A/N: Wow. I am completely in awe at everyone's responses to this story. You are all SO incredible, you have no idea. I love each and every one of you who reads, reviews and/or favorites. You're remarkable. Please, continue to let me know what you think. And if anyone has any ideas (for this story or any new ones) I aim to please… so just let me know. Thanks so much again everyone. Xoxo. And now…
More Unclear
Lines ever more unclear
Not sure I'm even here
The more I look the more I think that I'm
Starting to disappear
Crystal Ball by Keane
Pulling up to the party, Bonnie felt more nervous than she thought she should be. But going to a party where there were so many people they didn't know, with both of her friends whose minds had been altered by a spell she put on them, Bonnie knew that her nerves were strictly placed where they should be. Because who knew what Caroline and Elena would do tonight; who knew what their romance-free minds were capable of? Bonnie shuddered at the thought. She had high hopes that Caroline had already broken herself out of the spell, but Bonnie wasn't about to go as far as to say that she were cured.
Bonnie parked her car in the visitor lot and they all made their way to the fraternity house that Caroline had been given directions to.
"I really don't know that this is a good idea, Care," Bonnie admitted again, for the twelfth time that night.
Caroline sighed and rolled her eyes simultaneously. "Please Bonnie. Come on, it's going to be fine. We're going to have an awesome time and forget all about Mystic Falls and those stupid high school boys for one night. Can't we just do that for one night?"
Bonnie let out a sigh of her own, finally giving in for the last time tonight. She could have fun and forget the rules for one night. Maybe. If she tried really hard. "Yeah…" she replied quietly.
Elena found herself giggling as she grabbed Bonnie's hand and they made their way up the stairs of the house, where loud rap music was blaring from the inside. "Come on, Bonnie. It'll be fun." Elena said, trying to encourage her friend to be in a better mood. It's not like they were going to an after-hours underground club or strip club. It was just a college party- completely harmless fun.
Caroline linked her arm through Bonnie's on the other side and grinned. "Are we ready?"
Bonnie gulped. This was SO not a good idea. "As ready as I'll ever be…"
Stefan entered the establishment and took a long look around. He wasn't sure if he would find anyone from school here or not, but there were some things that he needed to learn about Mr. Saltzman, and some information to dig up about anything strange going on in town. Unfortunately for him, he couldn't compel people into giving him the information he wanted. His diet had been rather poor lately and squirrels and raccoons weren't exactly a stellar meal to get the Powers flowing. He just hadn't had time for anything else today. Looked like he was going to have to go about this the old fashioned investigation way. Not that he really expected anyone to help him out much. No matter how much he had tried to become a part of Elena's inner circle at school, it was obvious that people still found him to be an outsider. Grabbing a cup of coffee and sitting down at a high-top table near a vacant pool table, Stefan scanned the perimeter again. Matt had just walked in with Tyler trailing closely behind him. He would have to see what he could do about talking to them-
"Stefan, hey," the voice caused Stefan to pivot in his chair and refocus his eyes on the person claiming the seat beside him.
"Mr. Saltzman… hey," Stefan gave his most charming smile and tried to remain calm. He had no idea how much Alaric knew about hunting vampires, but if it was anything compared to what the sheriff and the town leaders knew, Stefan had to be as 'human normal' as possible.
"No whiskey in there or anything is there?" Alaric asked, eyeing the coffee mug suspiciously.
Stefan laughed, dismissing the question. "Nah, just coffee for me."
Mr. Saltzman relaxed a little and smiled. "Oh good. I hate the whole awkward meeting-students-out-finding-them-doing-things-they-shouldn't conversation."
Stefan nodded. "Understandable. I try to refrain from breaking the law so conspicuously."
Alaric raised a brow.
"I mean… not that I break the law… but I certainly wouldn't be sitting in a public venue drinking a shot of Jack Daniels where anyone can see me doing it."
Mr. Saltzman gave him an amused smile and shook his head. "Teenagers," he mumbled. "Oh, so how's your project coming along? I hope my outlines were useful yesterday."
