Road Trip

"I still don't see why Damon has to tag along." I groaned as I limped behind my sister. "He's only going to be an annoying nuisance."

Spencer shook her head as she tossed the bags in the trunk of dad's car. "He wants to see firsthand what we find, you know he barely trusts us."

I sighed, balancing on my crutches. "Can't we just break his neck and toss him in the trunk? It'll make me a lot more comfortable."

"No can do little demi-slayer." Damon chuckled from behind me. "I called shotgun."

I narrowed my eyes into a glare as the older vampire strode past me, sliding into the passenger seat. "This is going to be a long day."

"You'll be fine." Jeremy assured from behind me, lightly gripping my shoulders. He kissed the back of my head, his arms moving around me, latching around my stomach. "This trip might be the closure you need."

I scoffed. "I got my closure when I stood over Isobel's grave." I reminded, tilting my head up to meet his eyes. "That woman that came to town was just a monster who looked like the woman I once called 'Mom'." I adjusted my body so I was facing Jeremy, his arms still locked around me.

"Think you can manage one day without me?" Jeremy chuckled, caressing the small of my back.

I shook my head, "I managed fairly well long before I met you." I reminded, not hiding my smile. "I'm pretty sure it's you who can't manage one day without me." I raised an eyebrow. "After all, you've stuck to me like glue since we met."

"I was smitten instantly." he defended, brushing his nose against mine.

"Smitten? Seriously, that's the best you got?" I challenged.

"Not even close." Jeremy pulled my face up to his, capturing my lips, nipping my bottom lip. He kept one arm around me while his other hand rested under my chin, keeping my face tilted up. Jeremy was the first to pull away, holding my chin between his thumb and index finger.

My lips curled into a smile, "I'll call you when we get to Duke." I promised, adjusting my grip on my crutches. My dad's car horn sounded, making me shoot a glare at Damon. "But no promises I won't kill Damon while we're there."

"I won't shed a tear." Jeremy admitted, biting back a laugh.

He walked me to the car, opening the back door. Spencer was behind the driver's seat, headphones in and her nose in a book, The Wolf Gift by Anne Rice. "Great, I'm gonna be squished in the middle." I rolled my eyes and tossed my crutches into the trunk space where the bags were. I leaned into Jeremy for support, keeping my right foot off the ground. "I so can't wait till that's all healed." I groaned, sliding into the backseat.

"Here, this should help pass the time." Jeremy pulled out his black iPod with the headphones twisted around it. "I won't be needing it much today."

I took it from him and unwound the headphones, "Thanks." I smiled. "I'm sure we have similar tastes in music." I skimmed through the artists list and saw a few bands I liked; The Birthday Massacre, Shinedown, and Nickleback.

"Just don't be too judgmental." Jeremy added, twisting the end of my ponytail around his finger.

I shrugged. "Trust me, I'm the last person to judge based on music." I admitted, facing him.

"Who would you say your favorite band is?" he asked.

"Evanescence." I answered. "The tone of Amy Lee's voice is just so haunting. It's dark and beautiful."

"Let's get this show on the road." dad called, climbing into the driver's seat.

Jeremy nodded and wrapped his arm around my shoulders. "Call me later?"

I nodded. "Yeah." I pecked his lips then scooted into the middle seat so Elena could climb in. She shut the door and dad drove off. I slipped in the headphones, went to the list of Nickleback songs and let them play through, propping my braced leg on the hutch between the two seats up front.

Damon glanced up at the rear-view mirror, a smirk on his face. "How are you three doing back there?" Spencer was too engrossed in her book, I leaned my head back against the seat, while Elena just sighed and looked out the window. "You know, this whole pretending to hate me thing is getting a little silly." Damon chuckled.

"I don't think she's pretending." dad corrected. "You did kill her brother."

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

"Thanks to a ring you didn't know he was wearing." I muttered, meeting Damon's reflected eyes.

"Why are you so sure I didn't know?" Damon questioned, looking back at me. He gently patted the thick medical boot on my right leg.

"Did you?" Elena asked, eyebrow raised.

"Yes." Damon answered.

Elena shook her head. "You're lying." she scoffed.

"Elena, I saw the ring." Damon defended. "It's a big, tacky thing. Kinda hard to miss."

I shook my head, "Dad, are we there yet?"

"Less than an hour." he answered.

I closed my eyes and tuned out everything else around me.

"We're here Lucy." Elena nudged my arm. I shook off the momentary daze and followed her out, steadying myself against the car. "You okay?"

I nodded. "Yeah, just can't wait until I can take this damn boot off."

"Think of it as a growing experience." Spencer suggested, handing me my crutches.

I rolled my eyes, "Not likely." I snipped, making my way after dad and Damon.

"So Isobel was officially employed by the Anthropology Department given that most paranormal phenomena is rooted in folklore." dad informed as we walked through the Anthropology building lobby. We found a young woman, whom dad approached. "Excuse me. Hi, I'm Alaric Saltzman. I called earlier."

"Yes. Uh, of course." the woman replied, shaking his hand. "I'm Vanessa Monroe, research assistant. Comparative folklore." she looked back at the rest of us. "Oh, let me grab Isobel's keys."

"Uh, these are friends of mine; Damon and Elena." dad motioned to the two. "And these two are my daughters; Spencer and Lucy." he wrapped both his arms around our shoulders.

Vanessa nodded, "Yeah, Isobel had pictures of them. Nice to meet you two." she grabbed a set of keys and led us to my former mom's office. "Isobel's office is right through there. She was one of my first professors." she told us, opening up the office. "I'm a grad student. She was brilliant, and one of the reasons I went into folklore."

