Danielle

The sound of my ringing phone filled my ears, disrupting my much-needed sleep. I groaned in annoyance when my alarm clock read 6:30 a.m.

Who the bloody hell would call me this early in the morning? I still want to sleep.

I went back to sleep, trying to ignore my noisy phone. However, the person on the other line was quite persistent and called me once again when I didn't answer the first call. Another annoyed groan escaped my lips, cursing the person for disturbing my lovely sleep.

Ugh, fine! I'll pick it up!

I picked up the phone not even bothering to know who it was and threatened, "You better give me a damn good reason why I shouldn't snap at you right now for waking me up this early in the morning."

"I… Uhh…" Damon stuttered and tried to be careful as if one wrong move, he would get killed.

"Spill it, Salvatore."

"Elena, Stefan, and I would like to ask you a favor to come here at the Salvatore boarding house. Please?" he surprisingly requested in a very nice and polite way.

"Why the hell do you even need me there this early in the morning?" I glared at nothing in particular.

"It's for something really important so pretty please?"

I contemplated for a moment before answering, "Fine. But if this is something really trivial, I will castrate you!"

"See you!" He quickly hung up.

I got out of bed knowing that I wouldn't be able to go back to sleep after that. Getting my outfit for the day, I went to the bathroom and the mirror showed the dark circles that formed under my eyes.

"This is what I get for staying up until past midnight researching for something nearly extinct and hard to find." I sighed and went into the shower, taking my time.

After coming home from the carnival last night, I asked Elena to tell me what exactly happened before the incident with Caroline last night. To sum everything up, Katherine happened. She told me that Katherine turned Caroline to send the Salvatore brothers a message. To top that, she has been wreaking havoc for the past few days and apparently, she started with Uncle John that ended with him being sent to the hospital.

Somehow, my gut told me that it was not the only reason and I just couldn't shake off that feeling. From what I gathered, Katherine was sly and manipulative. I just have this gut feeling that the real reason behind her return to Mystic Falls was something much complicated than wanting to get Stefan back. All of this was just too sketchy.

After my talk with Elena, I was about to go to sleep but I suddenly remembered something that caught my attention. Werewolves, they just seem so mysterious and something was pulling me towards them. I spent the whole time researching about them and anything related such as folklores and myths. There was nothing much about werewolves on the Internet and some of my family books.

One certain info was still engraved in my mind up until now. Werewolf gene was dormant only until the curse was triggered, and the only way to trigger the werewolf curse was if a werewolf made his first human kill, intentionally or accidentally.

After a few more minutes, I went out of the shower and prepared for the day. I put on some makeup on to hide my dark circles because I couldn't have Grandma questioning me what I was doing.

"Morning, Grandma." I kissed her on the cheek when I got to the kitchen.

"Morning, sweetheart," she replied as I got some toast and started eating.

"Grandma, Elena needs me for something so I'm going out for a while."

"All alright, just be careful."

"I will." I smiled before drinking some of my orange juice. "Do you need to buy anything in the grocery? I can drop by the supermarket and do it for you."

"It's all right, sweetheart. I got it covered." She smiled, looking up from her book. "Just focus on whatever you girls are going to do."

"Okay. I'll see you later, Grandma." I kissed her cheek.

Grandma placed her book down and said, "Take care, okay?"

I lightly chuckled before replying, "I promise I will."

I made my way out of the house and drove to the boarding house. After a few minutes, I arrived at the boarding house and rang the doorbell. It didn't take long for the door to be opened and Stefan quickly greeted me with a smile.

"Morning, Danny. Thanks for coming."

"Morning." I smiled before an exasperated sigh escaped my lips. "Well, your annoying brother told me to come here for something important. So, here I am."

"Sorry about that. Come in." Stefan lightly chuckled and moved aside to let me enter. "Let's go to the living room. The others are there."