"Mmm," Stefan hummed, a mouthful of coffee keeping him from speaking. He swallowed and smiled, feigning embarrassment. "Yes, they did, thank you so much. I've decided to write my essay on the effects on civilian life during the Civil War."
Alaric mulled the idea over in his mind for a moment. "Interesting. What led you to that topic?"
Stefan bit at the inside of his cheek and kept his eyes downcast on the table. "Uhh… family history. The boarding house where I live has been passed down from generation to generation in the Salvatore family. It has a lot of rich history and there are several firsthand account journals in our library there."
"Really?" Mr. Saltzman seemed interested; too interested.
Stefan froze. Well, if that wasn't the stupidest thing ever to bring up he didn't know what was. He nodded dismissively. "Yeah, bunch of old women going on and on about the deterioration of the country and how they couldn't imagine living without slaves…"
"Ah," Alaric replied. His eyes fell a little and the elation drained a bit from his face. Stefan relaxed back into his chair. Alaric shook his head. "Sorry, I'm sure the last thing you want to do on a Saturday night is talk to your history teacher about a school assignment."
Stefan shook his head. "Nah, it's okay."
Alaric shrugged. "No date tonight with Miss Gilbert?" He glanced around, hoping to sneak a peek of her aunt, Jenna Sommers.
Stefan sighed. "Uh… no." He took a sip of his coffee before offering a more thorough explanation. "Elena and I…"
"Oh," Alaric replied quietly. "Oh!" he said a little louder this time. "I am sorry Stefan. I didn't mean to…"
Stefan shrugged. "It's alright. You didn't know."
"I just feel-"
"Hey Stefan, Mr. Saltzman," Matt said, coming up to the table with a pool stick in his hand.
"Mr. Donovan," Alaric replied respectfully.
"Matt," Stefan answered at the same time.
"Yeah… well, I just wanted to see if you were ready… to show off that pool talent you've been bragging about. You said to meet you here at ten, so…"
Stefan smiled, his eyes a pleading 'thank you'.
"Oh, I didn't mean to interrupt," Alaric replied, a sheepish smile on your face. "Of course," he gestured to the pool table. "Be safe guys, alright? Don't do anything stupid."
Matt smiled. "Course Mr. S."
Stefan finished the last bit of his coffee before getting up from the table. "See you Monday, Mr. Saltzman," Stefan replied, clamping his hand over the teacher's shoulder.
Matt and Stefan retreated to the open pool table on the opposite side of the Mystic Grill and Stefan smiled. "Thanks, Matt. You didn't have to do that."
Matt shrugged. "I know how the guy likes to talk. You'd probably end up sitting there for three hours chatting about FDR and the New Deal. And who wants to be stuck doing that on a Saturday?"
Stefan shook his head. "I owe you one."
"No big deal." Matt racked the balls on the billiard table and lifted the plastic triangle from the table, gesturing to the pool cues behind Stefan, who was apparently meant to go first in their pool game.
Stefan took the first shot, sinking two solid balls. He would have to play a little sloppy this game. It wouldn't be like playing with Lexi whose reflexes were far superior to his own. "Guess I'm solids," he said quietly, stepping a few paces backward to lean against the wall while Matt took his shot.
"So, Tyler left?" Stefan questioned curiously.
Matt shrugged. "Yeah, some drunk college girl looking for a booty call. I feel like I don't even know the guy anymore; he's been all over the place lately."
Stefan hadn't gotten to know Tyler very well, but drunken booty calls did seem to be something that he favored. "And your new… friend…?" Stefan questioned, attempting to tread lightly on the Caroline subject while still making casual conversation.
"Oh not you too," Matt said, taking his shot and blushing just the tiniest bit. Stefan could hear Matt's heart rate pick up at the mention of her. "We're just friends. At least, I'm trying to be friends with her. Who knows, girls are crazy."
You can say that again, Stefan thought. Elena…
"Oh, I know," Stefan replied, quickly recovering. "I'm just surprised she's not here. Usually her and Bonnie and Elena have dinner here on Saturdays."
