The sound of tree cracking woke up the couple who lay construed across the bed. "What the hell?" Damon muttered still half asleep. Elena moaned asking what time it was. It was only 7 in the morning. They could hear Katherine still asleep but they couldn't hear Stefan's snores.

They got up and Elena threw on her robe and slippers and Damon just walked into the bathroom in his boxers. They looked out Damon's bathroom window which peered out to the woods behind the boarding house. There was a down tree in back near the shed with Stefan at the bottom where it broke off. "Stefan!" Elena called opening the window. He looked up to the house and saw his brother and Elena in the window. "What the hell is he doing?" Damon muttered. "It's too early for this, let's go back to bed, he can cut down as many trees as he wants, I don't care. If he wants to be a lumber Jack just let him go."

Elena rolled her eyes and took off her rob and threw on her sweatshirt and flip flops. She ran out the kitchen door. "Elena!" Damon called from the window.

Stefan swung an axe the downed tree and split it with one swing, he had his strength back… just not his mental strength. "Stefan what are you doing?" Elena hollered over the second swing in another section of the tree.

"Building a house." Stefan said.

"What are you talking about?" Elena asked. Stefan swung the axe into the ground and leaned up against it.

"You guys need to be by yourselves without me around, but you guys don't want me to leave… So I am building a pool house kind of thing." Stefan explained.

"We don't have a pool…" Elena muttered.

"What's he doing?" Damon asked appearing out of thin air.

"Building a pool house for him to stay, so we have the house to ourselves." Elena repeated. "Tell him it's a bad idea."

Damon pondered the thought. "It's not the worst idea in the world Elena." Damon suggested. "We could still check up on him and Jeremy would be able to move back into the guest room."

Elena was still a bit too tired to fight and she trusted Damon when it came to things like this. "Fine, do what you want." She said throwing her hands up and started back toward the house.


Elena walked into the kitchen through the back door. Katherine was chomping at the bit to get out of the cell. Elena walked over to the fridge and poured herself a glass of blood. Katherine's stomach growled as Elena went down the stairs toward the cell. "Good morning sleeping beauty." Elena greeted snarkily.

Katherine frowned at her and coughed. "Are you a little parched?" Elena asked sarcastically as if she actually cared.

"Yeah…" Katherine muttered.

"Karma's a bitch." Elena snorted and took a drink of her breakfast and walked away up the stairs.

"YOU CAN'T JUST LEAVE ME DOWN HERE!" Katherine shouted.

"My house, my rules!" Elena laughed and slammed the basement door.

Damon's hand was occupied with the same thing has Elena. "How is our guest?" He asked as they walked toward the staircase.

"A little parched apparently."

"You know we actually have to feed her now; we can't starve her out and then just feed her blood last minute right?" Damon said.

"Yeah, yeah, but I'm sure as hell not doing it." Elena laughed and started up the stairs leaving Damon to feed the whore in the basement.


Jeremy came over for the afternoon as well as Caroline and Tyler. They were meeting to discuss how to figure out who this 'other' Stefan was. They watched Stefan build the frame to the house from their seats. "How long as he been out there?" Jeremy asked.

"Since 7 this morning, woke Damon and I up chopping down the trees." Elena sighed.

"Well at least the view isn't too bad." Caroline joked. Stefan was topless and he had a work belt around his waist with cargo shorts on. Elena smirked at Tyler's reaction, "Oh come on you can't say he's ugly right now."

"Where is Damon?" Tyler asked changing the subject.

"Getting the witness." Elena muttered.

"Witness?" Caroline questioned. Just then the door to the basement opened and Damon walked up the stairs with Katherine trailing behind. Damon refused to put the handcuffs on her like Elena suggested. They had to be as nice to her as possible because they needed her to figure out what happen to Stefan.

Damon pointed to a chair for her to sit and sat down next to Elena and whispered in her ear, "7 hours."

Elena smirked and she nudged him. "Okay what's your plan?" She asked referring the question to Damon.

"Where did you two have your fight?" Damon asked directing it to Katherine.

"Vancouver." She muttered.

"What I'm sorry you're going to have to speak up, my hearing is better than it used to be, but not for you." Elena spat.

"Vancouver." Katherine said louder in an actual speaking voice. "Is that better for you?"

"Much." Elena smirked.

"Bitch…" Katherine muttered under her breath.

Elena was about to retort and call her out but Damon's hand reached her arm and pulled her back, "Enough Elena, as much as I love a good dopplegänger cat fight, not now." Elena crossed her arms and sighed. "Where were you guys going after Vancouver?"