Stefan then led me to the said room and when we arrived at the living room, Elena, Damon, and an unknown man sat on the couch. Apparently, I was the only person who wasn't present yet.

"After centuries of waiting, she finally arrives!" Damon exclaimed in exasperation.

My head quickly snapped to Damon's direction as I glared daggers at him. "Got a problem with that, douchebag?"

Damon groaned after hearing what I called him. "Drop the damn nickname already."

"Sure, when pigs fly." I plopped on the couch near Elena and smirked when an annoyed look crossed his face. The other occupants in the room just laughed at the older Salvatore, making him glare at me.

"You're such a pain in my ass, Danny the bitchy witch." Damon taunted, probably hoping to irk me. However, it just did the opposite.

"I'll take that as a compliment." An amused smirk made its way on my face as I shrugged before giving him a sickly-sweet smile. "At least, I'm not a dumbass, who simply can't understand that I'm never dropping the damn nickname – unlike some douchebag I know."

Damon's smug expression a while ago quickly fell as he glared at me once more. My smirk only got bigger as I smugly leaned back on the couch. The other people in the room burst into laughter because they couldn't hold it in anymore.

"Savage!" Elena exclaimed, laughing harder.

"Shots fired! Oh God, you're really hilarious!" The unknown man laughed as he made fun of Damon.

Stefan smirked at his brother and said, "You know, Damon, you should really learn to stop messing with Danny if you know what's best for you. Although, I never get tired of watching this."

"Shut up, Stefan." Damon glared at Stefan but the younger Salvatore merely made fun of him again.

"I like you." The unknown man grinned at me, making me laugh.

I smiled and said, "I'm flattered. Thank you very much."

"I'm Alaric Saltzman by the way. Call me Ric." Ric extended a hand towards me.

"So, you're Alaric. I've heard about you from Jenna." I teasingly smiled, making the said man blush. I then reached for the handshake. "Danielle Sullivan. You can call me Danny."

I then turned to Elena and the others and said, "Okay, back to business. What's this important thing you were saying?"

"Yeah, we're hoping you and Ric could shed some light on the Lockwood family." Stefan placed both of his elbows on his knees and leaned forward.

"Now, why would I know anything about the Lockwoods?" Ric raised a brow in confusion.

I looked at them with knitted brows and raised a hand. "I second to that."

"Well, you wouldn't but your dead, not dead vampire wife might." Damon directed to Ric before turning to me. "As for you, witchy, couldn't you use your juju magic? Besides, you said something about the Lockwood boy doing something supernatural."

I gave him a blank look and said, "It doesn't work that way. Magic has its limits and it can only do much. As for the other one, it was the most logical reason I could think of as to why you would suddenly have any interest in Tyler. Besides, it wasn't my fault you're such a genius you gave away everything." I shrugged my shoulders as a triumphant smirk made its way to my face after seeing Damon's face.

Damon opened and closed his mouth for a couple of times, trying to get any words out. However, he couldn't make any snide remark and once again, they quickly burst into laughter. They tried to stop but apparently, it seemed hard.

"All right, guys, back to the topic," I smirked as Damon just glared at me, which just amused me more.

Elena then turned to Ric and said, "Isobel's research from when you guys were at Duke together might help."

"You said that she had spent years researching this town." Stefan leaned forward from the couch.

Ric heaved a sigh and said, "Isobel's research here in Mystic Falls rooted in folklores and legends but at that time I thought much of which was fiction."

"Like that amazing vampire story." Damon sat on an armchair.

"Aside from vampires, what else?" Elena asked, seemingly interested.

"The lycanthrope." My ears perked up when I heard Ric's answer. Damon and Stefan shared curious glances before turning back to Ric.

"Wait, like werewolves?" Elena looked at Ric with knitted brows before leaning forward. This got my full attention now because this might be my chance to know more about them.

"No way, impossible, way too Lon Chaney," Damon scoffed and shook his head.