"Well," Matt began. "I wouldn't know, except in her drunken haze last night, Caroline warned me not to call her tonight because she was going out to a party with her girlfriends to meet all sorts of college men." He sighed. "But I know Bonnie and Elena will look out for her."
Stefan's brow furrowed. "Bonnie, Elena and Caroline went to a college party tonight?" It sounded like Caroline, definitely. But somehow he couldn't picture Bonnie and Elena going through with it.
Matt nodded. "Already got a drunk-text from Caroline." Telling me she missed me, he thought, refusing to add that part.
The party was in full swing and Caroline and Elena had already found themselves on the makeshift dance floor with drinks in their hands. Bonnie hung back around the perimeter of the place, sipping at her first beer with slow resolution. She watched them twirl and shake their butts in rhythm with the hip-hop song blaring in her ears. Bonnie smiled as Elena met her eyes and waved at her from the middle of the floor. A tall guy snaked an arm around her midsection and turned her around to face him. Elena laughed and finished the contents of the plastic cup in her hand. Caroline took the empty cup from her and whispered something in her ear before disappearing from the dance floor. She danced her way over to Bonnie.
"Hey little wallflower, what are you doing here all by yourself?"
Bonnie shrugged. "Watching you two get felt up by complete strangers."
Caroline shook her head and lifted Bonnie's hand above her head before pushing her around in a circle. "Come on Bonnie… loosen up, have some fun."
Bonnie rolled her eyes. "I'm having fun. I just prefer to show it differently than you do."
"Always the party pooper," Caroline cried. She kissed Bonnie on the cheek and then skipped off to the drink table to ladle some red punch into hers and Elena's cups. She took a sip and her eyes bugged out just the smallest bit at the amount of alcohol in the mixture and then grinned, quickly finding Elena again in the middle of the dance floor. The guy that had been dancing with Elena scooted between the two girls and danced with them both, his smile growing into a grin. Caroline giggled and 'toasted' with Elena before taking a large sip from the Solo cup.
"I think he likes you," Caroline giggled secretively in Elena's ear, gesturing to the man grinding on Elena. Elena shook her head and took a long sip of her own drink, finding herself lost in the swaying of the crowd and the constant thrumming of the music in her ears. She twirled and twisted until her thoughts of Damon and Stefan and vampires dissipated from her mind.
And then, a strong arm wrapped tightly around her, intimately. Her thoughts immediately flew to Damon and she smiled, turning around to face the man behind her. Her brow pulled down into a confused frown when the face that her eyes fell on was not anyone that she recognized.
"At long last, ma chere," he cooed quietly into her ear.
"A French-man?" She giggled, wrapping an arm around his neck as they danced closer and closer. "How… adorable," she added the last word with French inflections.
"Mais pas simplement tout Français, mon amour," the man replied, his fingers running through her hair, over her face, along her curves until she no longer felt comfortable with the personal way he seemed to know her.
Elena's mind struggled to convert the phrase back into English with the broken grammar she could recall from her French classes in school. But not just any French-man, my love.
"I'm sorry," Elena said, pushing away from him. "I think you have me confused with someone else."
The man moved with her, staying close and brushed her cheek with his hand. "I think that after one hundred and fifty years of dreaming of you, I would recognize you anywhere. I can't believe you're acting this way, my love."
Elena gawked. One hundred and fifty years? This man was a… a… and her friendly, neighborhood protectors were nowhere to be seen and she was coming face to face with a vampire who knew her?
"I'm sorry," Elena replied, shaking her head and releasing herself from the mans grasp. "I have to go."
"Katherine, wait!"
Elena stopped dead in her tracks. It wasn't so much a matter of the name, because it was common enough. But a vampire using that name on her was another issue all together. She turned around. "Listen buddy, I don't know what kind of drugs you're taking," she slurred unnecessarily, trying to make herself seem more drunk than she was. "But I am definitely not this Katherine person." She leaned in closer. "My name's Elena."
