"I understand the bus costs money."

"Then what are you confused about?" I tucked my fingers a little further into my coat pockets. I wasn't cold, but it was cold out, only thirty-eight degrees, and I didn't want to look out of place. "Hello?"

"I get that the bus costs money. What I don't understand is… why does Stonehenge cost freaking money? That makes no sense!"

"Hey, lady."

"Fourteen pounds. Fourteen pounds to-"

"Lady."

I took a deep breath. Seriously. I dug out my money. Fourteen pounds.

-x-

Thirty minutes into the bus ride, I felt the hairs on the back of my neck stand up. 'Hair-raising' was such a human expression: it had been ages since I last felt that. I rubbed the hairs down. The little fan above me must have been blowing on my neck in just the right way.

'On my way to Stonehenge,' I texted Nadia. 'See you tomorrow.'

I kept staring out the window, forehead resting on the cool glass, waiting for her reply when I felt it again. This time, the fan was off.

I was near the back of the bus, and the people behind me were either sleeping, reading, or messing around on their phones.

My phone alerted me to Nadia's text. 'Lucy is cooing! I think she misses her Auntie Laney!'

'I miss her, too!'

It happened again.

Who the fuck –

What the fuck – what, not who.

A shiver wracked my body, another thing that hadn't happened in a while. I had never heard of vampire's getting sick; was this the vampire flu? But I knew I wasn't sick.

This was a sense of foreboding. Something felt wrong, unnatural, and it hung thick in the air. I felt this heavy oppression, pushing down on me from all sides, even inside out. I looked around, but everyone else seemed fine. Even the person sitting right next to me was just sitting there, texting away on her phone, not a care in the world.

And just as quickly as I felt the random attack of – oddness – I was perfectly fine again.

I frowned, glaring out the window.

Was I going out of my mind? It was either that – or I was getting sick.

I met my eyes in the reflection on the window and, all of a sudden, I couldn't breathe. The air was too thick and it sat, motionless, in my body, lungs screaming for air.

Calm down, I repeated to myself, you don't need to breathe.

Half a second later, it was gone.

What. The. Fuck.

I pulled my sleeve up and watched, almost horrified, as the hairs on my arm started to stand up, all on their own. Without any prompt from me, or any other rhyme or reason, they cascaded down, like grass on a warm spring day.

The thought of spring, hopefully right around the corner, was enough to raise my spirits and I grinned, looking out the window. Good-bye, snow, hello gently blowing grass! I frowned, just as quickly.

No more strange sensations went by, just this huge sense of… ominousness.

-x-

In front of me stood a girl in a very pretty cream pea coat, even from behind. Her brown hair cascaded down her back, in gentle curls and waves, past her elbows, down to the small of her back.

And in that quick glance, before other people passed between us, the ominous air made sense. When I woke up in the witches' house back home, I was drowning in this feeling. This was it. This was the 'hotspot'. And that cream pea coat was my witch.

-x-

It was an unfortunately overcast day. Or, should I say fortunately. Whenever a sliver of sun made its appearance, I found myself dashing for the shade the giant stones made. I was in witch territory; we played by their rules. Witches kept the balance: vampires were not balance.

When the overcast came back, I walked around in awe; not at the stones, but at the power that saturated the air. I stopped, raising my arms to my side, turning in a circle, breathing deeply.

I could hear whispers. I could hear the whispers, sense their dislike, feel their oppression, understand their disdain… I could feel it.

"Hi."

I tipped my head down, bringing my arms to my sides, and finally opened my eyes. "Hi."

"I'm Meredith." She offered her hand and I looked at it like I had never seen the gesture before in my life. Did she not know what I was? Was this -? I shrugged and took a step back as her hand dropped.

I stuck mine out. "Elena."

"Nice to meet you, Elena."

But the second our hands touched, her whole open demeanor changed. She stiffened and her friendly smile was replaced with a cold mask. Hastily, I held my hands up in surrender. "Hey. Uhm. Just… visiting."

"You can… hear them," she accused.

Hands still up in surrender, I nodded, agreeing. "Yeah. Not words. Murmurs."