Stefan turned to his brother and raised a brow. "Is it?"

"I've been on this planet for one hundred sixty some odd years. Never came across one. If werewolves exist, where the hell are they?"

I heaved a sigh and finally sat properly. "Werewolves are already near extinction that's why. Vampires hunted most of them down throughout the centuries. They're very hard to come by." Everyone looked at me with a surprised expression, definitely not expecting me to know anything about werewolves.

Damon looked at me with knitted brows as he said, "What are you now, the werewolf guru? How do you know?"

"I researched about werewolves last night because I got curious when Stefan suggested it." I narrowed my eyes at Damon and prevented myself from making a snide remark. "I only found very few information about them, though."

Damon rolled his eyes. "Well, this would've been a lot easier if you said that in the first place."

Okay, he needed to shut it now and this time I didn't hold myself back. "Well, you never told me what the hell this was about. Besides, who was it again who quickly shot down the idea of werewolves when Stefan suggested it?"

I pretended to think for a while and exclaimed, "Oh, right! If I'm not mistaken, it was a certain douchebag, who goes by the name of Damon Salvatore. Now zip it, asshat."

At this moment, Damon and I were having a glaring contest. Stefan and Elena held their urge to laugh while Ric snorted, not really caring that Damon now glared at him.

"Okay." Ric bit his bottom lip and tried to calm down before telling Damon, "I don't get why you suspect the Lockwoods."

"Because vervain didn't affect the mayor at Founder's Day but the Gilbert device did and it affected his son, Tyler."

"And at the school carnival, his Uncle Mason exhibited inhuman behavior when he fought with one of the carnival's workers. It suggests it's some sort of a supernatural entity," Stefan added, making Ric think for a moment.

"We were hoping that Isobel's research could help us figure out what it is," Elena told Ric as she shifted on the couch.

"Well, all her things are still in Duke. I mean her office is still there. She's technically still missing."

"So, can we get access to it?" Damon raised a brow at Ric, who only shrugged his shoulders – not really knowing how to answer the vampire. The older Salvatore frowned before leaning forward.

"Ric, we need to know what we are dealing with. If this wolf-man thing is true, I've seen enough movies to know it is not good." His expression became serious and irritated as he continued whatever he was saying. "It means Mason Lockwood is a real-life Lon Chaney and that little Tyler punk may just very well be Lon Chaney junior which means Bella Lugosi, meaning me, is totally screwed."