The man met her gaze curiously and then strained his ears, hearing the faint thrumming of her heartbeat and the gentle gurgle of the blood in her veins. "My, my…" he said breathlessly. "I am quite sorry, my darling." He seemed to be taken aback. "You look like an old friend of mine. In fact, you could be twins."
Bonnie slid further back against the wall and took another sip of her now-warm beer. Caroline and Elena had all but disappeared into the dark dance floor and Bonnie was getting ready to go find them and make sure they weren't finding themselves involved in too much trouble. She placed her cup down on the table in front of her and then stated making her way through the crowd.
"May I have this dance?" A man asked, interrupting her B-line for Caroline who she could finally see again, dancing in the center of the multitude of drunks on the floor.
"Uh, no. I'm actually just leaving." Bonnie met Caroline's eyes, who gave her a major thumbs up and a grin the size of Texas.
"Aww, come on now. You wouldn't want to disappoint a guy on his birthday would you? It's bad luck to refuse a request from the birthday-boy." He took her hand in his and wrapped his arm around her back sweeping her up into a waltz as the music slowed and a Snow Patrol song filtered through the speakers. Bonnie, who was thoroughly surprised at the dancing skills of her new partner smiled up at him, taking in for the first time the gorgeous face of her dancing partner.
"I'm Eric by the way," he smiled.
Bonnie blushed as her dark brown curls bounced. "Bonnie," she smiled back. "Bonnie Bennett."
He dipped her in a way she had only ever seen done in movies and her heart skipped a beat. "It's very nice to meet you, Bonnie Bennett." And she smiled at the way his voice saying her name made goose bumps appear on her skin.
Elena seethed. She was furious, on a warpath. She downed the rest of her drink and stumbled outside, toward the dark edge of trees behind the house. Not that she particularly wanted to be alone right now, especially knowing that there was a good possibility that there was a vampire inside that party with an eye on her because she looked like, Elena gulped, Katherine. But there was only one way to find out if the Katherine that man said she looked like was THE Katherine. And so, once she had gotten to the edge of the woods, Elena screamed.
"STEFAN!" She yelled at the top of her lungs, knowing that the music would keep anyone inside from hearing her. "DAMON!" she shouted just as loud, hoping that it wouldn't take long for at least one of them to respond.
And then, in the blink of an eye he sauntered from the woods. "I don't usually answer such barbaric calls," he said, running a hand through his hair. "I prefer the cell." He cocked a brow, circling Elena as she stared straight ahead into the woods, nostrils flaring and eyes a blaze. "But since it's you… I decided to make an exception."
"Damon," she flared. "This isn't funny. You… I need you to be honest with me."
He crossed his arms in front of him as he leaned up against the nearest tree. "Well, this is certainly not the welcome I was expecting."
"Do I look like Katherine?"
Damon's eyes narrowed as he met her gaze and his brows pulled together. "I don't know what you mean."
"Katherine. Your Katherine… yours and Stefan's Katherine. Come on Damon, don't play coy with me." Her jaw set and her hands went to her hips. And then the world started spinning the briefest bit and Damon's arms wrapped around her, pressing her tightly to his body.
"Easy there, kitten," he cooed. "How much did you have to drink tonight?"
Elena breathed in deeply, finding herself comforted by his scent. But she could not allow herself to lose sight of the reason she had called him here. "Damon, it isn't about that," she said, feeling like tears were going to well up at any moment. "A vampire… in the party…"
Damon tensed his hold on her, but didn't say anything. "He called me Katherine, Damon. He thought I was her…"
"Shhh, kitten." He soothed her. "Don't worry. Everything will be okay. I'll take care of it."
Elena struggled against him. "I don't want you to take care of it Damon. I want you to tell me the truth. Am I… do I look like her?"
Damon took a long moment before responding. He swallowed hard and pulled her back a fraction so he could look into her eyes. "Identical," he whispered.
A/N: Eep! So… Damon and Stefan's secret is revealed… A new vampire in town… And Bonnie with a guy. What WILL happen next? You'll have to stay tuned to find out!!! Reviews are the cheese to my macaroni. (in fact… that sounds good right now…) Leave me lots of love!