"Really." Doubt laced her words.

"Hey. I'll go. I was just. Visiting. Exploring. Sightseeing." I shivered at the heavy feeling, rubbing my arms up and down. "Looking."

"For?"

I shrugged. "Answers."

"What kind?"

"Hey. Please. I'm sorry. I'll." I jerked my thumb over my shoulder. "Go."

I backed away, slowly, carefully, afraid that she'd snap. This was the first witch I met, outside of Bonnie, and I didn't want her to be the last. A crowd of people passed between us and she was gone. I shuddered.

Well, this was bust.

Eighteen and a quarter fucking years to waste, doing, what, exactly?

"Excuse me," I said, passing through a group of people. I froze, hands flying up to my face. "I'm sorry. Please. I was just leaving."

"Hey," he said, grinning, and offered me his hand. When I bumped into him, I got the same feeling when I shook hands with Meredith. "You must be the vamp my sister's going on about."

"Sister?" I looked down at his hand, wary.

"Christian. Meredith's my sister. Twin, actually."

I shook his hand, still very hesitant. "Elena."

"Christian."

"Shut up, Mery. What are you doing all the way up at Stonehenge?"

"Uhm." I stuffed my hands back in my pockets, and Meredith stepped next to her brother. They totally had the same nose. I shrugged, looking away. "I sort of heard rumors that this place was a hot spot for… things."

"Really." He sounded intrigued, and that caught my attention. "From whereabouts, may I ask?"

"Uhm." I shook my head. Use your words, Elena. "A man I ran into, in Bulgaria."

"Sloan?" Meredith asked, and Christian agreed, "Sloan. I'll take care of him."

"You from Bulgaria?" Meredith asked.

"No. Virginia."

"What are you doing in Europe?"

"Growing up. You know. Exploring. Drinking in culture."

"How old are you?"

"Do you want to know how old I am? Or how old I was when I died?"

He shrugged. "Both."

"I died when I was eighteen. I'm twenty, now."

"You're a baby," he gushed.

I wrinkled my nose. "I'm not a baby. I've been around."

"Right. Name the oldest vampire you've met."

"Is that some kind of trick?" I asked. He just looked at me, confused. "No. Sorry, but I think I'll pass."

"What, someone fifty? Maybe one hundred? I bet a newbie turned you, too."

"It just." I wanted to run my hand through my hair, but my gloves made that difficult. "It brings up a bunch of not-so-pleasant memories."

"Oh… kay."

"Do you keep a list, or something? Couldn't I just say I know Joe Schmoe who's four hundred and six?"

"No, I don't know them all, but I kind of come with a built-in lie detector."

"Gah," I said, freaking out, shuddering.

He laughed, and even Meredith seemed amused. "I don't use it. We." He looked at Meredith. "We don't use it."

"That's a… thing, though?"

"Yeah."

"Okay. Well. Let's just say I know a fair amount of vampires. I met one on my way to Rome. She was…" I closed my eyes, thinking. How old was Lisa? "Three hundred and something? Sixteen forty something, I think."

"Wow."

"I've met older, I've met younger. Let's just keep it at that."

"Why?"

"Are you just going to spill your whole life story to me, right here, right now, and you don't even know me?" They said nothing. "Then why should I do the same to you?"

"Point."

"How about, who turned you?" Meredith asked. "Who leaves a baby vampire alone?"

"He was a very good teacher," I said. "He is the most… stubborn asshole I know. He's a jackass. He's a dick. He's…" I shrugged. "Mine."

"He can't have taught you much in two years."

"Try… six months."

"He let you go when you were six months old?"

"I ran away."

"Why?"

I pulled my necklace out, looking down at the ring. I think Damon had ultimately wanted to get my lapis lazuli stone put in this ring but I refused. I liked it just how it was. Just a plain silver band. Probably wasn't silver, now that I thought about it. Platinum? Who knew. I twisted it, enjoying the blue gem. If the sun were out, it turned blueish greenish and inside? More of a ruby. I loved my alexandrite gemstone. It was even flanked with two little diamonds. Damn it, I was Damon's through and through.

