A/N: I don't own Vampire Diaries or any of the canon characters.

I'm glad you guys are onboard for the curse! Thanks for all the great feedback. While yes Alaric and Stefan are both still alive after being loved by women in the line, I would like to point out that the curse has affected their relationships and has a lot to do with the choices that both Katherine and Isobel have made in the past. We'll learn more about that in the future.

"So what are we gonna do about this curse?" I asked after a moment's reflection.

"Don't worry about it, we'll figure it out. I happen to think it's worth it."

"Worth it? How do you mean?"

"Well I guess if I get struck down then I know once and for all that you really love me." Damon gave me a lopsided grin.

"You can't tell now that I love you?" I raised a single brow at him.

"Maybe you'd better remind me again."

"I thought parts of you were still numb from the vervain?"

"Not all of me." His grin widened.

"What am I gonna do with you?" I sighed, allowing Damon to pull me up against him.

"Anything you want; just be gentle." He smirked before his lips covered mine.

Finding myself with a bit of free time before we were supposed to meet up at the boarding house with Alaric and Isobel's personal effects, I turned my attention to one of those talks I'd been putting off since regaining my emotions.

Bonnie.

I had no idea what I was going to say to her, if she'd even see me; she'd looked so upset the last time we'd spoken… Hoping for the best, I rang the bell, chewing nervously on the inside of my bottom lip as I waited to see if she was home. Instead it was her Grandmother who opened the door. "Hi, is Bonnie home?" I asked brightly, putting on my best smile but it froze on my lips as I caught her expression. She looked as if she knew without a shadow of a doubt what I was.

"Bonnie is… not available at the moment. But I'll tell her you stopped by." She replied, watching me like a hawk.

I could hear Bonnie inside, and opened my mouth to say something but then again, she hadn't exactly said that Bonnie wasn't home, just that she wasn't available. "Okay… I'd really appreciate it. I need to talk to her."

"I'll tell her you stopped by." She repeated.

"Grams…" Bonnie appeared at the door then, a grave look on her face. "It's okay."

"Bonnie…" Her grandmother's brows drew together.

"No it's okay really, I can handle it." Bonnie's chin came up a little.

"Alright, I'll be near if you need me." The words were directed at Bonnie, but her Grams' eyes bored into me as she spoke before moving off.

"Wow, the protective vibe." I tried for a smile.

"You can hardly blame her, can you?" Bonnie retorted, staying in dubious protection of the doorway.

"I guess… but I would never hurt you Bonnie, you know that don't you?" Her silence spoke volumes. "Look, I really wanted to talk to you, to clear the air between us. I hate that this thing has come between us. I miss you Bon." I tried again.

"This thing? You mean you being a vampire?" Her brow puckered.

"You say that like it's a bad thing." I smirked… ugh I'd been spending too much time hanging out with Damon… "Do you think I could come in?"

"I'm not inviting you in here." She shook her head. "Even if I did trust you, Grams would pitch a fit."

Even if she did trust me… the words cut me to the quick. "Fine then we can talk out here on the porch, okay? Just… talk to me Bonnie."

Bonnie hesitated for a long moment, darting a quick look over her shoulder into the house. "Alright." She nodded, stepping out onto the porch and pulling the door shut behind her. "So talk."

She sure wasn't making it easy on me. "Bonnie, I don't know what I can do to convince you that I'm not instantly a bad person just because I'm a vampire now."

"You sure weren't acting like the Elena I know back at school."

"Yeah about that…" I took a seat on the top step of the porch, hoping she'd join me. "It turns out my emotions were suppressed. I didn't even know I was doing it. So I'm sorry if I was kind of a bitch to you that day. I'm better now."

"And that's supposed to make it better? Are you even hearing yourself Elena? You shut off your emotions? That makes you even less human than before."

"Yeah but I know about it now, and I've recovered them, Damon helped me come back." I insisted, getting frustrated with Bonnie for holding onto her negativity when I was really trying to make things right between us. "And even without emotions I didn't hurt anyone Bonnie, I swear."

"I find that a little hard to believe. You looked like you were about to eat Matt for lunch before I stopped you." She snorted.

"No, I swear, I haven't killed anyone since I turned. I'll prove it to you." I stuck my arm out at her, inviting her touch. "Go ahead, take a look."

Bonnie looked at my arm like it was a live snake, recoiling slightly from the motion. "I don't…"

"Just try it Bonnie, see what you can pick up from me. I'm not evil, I swear." I gave her a hopeful smile.