Well, isn't this just a really nice way to start a day? I just rolled my eyes, thinking how this day might just end up turning into a crappy one.

~~~~~X~~~~~

I just currently finished packing some stuff for my mini trip to Duke and I was about to head out to Elena's house. It was decided that I would go too and I wanted to go as well anyway. Somehow, werewolves were intriguing me so much and I needed to sate my curiosity. I definitely wouldn't let this chance slip. Before anything else, Grandma needed to know that I would be out for the rest of the day.

"Grandma." I looked at the living room but she wasn't there.

"In the office, sweetheart."

Once I got to the office, she stopped what she was doing and gave me a curious smile. "Why do you look so excited? You even have a packed bag."

"That obvious?" I laughed as she nodded, smiling in amusement. "I just want to tell you that I'm going to Duke with Elena and the others."

"For what, might I ask?" She removed her glasses and placed it on top of the table.

"Well, you see, we're going to research some things about werewolves." I grinned at her but she stiffened, her smile faltering a bit. It was as if she heard something she dreaded the most. Even though she quickly covered it up, I could still feel her uneasiness.

"Why the sudden interest in werewolves?" Grandma gently smiled at me but something was wrong. I could tell it.

"Well, I don't really know. They intrigue me so much and I just feel like there's something to know about them. I definitely want to know more about them. You see, it's kind of like what I feel about Uncle Keith when I ask you about him. Something is just telling me that I should know more about werewolves. Grandma, I can't really explain but I just know I need this."

My explanation didn't help Grandma look any calmer. She just looked more tense and stiff than a while ago although she tried her best to hide it. This was really odd and suspicious. Something was up and my gut was telling me so. It didn't help me prove it wrong because Grandma was acting really strange.

"Okay, just promise me that you will be careful and that you will take care of yourself." She looked at me with such seriousness in her eyes. Now, I was more certain that something was definitely wrong.

I tilted my head in confusion before smiling. "Grandma, nothing will happen to me. I'm with Elena and the others. I'll be fine." My attempt of assuring her didn't really work because her serious demeanor didn't change or at least falter.

"Promise me," Grandma repeated with a stern voice that she rarely used and this sent a bad feeling in my stomach. More questions just kept on popping in my head.

"I will. I promise." I smiled at her to assure her once again.

"I just need you to be safe, sweetie. I don't want anything to happen to you." Grandma just hugged me tightly as if this would be the last time she would hug me. "I love you so much, Danny."

My heart clenched when I heard her mutter those words. Somehow, it just made me sad to hear them together with the raw emotions she was showing me.

"I love you more, Grandma. I promise nothing will happen." I hugged her a bit tighter.

"I already took too much of your time." Pulling away, she kissed my forehead and gently smiled at me with an unknown emotion in her eyes. "Go on now, darling."

"Okay. I might be home late so please don't stay up to wait for me. You need to sleep early and have plenty of rest."

Grandma chuckled, shaking her head in amusement. "Okay, noted."

"Bye, Grandma." I kissed her cheek and before I fully closed the door, I heard her utter something in a sad and distant voice.

"I love you so much. Goodbye, sweetheart."

Something was definitely amiss with Grandma. It didn't even help calm me that I was having this bad feeling bubbling inside me. What on earth was wrong?

While driving to Elena's house, I still couldn't shake off that bad feeling. What exactly was wrong with Grandma? She became so uneasy when I mentioned about werewolves, but why?

I guess I'll just have to ask her when I get home tonight.

I pushed this issue aside and tried to focus on other things. It didn't take long for me arrive at Elena's since her house was not that far from mine. I parked the car and turned off the engine. When I walked to the house, Damon was leaning on the car, probably waiting for Elena.

"Hey, douchebag," I smirked at the nickname that I had grown accustomed to calling Damon.

Damon groaned in frustration. "Kill me."

"Hmm, this is surprising." My amused smirk just got bigger. "Looks like you finally drilled it into your thick skull that I'm never dropping it." Shrugging my shoulders, I ignored the glares that Damon sent me and placed my bag inside the car.

"Sorry you can't come too, Stef," Damon mocked his brother, making me roll my eyes. Closing the backseat door, I went back to where the others were. Ric went to the driver's seat while Elena placed her bag in the car.

"Hi, guys." I smiled as they greeted back.

Stefan merely ignored his brother and turned to Elena. "Call me if you need anything."

"Oh, I'll take really good care of her," Damon interrupted, making Elena glare at him. Still glaring, Elena caught Stefan by the neck and kissed him in front of Damon, who turned his head away.

"Oh God, stop!" Covering my eyes, I mockingly scrunched my face and started to make gagging sounds. "Seriously, you and Caroline really should stop tainting my innocent mind."

"Really, Danny? You just had to ruin the moment." Elena heaved an exasperated sigh while Stefan, on the other hand, just shook his head and chuckled. I innocently smiled at my pouting friend and shrugged my shoulders.

"Okay, time to go." Damon opened the car door and sat in the passenger seat as Elena and I entered sat on the backseat.

Ric then drove away and to our destination, Duke. As I watched the scenery pass by, it became harder to keep my eyes open and the fatigue was starting to get to me. With nothing to do, I closed my eyes and tried to take a nap.

"How are you doing back there? You know, this whole pretending to hate me thing is getting a little silly," Damon told Elena, probably.

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

Right, Stefan told me that this might happen. Apparently, Damon killed Jeremy last night and thank God, he was wearing the Gilbert ring. Stefan also told me that Katherine might be the reason why Damon acted the way he did and it just made me dislike her more. She hasn't even shown her face since turning Caroline.

"There is a huge asterisk next to that statement. He came back to life." Damon shot back.

"Yeah, thanks to the ring, you didn't know he was wearing," Elena retorted from beside me.

Can't sleep. Too much bickering and noise. I turned away from them and tried to sleep.

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

"Did you?"

"Yes."

Just try to ignore it, Danny. Try to sleep. You need it after a night of hard work, I told myself.

Apparently, this added fuel to the fire. Elena then accused, "You're lying."

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

I can't take this anymore!

I opened my eyes and glared at both of them. "Shut up!"

Silence suddenly engulfed the whole car as I caught their attention. "I am tired and I want to sleep. But, I can't because you two idiots won't stop bickering with each other. Both of you will shut it because so help me God, I will make you. Do I make myself clear?" I hissed in a menacing tone. The two idiots hesitantly nodded their heads while Ric tried to hold his laughter.

"Good, I'm going back to sleep. If any of you argue again and I wake up, you'll see just how evil I can be." I threatened them again before going back to sleep.

"Okay, I definitely like her." Ric laughed, making me smirk. I just made them a mental note to never cross Danielle Sullivan. With the total silence, I quickly fell into a deep sleep.