"Why did you run away?" Meredith asked again.

I tucked my necklace back in my shirt, and felt the ring rest against my heart, right where it should be. "Because life sucks."

"Part of your life story?" Christian joked.

"You could have killed someone!"

"I have!" I snapped. "I'm not a saint! I'm a vampire! I'm a monster! I have this curse running through my system! It makes me want blood. It makes me want to kill!" I hissed, showing them my little fangs and nasty, itchy eyes. "I wanted to die. But." I retracted my fangs. While the itches died down on my face, I tugged my coat back into place, and smoothed out the imaginary wrinkles. "I couldn't leave my brother. I decided that being a monster, but alive, for my brother's sake, was the best option. So I make the best out of the worst situation I can."

"Was that supposed to scare us?" Meredith asked.

If I could have flushed, I'd be red. "No. I still don't have that under control. So. I'm sorry."

"I think you know more than you're letting on," Christian said. "You have a curse?" I frowned, looking away. "I thought so."

"How would you describe vampirism?"

"Most people declare themselves cursed, not having a curse."

"There's a difference?"

"Elena…"

"I have to go," I said, looking around. "My last bus leaves in half an hour."

"We'll be seeing you again." He said it like it was a fact.

"And maybe you can ask them to play nice? To try not to kill me when the sun decides to play?"

He shrugged. "I can get you something to help with that."

"No." I took off my glove, and he stole my hand before I had a chance to offer it to him. "I have that taken care of."

"But when the sun comes out?"

"It burns, it burns." He must have made it shine and I found myself running for the shade, not even caring about how quickly I ran. He was by my side in a second. "It burns," I said again, dropping to my knees, crying, and watched my burns. "They didn't play nice at home." I threw my hands over my ears. "What are they saying?"

Everything stopped.

My hands stopped burning and when I looked at them, they were normal. The murmurs were gone, and the oppression was gone from my ears. I felt like I could breathe, even though I didn't need to.

"Elena," he said, taking my hand, helping me up. "You are one of the most peculiar vampires I have ever had the... well, not quite pleasure, but, yes. You are one of the most peculiar vampires I have ever had the pleasure of meeting. I hope to get to know you better."

"They'll play nice?" I asked, sounding like a little baby, cautiously looking around.

"Of course."

"Then I'll be back."

"I can honestly say, I'm looking forward to it."

-x-

"How was Stonehenge?" I poured three generous glasses of wine that I brought back from England and sat down, looking at my steaming pie. Fresh pie, amazing wine, great friends… "Elena?"

"It is… weird… how a place so insignificant can hold such powerful feeling."

"It was something special?" Nadia asked, grinning.

"It was something special." I smiled.

"I'm surprised you're back."

I took one look down at my arms, and gently touched Lucy's nose. "I'm not."

-x-

"I found it."

"Really." I nodded, and Sam stopped what he was doing. "Really."

"Yeah."

"And?"

"And… I found a witch. And warlock."

"Two?"

"Twins."

"Wow."

"She was… intimidating. He was… decent."

"Decent?"

"It goes with your whole 'blah-blah-blah, not an abomination' speech."

"You are not an abomination."

"Witches strive to keep the balance. Immortality isn't balance. Most witches have lost that fact – that they keep the balance. Obviously, Meredith and Christian have not."

"You're calling it 'immortality'."

"A very short, extremely condensed version: with immortality comes vampirism. I wasn't expecting death – though that was an option. If anything, I was expecting to be shunned. I wasn't asked back, but I wasn't banned, either." I scrunched my nose. "He called me 'peculiar'. A 'peculiar' vampire."

"Are you?"

"I willingly walked into witch's territory. Yes, I call that 'peculiar'. Or suicidal, take your pick."

"Are you?" I just looked at him. "Suicidal?"

"Only in the mornings." He blinked. "It's a movie reference. You know? Bad taste. Do I want to die? No. No, I'd rather be an abomination with Damon than without. If I really thought that they would have killed me, I would have ran. They didn't keep me there. I voluntarily stayed."

