"Buffy and Elena mentioned you needed my help." Alaric says as he enters the living room in the Salvatore house, where Damon, Elena, Buffy and Stefan were currently discussing the Lockwood's.
Stefan nods, as Alaric takes a seat "Yeah. We were hoping you could help shed some light on the Lockwood family."
"Now why would I know anything about the Lockwoods?"
Damon shrugs "Well, you wouldn't. But you're dead—not dead vampire wife might."

Buffy rolls her eyes "Isobel. The research stuff, she did when you were at Duke together."
"You said that she had spent years researching this town." Stefan clarifies.
Alaric nods, "Isobel's research here—Mystic Falls—was rooted in Folklore and Legend."
Buffy shrugs "Well, technically I am too."
Alaric chuckles "True. But at the time, I thought most of which was fiction.

"Like that amazing vampire story. And the tiny little girl that kills them." Damon says with a smirk.
"Aside from vampires, what else?" Elena asks.
Alaric turns to the teenager "Lycanthrope."

Buffy grins "I knew it!" She exclaims, she then turns to Damon "Suck it dumbass, werewolves. Always trust the Hellmouth girl."
Damon shakes his head "No way. Way too Lon Chaney."
Buffy rolls her eyes "Really? You're gonna question not only a vampire hunter but also the Slayer. I've meet werewolves before."
"I've been on this planet 160-some odd years. I've never come across one, but two years in Sunnydale you come across one. No way."

Buffy turns to Alaric "Two types. Am I right?"
Alaric nods "Lycanthrope are blood born. The others are what they refer to as 'Mutts', they are bitten by a breed similar to their own."
Alaric then turns back to Damon "Why do you suspect the Lockwoods?"
"Because we know from Buff here being affected, that the device on Founder's day affected other supernatural creatures. The Gilbert device affected them, but Vervain didn't."

"And at the school Carnival, his uncle Mason exhibited in-human behaviour when he fought one of the carnival workers." Stefan adds, "It suggested some sort of a supernatural entity."
"We were hoping Isobel's research could help us figure out what it is." Elena informs Alaric.
Alaric turns to Buffy "What about you? You have those volumes your watcher sent you when you moved here right?"

Buffy shakes her head "I'm not really researching gal, but I went through them, there is nothing about this other type of werewolf, probably due to the fact that there almost extinct."
Alaric nods "Isobel's research may have something, but I can't be sure. Plus, all of her things are still at Duke." Alaric clears his throat "I mean, her office is still there. She's technically still missing."
"So can we get access to it?" Damon asks.

"You sure you want to do this?" Stefan asks Buffy as she packs.
Buffy sighs "Nope. But there is no way in hell, I'm leaving Elena alone with Damon. Plus, maybe I can find some dirt on witchy, then I can know why we have the same face."
Stefan nods "Might actually be good to have some information on that, 'cause we still don't know anything."
"Hence me going, who knows maybe one of us will get so fed up with Damon and just throw him out the car."

Stefan chuckles for a second, as Buffy goes on "It's a shame you can't come though."
Stefan stands and walks over to her, playing with her hair as he stands in front of her "You know what, maybe we should wait a couple of days, huh? Wait till Caroline's less of a danger, and then I can go with you."
Buffy raises an eyebrow "You're trying to do that thing again, where you try and save me."
"Guilty."

Buffy chuckles for a second, before looking at him seriously "Trust me, the last thing I wanna do is spend the day with Damon, but Elena wants to see if she can get some research on Isobel, so I have to go."
Stefan nods "Ok. I get it. You need to protect your cousin. But, maybe think of yourself a little while there, you have questions about Mary, we both do. Use this as a chance to try and answer some of those questions." Stefan pauses "Look, I'm not going to let the fact that Damon is going, stop you from missing the chance to find out why Mary needs you."

Buffy nods and smirks "You hate it don't you? Just a little."
Stefan grins "I hate it. A little. I love you."
"You know, I sorta like you too." Buffy laughs before leaning up to kiss him.

Buff and Elena head down the stairs with Stefan and head for the door, where Rick is currently talking to Jenna. "You okay?" Elena asks as Rick heads to the car.
Jenna nods "Yeah. Just men and their baggage."

"Sorry, you can't come too, Stef." Damon says as Stefan walks over to the car.
Buffy glares at Damon while Elena jumps into the back seat.
"Call me if you need anything." Stefan tells her.
"Oh, I'll take really good care of her." Damon says with a smirk.

Buffy glares at Damon, before grabbing the back of Stefan's neck and pulling him towards her, kissing him passionately.
Damon's face falls at the sight, the smirk instantly dropping from his face"Ok. Time to go." He says after a moment, hoping to get the couple to break it off.

"How are you doing back there?" Damon asks the girls as they drive to Duke.
"Leave them alone." Alaric tells him "You piss off one of them enough, she's likely to kill you right now, and I really don't wanna have to deal with getting the blood outta my car."