~~~~~X~~~~~

I felt someone tugging me to wake up as Elena said, "Danny, wake up. We're here."

I opened my eyes to see that we did arrive at Duke already. Covering my mouth while yawning, I went out of the car and walked towards the office with the others.

"So, Isobel was officially employed by the anthropology department given that most paranormal phenomenon is rooted in folklore," Ric opened the door to the office as we followed him.

"Excuse me. Hi, I'm Alaric Saltzman. I called earlier," Ric told the brunette lady, who was shuffling through some files.

"Yes, of course. I'm Vanessa Monroe, research assistant of comparative folklore." The woman stopped what she was doing and shook Ric's hand before looking at Elena. "Uh, let me just grab Isobel's keys."

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

"Oh please, Isobel's office is right through there. Isobel was one of my first professors." She opened a drawer and took some keys. "I'm a grad student. She was brilliant and one of the reasons why I went to folklore. Uh… I have to ask, has there been any news?"

"No, I'm afraid not," Ric answered, making her frown.

"It's this way." She heaved a sighed before leading us to the office. Vanessa opened the office door and let us enter. "I'll grab the light. Feel free to look around. It's fascinating, isn't it?"

I went to one of the shelves and started to look for random books that could help us.

"Where did she go?" Damon asked as I opened a book, skimming through it.

The sound of footsteps rang in my ears, making me turn to the door. Vanessa appeared with a crossbow and shot an arrow at Elena. I was far from her so I couldn't get there in time. It was a good thing Damon covered her, which ended up with him receiving the arrow on his back. I quickly knocked the crossbow out of Vanessa's hands and Ric pushed her against the wall.

Ric dragged Vanessa out of the office while I followed closely behind. He stopped in front of a chair and pushed her so she would sit down.

"Please! I freaked, all right? You would have done the same thing. It's not possible! Katherine Pierce can't be alive and Damon Salvatore died in 1864, okay?" She desperately explained to us. "I read Isobel's research."

"Well then, you should know just how possible this is." Ric seriously looked at her in the eye. The creaking of the door made me look at the two, who just came in.

Elena walked towards Vanessa and stopped in front of her. "I'm Elena Gilbert, Isobel's daughter and descendant of Katherine Pierce. And, this is Damon Salvatore who you just shot."

"I'd be extra nice to me right now." Damon had an annoyed smile on his face. I elbowed him in his side, making him groan. Damon glared at me and said, "What the hell was that for?"

I crossed my arms and gave him a look. "Be nice."