"Are you going back?"

"What do you think?"

"I'm coming with you."

"I'd rather you not. I don't want to have to worry about you."

"You worry about me?"

"Of course I do. In part, because of me. I've introduced you to this lifestyle. I feel responsible for you."

"Awh." He smiled. "So. What are you going to do?"

"Go back."

"I'm going to miss you."

"I'm not going forever."

"You've been here almost two years. How long before Nadia and Greg realize you're not aging? What's going to happen then? I'm going to miss you, Elena."

"I'm not. Going. Forever," I repeated. "I mean it. I can make you forget me, if that's what you mean."

"But you can't make the feelings go away."

"I'm a vampire. I'm immortal. There's no way I'm ever going to be human again. After what I went through, there is no way I'd ever put anybody through that. So if that's what you're after-"

"I think I just fell for you."

"Then go do what I want to do. Go live the perfect human life. Find a good lady, get married, get a cute little place with a dog and a yard. Have a handful of kids. Have a baby, watch them grow, get grandkids, be able to die. Live a long, full life, and never regret a second of it. Look at yourself in the mirror, fifty years from now, and appreciate every single line and wrinkle on your face. Soak that in and just know that immortality comes with a price of blood and never-ending hunger, death and destruction, and running, always running."

-x-

"Date night for Mommy and Daddy!" I said, picking the cute little baby out of her crib. "You and Aunty Laney are going to have a great time!"

"I'm not so sure," Nadia said. "She's a little sick – I don't know if we can…"

"She has a little fever, that's it," I said. "That's fine. Lucy and Aunty Laney will just settle for a nice nummy bottle of milk, a warm bath, a bedtime story, and ni-ni." I mock glared at Nadia. "I don't know why you're making me use those words. Isn't it better to use 'proper words' so you're not cooing at her?"

"Who can resist cooing after seeing that face?" Nadia said.

I rolled my eyes and pushed them out the door.

"So." I took Lucy's cute little outfit off and rolled my sleeves up. I kept her in her basinet while I heated up the bottle of milk. Then I held her. This was one time being a cold-blooded (no-blooded?) vampire would help: hopefully my cool skin will soothe her.

She fell asleep in my arms.

Even though I was able to put her down without disrupting her in any way, she still woke up, fussing. I did the only thing that seemed to work: hold her in my cool arms.

We stayed that way, well into the night. I loaded the dishwasher one handed; normally I would have washed them myself, but that was a little too hard with a baby in one arm. I started a load of baby-laundry and tidied up Lucy's room, gave her a new mattress cover. There wasn't much more I could do with a baby, so we settle on the couch with the TV on low. (Vampire perk? I could still here it perfectly, even if Lucy wouldn't be able to.)

Sitting, thinking, reclining, with a baby in my arms.

It was the one thing I wanted above all else.

It brought back a thought from the Christmas holiday. If I couldn't have a kid, Lucy would more than suffice.

Even if I could have a kid, now, or before I became a vampire, I couldn't have done it. I touched her nose; that was kind of our thing. If I had a kid, the doppelgänger line would continue.

.

"Did the doppelgänger line die with me?"

"I would like to say 'yes'. But my honest guess is 'no'."

.

If I had a baby, that would just be the next doppelgänger Klaus needed to make more hybrids.

But isn't that the thing with genetics? What if Isobel had an aunt, and her aunt had a child, and so on and so forth. Eventually, wouldn't that be another doppelganger? There would always be one.

There would always be one – unless we took the vampire route. Unless we killed every last descendent of Katherine. And that was not something I was willing to do. I may only be two and a half years old, but I knew that wasn't what I wanted to do. I knew it wasn't something I could do.

God. Was I only two and a half? It felt like just yesterday I turned… just yesterday that I moved here…

'You've been here almost two years. How long before Nadia and Greg realize you're not aging? What's going to happen then? I'm going to miss you, Elena.'

How long would it be before they noticed? How long could I pull this charade on for? Six months? Another year? Two? Could I tell them? Or would I just have to up and move? I liked it here.