We stepped inside and I looked around. The office was large, yet cluttered. Shelves were packed with books and boxes were stacked in various corners and nooks. My eyes found Isobel's desk and I saw various pictures of her and dad, Spencer and me, and even the last family photo taken around Christmas. I picked up the family photograph, looking at the smiling eleven year old girl with her hair in pigtails. The last genuine smile I had, until I met a certain brown-eyed boy that was making me take a second look at the world.

I had barely noticed Vanessa had left, until she shot an arrow at Elena. In an instant, Spencer pushed her out of the way and Damon shielded them both, the arrow lodging in his back. With a grunt, he fell to the floor. Dad grabbed Vanessa's arm and pushed her against the wall, restraining her.

In a smaller room in Isobel's office, probably where she did her solo research, Spencer, dad, and I were interrogating Vanessa. She moved to get up, but I shoved her back down, applying pressure to her shoulder until she screamed.

"Okay, I freaked!" she yelled. "You would have done the same thing. It is not possible."

"What's not?" I asked, crossing my braced leg over my other one.

Vanessa caught her breath. "Katherine Pierce can't be alive. And Damon Salvatore died in 1864, along with his younger brother and sister. Okay, I read Isobel's research."

"Well, then you should know just how possible this is." dad told her.

Damon and Elena walked in. Spencer stood in between the two, her hand on Elena's shoulder. "This is Elena Gilbert, Isobel's biological daughter and a descendant of Katherine Pierce." she then motioned to Damon, "And this is Damon Salvatore, who you just shot."

"I'd be extra nice to me right now." Damon sneered.

"Look, we need your help." Elena spoke up. "We need to see all of Isobel's research. Anything related to Mystic Falls."

We broke into smaller groups and sorted through the various boxes Isobel had all over her office. I held my cell phone between my ear and shoulder, sitting on a small desk with my legs dangling over the side. "The fact that she wasn't very organized makes this very difficult." I vented to Jeremy. "It'll be a miracle if we find anything of use."

"I'm sure you guys will find something." Jeremy assured.

I shook my head and moved on to the next box, and my eyes widened. "Hang on, I think you might be on to something." I lifted it onto my lap, the Greek characters changing to block English letters. I removed the lid and blinked.

"Lucy!" Jeremy yelled. "What did you find?"

"A box full of documents and journals written entirely in Greek." I answered. "Maybe Isobel thought eventually we'd come for her research and thought this might be of use for me." I flipped through one of the journals. "Katára tou íliou kai tis selínis."

"What?" Jeremy asked.

"Creatures bound by the moon and sun." the warning the Gray Sisters gave echoed in my mind. "Uh, Jer I'll call ya back. I think I might've found something."

"Okay sure. Talk to ya later." he hung up and I did the same, slipping my phone into the back pocket of my jean shorts.

I grabbed the journal, marking my place, distributing my weight over my crutches I limped out of the small room and joined my dad and every one else. "Hey, I might've found something." I announced, getting their attention.

"What did you find Luce?" Elena asked, hurrying to my side.

I flipped open the journal and traced my finger over the phrase I found. "Katára tou íliou kai tis selínis." I repeated.

"That's Greek." Vanessa confirmed. "Isobel had some documents in the language, I just assumed she had translations somewhere else."

"Well, Lucy kinda knows the language." Spencer informed. "She's special like that."

"And for those of us who don't speak Greek?" Damon pressed, looking right at me.

"It translates to 'curse of the sun and moon'." I clarified. "It seems to be a Greek translation of an Aztec legend." I read down the page, the characters changing from one language to another right before my eyes.

"What does it say Lucy?" dad asked.

"Uh, it's basically saying that both vampires and werewolves had free reign until an Aztec shamen cursed both species, making vampires slaves to the sun and werewolves servants of the moon."

"Can they control the transformation?" Damon asked.

"If it were a choice, it wouldn't be called a curse." Spencer reminded, shaking her head. "What else does that journal say Luce?"

"It says that werewolves will attack humans, but instinct and centuries of rivalry have hardwired them to hunt their prey of choice." I answered, shifting my gaze to Damon. "Vampires."

Damon scoffed, wearing his traditional smirk. "Well, if werewolves are hunting vampires, I would know about it."

I bit my lip, "Not if there aren't that many werewolves left alive." I added, flipping the page. "It says here," I tapped the second line of characters. "Hundreds of years ago, vampires hunted them almost to extinction."

"Why?" Elena asked, genuinely curious.

"Protection." I answered, showing her a line of text. "Mia boukiá lykánthropos eínai moiraía gia éna vampír." I read, my finger tracing over the words. "A werewolf bite is fatal to a vampire."

The sun was slowly setting, which meant it was nearing our time to head back to Mystic Falls. The three boxes full of Greek documents and journals were addressed to me, so I was free to take them back with us. Spencer loaded them into the trunk of dad's car.

"I wonder what else is in those boxes." Spencer sighed, shutting the trunk.

I shrugged. "Who knows, but Isobel must've thought they were important." I leaned against the car. "Otherwise she wouldn't have left them for me."

Spencer stood beside me, "She loved you, you know?" she nudged my arm. "It may not have been apparent when she came back into our lives but, mom loved you. And she knew you'd grow up to be strong."

I scoffed. "Yeah well, what she thought doesn't really matter to me anymore." I opened the front passenger door and climbed inside, propping my leg up on the dashboard, covering myself with the black hoodie Jeremy lent me for the day. I scrolled down to Daughtry and played through the songs, resting against the headrest. The full moon shining brightly in the dark night sky.