Damon rolled his eyes and glared at me, which I just ignored. Elena sighed and asked Vanessa, "Look, we need your help okay? We need to see all of Isobel's research, anything related to Mystic Falls."

Vanessa nodded her head and led us back to the office. She took a certain box from one of the shelves and placed it on top of the table. "Here are some of her research. I'll go look for the other ones."

We then started looking for information that could help answer our questions. I was currently looking for more information about the lycanthropes while Elena was looking for things about Katherine.

"This box checks Katherine's arrival in Mystic Falls in April 1864." Vanessa placed down a box filled with books and folders on top of the table and showed them to Elena.

Elena looked at the contents of the box before looking up to Vanessa. "Is that all there is about her?"

"All that I'm aware of," She replied while looking through a folder. Elena saw vervain in the box and looked over to Damon.

Elena got some vervain and handed it to Vanessa. "Here, take this."

"Does vervain really work?" she asked us and in return, we just gave her a nod.

"Nope, not at all," Damon said from the other room.

Vanessa leaned towards us and asked, "Can he hear us?"

Elena and I nodded as Damon once again butted in, "No, that would be too creepy."

"Can he read minds too?"

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

I just rolled my eyes at his statement and went back to scanning through the book I was holding.

"No, that he can't do." Elena glared at him before getting a book from the box. "He is very capable of being a first-rate jackass."

"That's hilarious." I laughed after hearing Elena's insult to Damon and gave her thumbs up. "This is why you're my best friend."

Smiling, Elena shook her head at my silliness and turned back to her book. Vanessa heeded our advice and placed some vervain in her pocket.

I didn't know how much time has passed but up until now, there was still no new information about werewolves. Some of the info I found was the things that I already knew. There was really not much about werewolves in Isobel's research. I was so engrossed at scanning the book that I didn't notice Damon come to us until he spoke.

"Any luck?"

"There's nothing in here about Katherine that we don't already know." Elena let out a frustrated sigh as she placed a worn paper down.

"Ah, man. You know, it's a bummer we're not friends anymore because I could tell you what I know."

"Now, who's manipulating who?" Elena gave him a look. I just ignored it seeing as I probably would just waste my energy trying to make them stop.

"Hey guys, check this out," Ric said, catching my attention. I went to where he was seated as he handed Vanessa a book.

"There's no record of werewolf mythology in Mystic Falls, but here are some records of some of the lesser known legends. Everything from Scandinavian skin-walkers to the Maréchal de Retz." Vanessa handed me the book as I read through it and stared at the symbols.

She then pointed at a phrase in the book. "This Aztec phrase roughly translates into 'the curse of the sun and the moon'."

I never saw this one last night in any of my family books. Maybe, I missed it. I'm going to look through them again when I get home, I thought.

"It's Native American." Ric crossed his arms over his chest.

"Aztec. It explains one origin of the werewolf curse traced through Virginia. The short story: 600 years ago, the Aztecs were plagued 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." Vanessa pointed at another image after I turned the page.

"As a result, vampires could only prowl at night and werewolves could only turn on a full moon. When the full moon crests in the sky, who's ever unlucky enough to fall under the werewolf curse turns into a wolf."

Damon looked at her with knitted brows and asked, "Can they control the transformation?"

"If it were a choice, it wouldn't be called a curse. Werewolves will attack humans but instinct and centuries of rivalry have hardwired them to hunt their prey of choice, vampires," Vanessa answered but Damon wouldn't accept this.

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

Oh, bloody hell! Did he even listen to a word I said this morning? I rolled my eyes in annoyance and said, "I told you already, dumbass. There aren't many werewolves left alive."

Glaring at me, Damon was about to say something but Vanessa beat him at it while nodding her head. "She's right. Hundreds of years ago, vampires hunted them almost to extinction."

"Why would they do that?" Elena asked this time.