"What do you think, Lucy?"

She snuggled back into my arms and that settled it:

I would stay as long as I could. For her.

For the baby I would never be able to have

-x-

"Elena. What a… pleasant surprise."

"Meredith." I tipped my head back, leaning against my arms, soaking up the sun. I don't know if I was supposed to be lounging on a blanket at Stonehenge, but I was, and I really didn't think anyone was going to make a scene.

"I see you're wearing your ring today."

I opened my eyes behind sunglasses and stared at Meredith, then my ring. "I like it by my heart. But I've missed the band on my finger."

"It was Christian who agreed to play nice."

"And where is he?"

"Dealing with Sloan." The name sounded familiar, but I couldn't remember from where. I pushed my sunglasses up and looked at her. "The… human… who told you about this spot."

"He didn't tell me it was here. Just in Europe. Why did you hesitate over 'human'?"

"He's human. Wants to be anything but. We keep tabs on him; he has yet to get his hands on any supernatural items; an act that Christian and take pride in."

"He wasn't the only one. I – my friend, his aunt knew of a 'hotspot'. Couldn't pinpoint it to where, not even "somewhere in England"."

"Sloan was that specific?"

"Yeah?"

There was a pause and I started to bask in the sun again.

"Elena. Gilbert."

"You did some digging."

"Not the kind you'd think. I asked a local witch if she'd heard of you. Showed her a picture. Turns out, you weren't even human before your turned."

"Ah. You meet the she-devil?"

"No. She has… quite the reputation."

"You're telling me."

"And… if you're a doppelganger… and you know you're a doppelganger… you know Klaus."

"I do. Would you have believed me if I told you?"

"No. I would have killed you on the spot. So be glad you played stupid."

"I know them."

"Them?"

"Don't you play stupid. I have a curse. Immortality. I was the… guest of honor… at the Mikaelson Manor one evening. I met them – all."

"Who's the oldest witch you've met?"

I thought. "I don't know."

"Don't play stupid."

"I'm not. If you were trying to ask, yes, I met Esther." I paused. "You have a very bad poker face."

She actually laughed, so I wasn't too worried. I still liked Christian better, but at least Meredith wasn't scaring me this time.

"It's… rumored… in the magical community," she said, sobering up. "That Klaus… that Klaus kept his mother in a coffin for… a long time."

"That's true."

"I don't."

"It wasn't just, like, a coffin. It was sealed shut. After her… untimely death-"

"By Mikael."

I stopped, looking at her. "No…" I dragged out. I tried to keep the 'I know something you don't know' tone out of my voice. "After her untimely death, her teacher-"

"Ayana."

"Ayana and her daughter sealed Esther in a coffin."

"Why seal her in a coffin if she were dead?"

"Ayana refused to make Ester's children immortal, right? Yet Esther did it anyway. If someone with that much power died, wouldn't you go to the greatest measures to make sure they never came back?" She didn't say anything. "Since it took two witches to seal her in, it took two of her descents to unseal the coffin."

"Why would anyone want to unseal it?"

"Back when I was still human, Klaus was hunting me down. We were lead to believe that the only weapon to kill Klaus was in that coffin. So they unsealed it."

"And why not let Ester kill her children?"

"She's not just killing her children. If you kill a vampire, their line dies."

"Not for one moment, do I believe that. I have killed plenty a vampire, and their children have not died."

I sighed, rolling my eyes. "Fine. Sorry. Omitted an important word. If you kill an original vampire, their line dies."

"Still-"

"Nope. Saw it myself. Long story short: killed Finn, pissed off Sage, Sage attacked, Sage keeled over, dead, as did her lackey. The only plausible explanation is that they died because Finn died."

"That is mighty powerful knowledge to give a witch."

"Well. As a witch, you might have heard how hard it is to kill an original."

"Stake through the heart."

"Nope. Sure, they'll desiccate. For, like, a total of five minutes."

"How do you kill an original?"

"Who says you can kill them?"