"New Orleans to meet up with a group of vampires there."

"Klaus…" Caroline suggested.

"Caroline can you—" Damon got cut off. "Already on it." Caroline said taking out her phone and started to dial.

Everyone sat there silently and listened to the dial tone until that all too familiar voice answered. "Caroline, what a surprise, how is everything in Mystic Falls? Ready to take me up on that offer?"

"Sorry, but that's not why I called." Caroline said as sweetly as possible.

"What can I do for you love?"

"I was wondering if you had seen Stefan lately?"

"Ah yes, the Ripper is back in full swing again, and this time no complications." Klaus said, you could hear it in his voice that he was happy about it.

"Look, I need to speak with you, in person, how fast can you get to Mystic Falls?

"Is everything okay Caroline love?"

"Klaus, please, I can't say much right now, meet me at the Salvatore house tonight, please?" Caroline's voice was desperate, just to convince him to get him here.

"I will be there Caroline, I give you my word." Klaus promised

"Klaus!" Caroline said before he hung up, "Please don't tell anyone, it's imperative that no one knows where you are going."

Caroline turned back to face her group of friends and Katherine on one foot and smiled. "Done." Tyler didn't seem too happy about it. He hated how Caroline had Klaus wrapped around her little finger.

Damon called the meeting over because there was nothing more they could do until they got more information from Klaus. Katherine was escorted to her 5 star living chambers by Caroline and Damon went down later and gave her a cup of Ramen.


Caroline met Klaus on the outskirts of the Salvatore Estate. Caroline had sent Tyler home because of the past threats and she may have the upper hand when it came to convincing Klaus to do what they needed.

"Caroline is everything alright?" Klaus asked concerned.

The look on Caroline's face was a wounded puppy dog face and it was something Klaus hated to see on his girl. "Klaus, Stefan, isn't the Stefan that you have been hanging out with…" Caroline said.

"You brought me all the way to Mystic Falls just to doubt my judgment on the Ripper?" Klaus asked, his voice starting to become filled with anger.

"Klaus, please, you need to trust me, trust us." Caroline pleaded taking his hand. Klaus started to digress and followed Caroline to the house. Inside Katherine lay a strewn on the couch with Elena on the other side of the room from her, Damon in front and Stefan next to Elena.

"What the…." Klaus muttered laying his eyes on Stefan.

"Klaus, please understand that this is no joke, no prank, no 'I gottcha'." Elena asked.

"What have you done?" Klaus asked. Katherine looked at the hunter's eyes carefully as they swept over her. "Ah I see you have taken in a house guest…" Klaus' eyes met Jeremy's. "Or two."

"Klaus we need you full cooperation on this, you are the King of New Orleans and you are the only one who can help us bring Silas down. They had figured out, it had to be Silas, there was no other person who was capable on mind tricks of the sorts Katherine had experienced.

"Silas, I thought the witch had taken care of it." Klaus spat at the name.

"That's the reason I'm here." Jeremy confirmed.

"Bonnie had taken care of it." Elena pressed, "But she wanted to bring my brother back. She killed herself in the process."

Klaus started putting the pieces back together. "When a witch dies, their spell dies with them and is lifted."

"When everything happen, I was in the midst of putting Silas on the bottom of the Founder's lake, I don't remember much but the next thing I know I was in the safe that was met for his body and water was flowing inside the safe and I couldn't breathe the next. Elena, Damon and Caroline found me on the bottom of the lake and all I could say was shadow and I still don't know why."

"Shadow self, it makes sense." Klaus muttered. Klaus told them the legend of how dopplegängers and shadow selves came to be. The facts of both made sense. Now Klaus was convinced that the Ripper in New Orleans wasn't the original Ripper. The original Ripper was broken and emotionally shattered. Klaus along with the rest of the group was determined to fix Stefan, and maybe he'll even take Stefan under his wing again and together they would rule in New Orleans once more.


Klaus stayed at his own house that night while everyone else stayed at the Salvatore boarding house. Katherine was put back into the cell she had been staying in, Jeremy let Caroline have the guest room that night and Jeremy was on the couch. Stefan was in and out all night working on the house. When he couldn't sleep he'd go outside. Damon and Elena didn't get their night they wanted, since they had guests in the house with super hearing. "When this is over, we will go somewhere and work on us…" Damon whispered in Elena's ear as she was about to fall asleep. His arm draped itself over her waist and she turned to face him. "There will be time; eternity; to work on us." Elena whispered tiredly, "Thank you." Damon kissed her forehead as she snuggled closer to his chest. Elena fell asleep in Damon's arms safe and sound… for now.