"To protect themselves. Legend has it that a werewolf bite is fatal to vampires."

All of us shared nervous glances. I didn't find anything about that too. If Mason and Tyler were indeed werewolves, then, we were in some serious trouble.

"I have to call Stefan." Elena went out of the room while taking her phone out.

After that info we learned, we went back to searching for more details about werewolves. I was currently reading more about the sun and moon curse. For some reasons, I just felt like something was lacking with what Vanessa told us and I needed to figure it out.

"Hey, have you done any research on doppelgangers?" Elena asked Vanessa, catching my interest.

"Well, the word means a lot of different things to different cultures but typically a doppelganger is a living, breathing double of one's self."

"Did Isobel have anything that explained 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 undo their lives. It's not exactly uplifting." Vanessa leaned forward from the chair.

"And more things we already know." Elena sighed while looking at a photo of Katherine. "Just… I want to know why we look alike."

"Head scratcher, isn't it?" Damon placed the book down.

Elena glared at him. "Do you know something or are you just being yourself?"

"There they go again." I rolled my eyes and shared a look with Ric before turning back to my book. I gave up on trying to make them stop a long time ago.

"Well, if I know anything, I'm not going to tell you, not with that attitude," Damon smirked, making her glare intensify.

"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." She turned away from him and left.

"For the love of God, somebody please kill me now." An exasperated sigh escaped my lips for the nth time today as I banged my head onto the table. Having to endure this the whole day was just pure torture.

~~~~~X~~~~~

Thank God, we're going home! I don't think I can take any more of their stupid arguments, I thought while waiting for Ric. Honestly, hearing Elena and Damon bicker the whole day was driving me insane. At this point, nothing would make me want to go with Elena and Damon so I stuck with Ric and waited for him to finishing talking to Vanessa. If ever I hear them quarrel with each other again, this time I might just go crazy.

"Let's go, Danny." Ric passed by me as I followed him.

As we made our way to the car, Elena and Damon were talking. Oh God, don't tell me they're fighting again.

Just then, I noticed that Elena was holding a book and it made me curious what that book was about.

"Hey, let's go?" I asked, making them turn to me.

"Yup." Elena went inside the car and I followed her.

The road back to Mystic Falls started as I was recalled all of the things that I had learned today. My curiosity was killing me because werewolves were still a mystery to me. I just found things that I already knew and it was honestly frustrating. With that, the drive back to our town continued with me still in my train of thoughts.

After a few hours of driving, we finally arrived at Elena's. Since it was already late, I bade them goodbye and drove home. After arriving at the house, I grabbed my house keys and made my way to the front door. I was about to open the door when I noticed the door was slightly open.

That's strange. Why is the door open? I tilted my head in confusion as I cautiously went inside the house. Grandma always made sure the door was closed and locked.

"Grandma?" I called but there was no answer. Okay, I really have a bad feeling now. She might be in the living room because even if I told her not to wait for me, she still would.

On my way to the living room, I noticed small trails of blood on the floorboard, making my blood run cold. Quickly following the trail, I was horrified at the scene in front of me as a scream escaped my lips. My grandma lay in a pool of blood with her stomach stabbed with a knife.

"No, no, no." Shaking my head in denial, I quickly knelt down beside her as eyes started to get teary. "God, please no! Please!" At this moment, nothing mattered to me because all I needed was my grandma alive.

My shaky hands reached for her neck as I tried to look for a pulse. I quickly paled as tears ran down my cheeks. She was gone. I felt nothing but numbness course through my body. With trembling hands, I struggled to reach for my phone and after a while, I managed to dial Sheriff Forbes' number.

"Danny, how may I help you?" she greeted.

"Sheriff, Pl-Please come here quickly… Grandma's… m-murdered…" I choked between my sentences.