She tried to hide her smile, but it didn't work so well. "You did. Less than a minutes ago. You killed Finn and pissed off Sage?" Crap. "And there has to be an answer. Witches-"

"Keep the balance," I sighed. "I know. Trust me, I know. You know how many times my withcy-bff tried to off my." I couldn't come up with the word, so I twisted my hand in the air, sunlight catching on my ring. "Plenty of times. Then there were equal amounts of times she saved him."

"Why?"

Damon may be an ass, but he's your ass. I won't let anything hurt you, Elena, even if that means leaving Damon alone.

I shrugged, and looked at my ring again, touching it gently. "Because I love him."

"Then where is he?"

"What are they saying?" I asked instead, lying down on the blanket, hair fanning out around me.

"You can hear them?"

I pulled my sunglasses back down over my eyes. "I can't make out what they're saying. But there's feeling. Murmuring. Congregating. Power and some kind of oppression and… it's very overwhelming."

"Christian was right." I just waited. "You are a very peculiar vampire."

"And why do you say that?"

"In all of my life, I have yet to meet a vampire who can feel that."

"Really. Huh." Double huh. "I just figured it was second nature."

"You, Elena Gilbert, are a very peculiar vampire."

"Thank you," I said. I had already decided to embrace it. I was an alluring vampire, and now I was a peculiar one, too.

"What do you want?"

"Come again?"

"What do you want? Why are you here?"

"What do you want?" I asked.

"I don't want anything. I just want to know why you're here.

"I have never had a witch do something without a favor, or it benefiting her in any way."

"You know smart witches."

"I do."

"What do you want?"

"How about. You tell me little things you want me to do. Little things that will… gain your favor."

"You are a vampire. The only way you will be in my good graces is if you are dead."

"Harsh."

"That's the truth."

"Alright. Then how about little ways that I can prove not all vampires are bad? I won't expect anything in return. And, maybe, one day, you'll hear me out."

"What more do you know about Esther?"

"I know she's dead."

"How?"

"I saw it happen."

"Really."

"Long story short-"

"You like those."

I grinned at the sun. "Yes, I do. Long story short, the wee surrounding my transition was one of pure and utter – crap. It was all kinds of horrible, and not because I died. The jackass," I said, hand waving in the air, "got jealous. Rebekah found out her mother wanted to kill them, drove us off the road. Stefan found us. I was already dead. My brother has a… I don't know. A ring that lets him come back to life if he dies supernaturally. Stefan – another vampire – came across us. Stefan killed Jeremy, and rescued my friend. I came back, alone. My aunt was dead. We were captured. They tortured me, they tortured him. He got out, I didn't."

"He."

I held my hand up in answer. "We were still… connected. He was kind of going through everything I was going through, and starving a newbie-vamp is not a good idea. Got rescued, yada yada ya. Couldn't keep blood down. Any of it. Any kind. Esther made another move – and our resident 'witch' took over."

"The one who made your ring."

"No. No, not my friend."

"You can continue to call him whatever you prefer, but could everyone else have a name?"

"Bonnie is my friend. When she was out of her element, she went to her grams. Well, her and her grams went to this other witch. I kind of get this feeling when I was around her."

"Was?"

"Yeah. Like. She can make herself look like other people, it's really weird. And when Ester saw her, all hell broke loose. They both died a firey death."

"Who was it?"

"I don't know. A girl by the name of Rayen." When she didn't say anything, I pushed myself up on my elbows and asked, "Why. Did you know her?"

"She was like a sister to me."

"I'm sorry."

"I am, as well. Cousin, of some kind."

"I'm sorry that I said it so…"

"No. No, you're fine. I'll run into her eventually."

"Uh."

"Where do you think Ester got the idea for immortality? My grandparents."

AN: Feel free to point out any spelling/grammatical errors, or inconsistent timelines. Any missing scenes you'd like to see/read, mention in a review or send me a PM. If I don't have them written, odds are I will write them.

Next Chapter: More on Meredith, Christian, Rayen, and 'immortal' witches. (Rayen is an OC from my version of TVD. You will hear more about her in the upcoming chapter/s.

11 something odd pm is still Friday night, right?