Hesitantly she reached forth, "That's just what you'd say if you were evil…" She muttered, but the corner of her mouth quirked into an almost smile.

Her hand clamped over my arm and I watched carefully for any indication of what she was seeing. Bonnie's body went rigid then, a blank look on her face and I waited to see what her judgment would be.

"You really haven't killed anyone?" Her eyes popped open, and I saw traces of hope behind her eyes.

"No, I swear. Damon's been watching out for me while I learn control. But even with my emotions off I didn't lose it." Of course I didn't mention to her that without Damon there I likely would have killed that bartender without batting an eye. The fact of the matter was, I needed her to believe in me, and I wasn't above holding back that little tidbit of info to get her to lose the suspicion behind her eyes.

"What's all this about Damon? What happened to Stefan?" She asked, and it was almost like regular girl talk.

"Oh, well remember I said we had kinda grown apart? Well, while Stefan was gone I sorta fell for Damon." I admitted, feeling a flush creep up the side of my neck just from thinking about him.

"Fell for him? As in…"

"As in… I'm totally butt-crazy in love with him." I grinned foolishly, relieved to see an answering smile on her face.

"And he feels the same way?" She prompted.

"Yeah, it's like there's this whole other side to him…" And then I was telling her everything that had happened to me since we'd last talked. Really telling her; good and bad. Including my little loss of emotion over Damon's slip of the tongue and how it was my love for Jeremy that had brought me back, and the new information about Isobel and the curse.

Bonnie listened with rapt attention, forgetting her earlier discomfort as she got caught up in the story. "Oh my god… and you really had no idea that you were ever adopted?"

"No, I mean you knew my mom and dad, they treated me just like I was their daughter. No one's ever given me a single reason to suspect anything like it." I was still reeling over the idea, let alone the fact that my birth mother was a vampire too.

"So you really think you'll find a clue about the curse in Isobel's stuff?"

"I'm hoping so. That's kind of what I wanted to ask you, do you want to come with and help look through it too?" I was really trying to include her, because if she couldn't accept me as I was… it didn't exactly bode well for our friendship.

"You want me to come with you to the Salvatore's boarding house?" Bonnie looked stunned. "I don't know Elena, I'm pretty sure my Grams'll never let me go to a den of vampires."

"You make it sound like we're all laying in wait to eat you." I laughed before I realized the thought had crossed her mind. "Bonnie, you'll be safe with me; I'd stake my life on it." I promised.

"I'd like to help…" Her teeth worried at her bottom lip.

"You've been around Stefan this whole time; did you ever feel unsafe around him?" I tried a different tack. "And Mr. Saltzman will be there. I'm even betting he'll be armed."

"That's true…" She considered aloud. "Okay I'll do it." Her voice dropped. "But let's go now. I have a feeling I won't get very far if Grams realizes where I'm headed."

"You don't think she'll figure it out when we leave together?" I raised a single brow as I got to my feet.

"Yeah well it's easier to ask for forgiveness than to get permission." She muttered, heading for her car.

I could have made better time on foot, but I was grateful to be invited into Bonnie's car at least. Some idle chatter went a long way towards restoring the tenuous thread of our friendship and by the time we got to the boarding house, I thought she was getting to be more comfortable around me again.

Stefan opened the door as soon as we pulled up, a welcoming smile on his face. "Ladies." He nodded to each of us in kind. "Come on in. You're the first to arrive. Can I get you anything?"

Bonnie approached the door, a hesitant smile on her face. "No thanks, I'm good."

"Me too." I nodded back in greeting. "Is Lexi here? I was hoping Bonnie could meet her."

"Yeah, she's upstairs having a little snack. She'll be down in a bit." Stefan replied.

"Bagged, not fresh." I whispered to Bonnie when I saw her tense at the mention of the snack.

Bonnie nodded, looking all around as she entered the grand house. I tried to think if she'd been there before and came up with a blank. Stefan showed us into the main living room and Bonnie took a seat. I sat on the couch and Stefan immediately sat next to me, a little closer than was strictly necessary.

"Damon's not home?"

"Nope, he's out hunting."

I shot him a look. Did he not get that I was trying to downplay the brutality of vampires for Bonnie's sake?

"You know Damon, he's never been one to resist a pretty face." He shrugged.

Was he trying to be obnoxious on purpose? If Bonnie hadn't been there, I would have let him know what I thought of the tactic, but as it was I just gave him a tight smile. Trying to steer the conversation onto a safer topic, I turned to face him a little more, scooting a bit farther away in the process. "So, have you ever heard of this curse before?"

