it in others; this day and age vampires don't need to hunt to get blood. There are other ways now. He still doesn't see the appeal of it all, but he can understand why Amelia would.

Right now, having her this close, feeding of this girl with him, it's like he has her closer now than since she arrived in Mystic Falls. When she looks at him again, eyes still pitch-black, her lips smeared blood-red, he's reminded of that one night they spend in Rio during the carnival. It was raining, that night when it was just the two of them, creatures of the night blending into the shadows on the outskirts of the dark, riding high on the waves of pleasure their blood created in each other. For whatever reason, Amelia had surrendered herself to him; she'd been at his mercy, pliant underneath his touch, wordlessly asking for more. And he'd given her everything.

Amelia knows exactly what he's thinking. She can feel his lust for her radiating off him in waves, pulsing through to her own heart, making her want to surrender all over again. It had nothing to do with relinquishing control, or to give Damon what he wanted, but they had a bond between them that couldn't be denied even if they tried to. It had everything to do with getting what they both needed. Right now she needs him more than ever; she needs him to forget about Katherine, if only for a minute, but she knows that's asking too much of his broken heart.

When he sees Amelia like this he wants to own her, he wants to be with her as completely as he once wanted to be with Katherine, creatures of the dark, ruling the shadows. But that thought awakens other memories, far older and much deeper ingrained in his being. Memories of spending endless nights with Katherine, her promise of changing him, of loving him and wanting to spend eternity with him. He's not over Katherine, he knows that, part of him will never be. What else has the past century and a half been about but her?

He wants Amelia, completely, but he can't.

"Race ya," he says fast, and is running before Amelia has a chance to react. She sighs, but runs after Damon. She doesn't know how he can still think that he'll ever outrun her, because she'll always be faster. As expected, she reaches the mansion just before Damon does. He stands, catching his breath, because his diet of animal blood hasn't completely left his system yet. "You're not going to tell me how old you are, are you?" he asks Amelia, eyes narrowing.

"No."

"Because you don't trust me?" Damon asks, but all Amelia does in response is raise an eyebrow. Damon sighs, and crunches his nose. "Don't answer that." He knows he's never done anything in his life to completely deserve anyone's trust.

Amelia laughs, arms crossed over her chest. "It's not that I don't trust you," she answers, and walks over to Damon. "I've just learned that at my age you keep these things to yourself."

"It's because of your blood, isn't it?" Damon asks. He knows there's a black market for that stuff. He'd seen many things in his lifetime so far, but vampires selling vampire blood for profit was stooping very low.

"It's disgusting," Amelia says as they walk towards the house. She'd had some close run-ins with black market dealers in the past; since then she's been absolutely insistent on keeping her age to herself. "And dangerous. It's not something I..." something stops her from saying more. There's something disturbing the air.

"What is it?" Damon asks, watching Amelia look at the house intently. She breathes in deeply, and it only confirms her suspicions. She smells blood; she smells a vampire's blood. It's not something every vampire picks up on, but Amelia has enough experience to notice the difference with a human scent. Right now, the scent could only mean one thing: Katherine is already here.

Stefan's scream catches both their attention as soon as it's out. Next thing they're running again, Damon and Amelia, side by side, until they reach Stefan's room. The sight in front of them has them both speechless. "Elena, what the hell are you—?" Damon starts, but can't finish his sentence. It's not Elena sitting by Stefan's side, feeding him her blood. It's not Elena, but he can smell her blood. He glances to the right side of the room, and that's where he finds Elena, and Bonnie, unconscious on the floor. "Katherine," the word escapes him beyond his control.

Katherine gets up from the bed, and turns to face Damon and Amelia, who are still keeping close to the doorway. "Hello, my darling," she smiles, folding her arms behind her back. "Miss me?" She looks at Damon, a sly smile ghosting across her lips. He's not changed a bit, she thinks.

"What did you do to them?" Amelia asks, disregarding Katherine's ease, her teasing, her every manner. She'd once told herself that she'd kill Katherine if she ever met her, and right now her concern for Elena's and Stefan's welfare is the only thing keeping her from doing so.

"You must be Amelia," Katherine says, and looks her up and down, tilting her head. She makes no attempt to hide her contempt for the redhead. Who is she anyway? She's a vampire, that much is clear. What's she doing with her Damon? "I hear you've been taking care of my Damon real good." Katherine supposes she can't blame her for that. Damon has always been a catch.

What happens next passes in a blur. "Mel!" Damon shouts when he sees her charge towards Katherine.

Next thing, Amelia crushes Katherine against the wall, arm against her throat, her other hand subduing both of Katherine's arms behind her back. Damon doesn't move another muscle. He knows what Amelia is capable off; he knows her strength. She could rip Katherine to pieces like a ragdoll.

It's only then that Katherine feels it; right underneath the surface she can feel the power exuding from Amelia, pulsing from her in waves. She must be very old for her to have that kind of power, for her to be able to feel it this outspokenly. Why is a vampire as powerful as Amelia bothering with the Salvatore brothers?

"You didn't hear nearly enough then," Amelia hisses, keeping a crushing weight against Katherine's throat. "What did you do to them?" Amelia asks again, giving Katherine just enough room to answer. She fears what Katherine might have done. Both Bonnie's and Elena's hearts are still beating, but they've both clearly been bitten. Who knows what else Katherine has done to them.

"They're not dead," Katherine answers defiantly. "Yet."

Stefan stirs on the bed. "Elena," he chokes out.

"Damon, take care of them," Amelia says, referring to Elena and Bonnie. "Damon!" Amelia calls out again, but all Damon has eyes for is Katherine.

She's here, he thinks, after all these years of searching, of hoping, of waiting for her, Katherine is actually here. He'd always seen Elena as a dead ringer for Katherine, but it's only now that he sees the world of difference between them. It's all in the eyes.

Amelia sighs and releases Katherine; she has to, before she loses control of her emotions. She's not one to act on impulse anymore, but Katherine stirs powerful emotions inside her. Right now however, Stefan's health takes precedent. She walks over to him on the bed. "Elena's here, Stefan," she says. "You have to rest. You'll be better in no time."

Stefan nods, and falls into his last restless slumber. After tonight, he'll be healthy again.

Amelia gets up and faces Katherine. "I want you out of this room," she says, eyes ablaze with anger. She can't have her here, knowing what she did to Elena and Bonnie, knowing what she'd been capable off all those years ago. Knowing what she's capable of making Damon feel.

"Make me," Katherine taunts.

Amelia clenches her jaws together, her hands forming into fists. There are few people that can test her patience like this. "Mel," Damon says before Amelia has a change to react to Katherine. He moves to stand between both women; he doesn't want to see this turn into a fight. A fight Katherine would lose. Both Amelia and Katherine stay in place, so he turns around and looks at Katherine. He has to get at least one of them out of this room, and something tells him it won't be Amelia. He looks at Katherine strongly, yet he knows that there's something in his eyes that pleads with her desperately.

Katherine stares back at him hard, and she doesn't relent. Still, there's something inside her that tells her she should go. It's clear that Amelia has been hardwired in both Damon's and Stefan's life. She needs to get to the bottom of it, and fighting Amelia won't tell her anything. She casts down her eyes, and takes a breath. She turns on her heels and leaves the room.

Damon glances at Amelia over his shoulder.

Amelia feels her lips part, words on the tip of her tongue but they refuse to come out. She knows what just happened. She's lost whatever hold she still had on Damon, whatever kept him tethered to her these past 150 years. She wants to say something, but she knows no words will reach him now.

So she lets him go.

Damon follows Katherine out the door.

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