"Danny, I'm on my way. Stay there and be careful, okay?" she immediately responded. The phone slipped through my fingers and I cradled my grandma in my arms and hug her with all my might.

"I'm sorry… Please forgive me… I'm so sorry… I'm so sorry… Forgive me, please…" I sobbed while caressing my grandmother's face. My guilt was eating me alive because this was my entire fault. I shouldn't have left this morning. I knew there was something wrong but I pushed it aside because of my selfish desire to go to Duke and find out more about werewolves.

Several footsteps echoed in the house as Sheriff Forbes arrived together with some deputies and medics. A gasp escaped the sheriff's lips when she entered the living room. I didn't need to look at her to know that her face held pure horror. There was no energy or will, left in me as I merely stared into nothingness, still holding on to my grandma.

The deputies and the medics hastily went to do their jobs. However, I still refused to move from my spot because I couldn't. I just felt numb and hollow inside. Somebody knelt down beside me and placed a hand on my shoulder. I quickly knew who it was but I didn't face her.

"Danny," Sheriff Forbes uttered in a soft voice and this time I turned to her. A sad, gentle smile crossed her face as she stared at me. I knew why. My face was completely void of any emotion and I was a mess.

"Sweetheart, it's okay." She gently cupped my right cheek and brushed a lone tear.

"My grandma is gone… She's gone…" My grip on my grandmother completely loosened as tears ran down my cheeks again. "Liz, she's gone."

"Shh… It's okay, Danny. I'm here." Liz immediately brought me into a tight, comforting embrace when another sob wracked through my body. "It's okay."

All of this was too much for me and the only thing I could do was to clutch onto her, sobbing.

"Come on, sweetie. Let's get you out." She gently helped me stand up and led me to the ambulance outside.

As I sat on the back of the ambulance, some medics quickly examined me if I sustained any wounds. It wasn't a surprise since my clothes were mostly covered in blood. My arms were currently being cleaned from blood when a deputy came to us.

"Sheriff, a word?" a deputy said and the said person nodded. Standing a few feet away from me, they started talking in a low voice so I couldn't really make out what they were saying.

After a while, Liz came and said, "Danny, you'll be staying at our house, for now, okay?"

As much as I wanted to answer, I couldn't. No words would come out of my mouth as I stared into space. My tears have long stopped but I just couldn't do this.

"Come on, sweetie. Let's go." She helped me stand up and led me to her car.

During the car ride, I did nothing but stare blankly at the places we passed by. I hated this feeling, the feeling of losing someone dear to you. Things were becoming better for me since I came here. I thought my scars could heal and I could be put back together, but I just didn't know how wrong I was.

When we arrived, Caroline was waiting for me there on the front porch. She gave me those pity-filled eyes that I hated so much. Caroline quickly hugged me, without caring how dirty I was, but I didn't respond or cry again. I just had no will left in me to do so.

Giving a nod to her mom, Caroline took my hand and squeezed it tightly. "Come on, Danny. Let's get you cleaned up."

Caroline then led me to her room and helped me get cleaned up before helping me get to bed in a spare room. She was about to go but I grasped her hand and said in a trembling voice, "Please… Please stay with me… I don't want to be alone. I'm… I'm scared."

A small, sad smile crossed her face as she lay down beside me and engulfed me in an embrace. "Shhh… It's okay, Danny. You don't have to be scared. I'm here with you."

She gently ran her hands through my hair in a soothing manner as I held on to her like my life depended on it. Closing my eyes, I tried to sleep but to no avail, I couldn't. The images of my grandmother lying in the pool of her blood would haunt me whenever I closed my eyes. All of the memories of my loved ones kept on coming back and I didn't know how much longer I could still hold on.

Why was it that every single person dear to me was being taken from me? Was I not worth of any happiness even if it was only a little? My once scarred heart was now shattered into pieces and this time I didn't think anything could piece it back together.


Here you go, guy! What do you think about it? :) I changed quite a lot in this chapter because the old version of chapter 6 was weird for me. I'll post a new chapter soon so until next time! ;)