That got his attention, and he became more like the Stefan that I knew. "No, I've never heard of it before. But to be honest, I haven't had all that much involvement with your family line before. Unless you count Katherine."

"So you'd never met Isobel before? Not even when she was with Damon?" It wasn't something I liked to think about, but it begged asking.

"No, I don't think so. But you have to remember, there were huge chunks of time where I didn't see Damon for years at a time. It's not like I have a sense of all the women he's hooked up with over the years."

"What about Katherine?" Bonnie interjected. "When you knew her, did she ever mention anything about having a child or family that she'd left behind?"

"No, she never did. But she hated to talk about her past. I think she thought it made her seem more mysterious." Stefan replied, a faint smile on his lips.

"But she must have had a child before she was turned. That's the only way there could be a curse handed down the family line."

"That's true." He nodded. "But she never spoke of it."

"I think Katherine liked to keep secrets just on principle." Lexi called out from the stairs as she came down to join us. Introductions were made, and though Bonnie seemed a little less than friendly, she did manage a smile for the pretty blonde vampire.

I instantly felt better with Lexi there, her infectious smile helping me to lose some of my worry. "Let's hope Isobel was a little less secretive."

"I like a good mystery." Lexi grinned. "Oh, here comes the teacher." Her head came up, and I heard the sound of Alaric's car a heartbeat later.

"I'll go see if he needs any help carrying things in." Stefan offered, leaving his spot beside me and I waved Lexi over.

"I guess you figured out which one you were in love with huh?" Lexi gave me a conspiratorial wink as soon as Stefan was gone.

"He hasn't been too upset has he?" I asked, looking off in the direction he'd disappeared off to.

"Most of the time he seems like regular old Stefan, but every now and again… I can tell he's not ready to give you up just yet. I hate to say it, but I think it bothers him in particular that it was his brother."

"I know, I feel bad about it but…"

"You can't help who you love." Bonnie finished the thought for me and I gave her a grateful smile.

The men appeared then, Alaric with a big file box and Stefan easily managing three big boxes of stuff. "Wow, I wasn't expecting such a crowd. I'm not sure if that's good or bad…" Alaric muttered, with an uneasy smile.

"Well I figured, the more of us looking through her things the sooner we'll find something, right?" I gave him a reassuring smile.

"Don't worry Mr. Saltzman, if they get all fangy I got your back." Bonnie smiled, looking a little more at ease with another human present.

"Oh I'm not worried. I didn't come into the lion's den unprepared." Alaric opened his coat to reveal a row of little vervain darts like the one he'd used to bring down Damon the night before.

"What are those?" Stefan asked.

"You don't want to know." I muttered.

Only Alaric seemed happy to provide him with plenty of details as to just how effective they were at bringing down a vampire, and I had to add my experience to it. Both Stefan and Lexi seemed a little nervous at him being so heavily armed, but I reckoned if it made him feel safer, what harm could come of it? It wasn't like any of us was going to attack him anyway.

"So, I guess we should get right to it, huh? No sense in waiting for Damon to get here." I said, reaching for the nearest box.

"Typical Damon, nowhere to be found when there's work to be done." Stefan sighed, pulling the lid off of another.

"Green is not a good color on you Stefan." Lexi muttered behind her hand, but I could hear her clear as day.

For the next half hour we pored through the boxes that were filled with curios, books, and all manner of odd things. Most of the volumes were on mythology and lore from around the world. But at the bottom of the box I was sorting through with Bonnie, I pulled out what looked like a journal bound in red leather.

The thick pages were covered with hand lettered entries in smooth, flowing script. There were pictures peppered into some of the entries, and pressed between two pages, a crumbling sprig of lavender. In flipping through, I was surprised to find a sketch near the end of the pages that bore a striking resemblance to Stefan. Whoever had written it had obviously met the younger Salvatore brother. Was it Katherine's journal? It definitely seemed like it was written in a feminine hand. But there was just one problem.

"Ah, does anyone here know how to read Russian?"

A/N: Ooh a secret journal… I wonder what it says? I'm gonna have to figure out who can translate it for them, I think it'd be neat to get some journal entries as part of future updates.

I know, a Damon-less chapter, sorry about that guys. He'll be showing up soon, I promise.

I've tabulated the votes for the new fic and it was really close. Having more characters trapped in the warehouse edged out by just one vote, so I'll go with Damon, Elena, Stefan, Mason, Caroline and Katherine all in there. And just for fun I'll throw in Bonnie too, thanks SoUtHeRnBeLLe706 for that good idea. She'll definitely be involved with why they're trapped in there with no memories.

Feedback is Love People