Buffy leans forward in her seat and turns to Rick "Don't worry about, there are plenty of painful ways I can kill him, without leaving an ounce of blood in your car."
Rick smiles "Perfect, then you have my permission."
Buffy laughs, as does Elena, the two of them then go right back to ignoring Damon.
Damon sighs annoyed "You know, this whole pretending to hate me thing is getting a little silly."

"I don't think they're pretending." Rick points out "You did kill Jeremy."
"There is a huge asterisk next to that statement. He came back to life."
"Yeah. Thanks to a ring that you didn't know he was wearing." Elena says.
"Why are you both so sure I didn't know?"
"Did you?"
"Yes."

Buffy scoffs "Yes because you had plenty of time to admire his new taste in jewellery while throwing me into a wall and snapping his neck before I threw you out the window and kicked the crap out of you."
Damon turns to the slayer "Buffy, I saw the ring. Big tacky thing. It's hard to miss. If you hadn't thrown me out the window, maybe I would've been able to tell you that earlier."
"You're full of bullshit, you know that right?"

Alaric chuckles "She's right, man." Damon glares at the two of them, before turning back to watching the road.

"So Isobel was officially employed by the Anthropology department given that most paranormal phenomena are rooted in folklore." Alaric tells them as they walk into the university building.

As he walks into Isobel's office, he sees a woman going through the cabinets "Excuse me. Hi, I'm Alaric Saltzman. I called earlier."
The woman nods "Yes. Of course." She walks over and shakes his hand "I'm Vanessa Monroe, research assistant—comparative folklore. Uh, let me just grabs Isobel's keys."
"I'm sorry. These are my friends Elena, Damon and Buffy. I hope this isn't too much of an imposition."

The woman smiles "Please. Isobel's office is right through there. Isobel was one of my first professors. I'm a grad student. She was brilliant. One of the reasons I went into folklore. I have to ask...has there been any news."
Alaric shakes his head "No. No. I'm afraid not."
The woman nods "It's right this way." She says before opening the door, as the three of them walk into the room, the woman walks off to get the lights.

After few moments Damon turns to Buffy "Where'd she go?"
Buffy shrugs, then spots the woman walking back into the room now holding a crossbow, she shoots first at Buffy, but Damon appears in front of her and the arrow goes into his back.

As he falls Buffy sees the woman move to aim at Elena, Buffy quickly moves and catches the arrow in her palm before it can hit Elena. Rick runs over and pushes the Vanessa against the wall.

"Pull it out. I can't reach it, Elena." Damon says as Elena stares at the arrow in his back. "Just pull the damn thing out. It hurts."
Buffy rolls her eyes and walks over and pushes the arrow slightly further into Damon's back "What the hell?!" Damon yells.
Buffy smirks "Oh, I'm sorry, did you say pull it out, I thought you said push it in."
Damon groans in pain "Just pull it out, Buffy."
Buffy sighs "Fine." She says before yanking it painfully out of his back.

"Ahh." Damon groans as he stands "That bitch is dead."
"Uh, you're not going to kill her." Elena tells him.
"Watch me."

Damon goes to walk around Buffy but she grabs his arm and twists it behind his back, before forcing his head onto the table, "You're not gonna kill her. Not only will I never speak to you again, but I will make your life a living undead hell."
"What makes you think that has any power over me? Because I took an arrow in the back for you?"
Buffy smirks "Because you know exactly what I am capable of. If you kill her...let's just say there are benefits to having dated the world's most notorious serial killer."

Buffy tightens her grip on Damon's arm, as he cries out in pain, Elena places a hand on her cousin "Buffy."
Buffy sighs "Fine." Buffy releases Damon before following Elena into the other room.

"Katherine Pierce can't be alive." Vanessa says panicked, as she sits opposite Alaric "...and Damon Salvatore died in 1864. And Mary Prince...she was burnt at the stake in 1864. Ok. I read Isobel's research."
"Well, then you should know just how possible this is."

At that moment Elena, Buffy and Damon walk into the room. Elena walks over to Vanessa "I'm Elena Gilbert, Isobel's daughter and a descendant of Katherine Pierce." Elena gestures to Damon "This is Damon Salvatore, who you just shot."
Damon smirks "I'd be extra nice to me right now."
Buffy elbows him in the stomach, before turning to Vanessa "Excuse him, he's stupid."

Vanessa turns to Elena and points at Buffy "Explain her. Mary never had children so..."
"That's Buffy Summers." Elena tells her "She's my cousin."
Vanessa turns to Buffy "Are you a witch, like Mary?"
Buffy shakes her head "No, I'm what's known as a vampire slayer."
"Look, we need your help." Elena tells her "Ok. We need to see all of Isobel's research, anything related to Mystic Falls."

"This box tracks Katherine and Mary's arrival to Mystic Falls in April of 1864." Vanessa tells Buffy and Elena, as she places a large box in front of them.
"Is that all there is about them?" Elena asks.
Vanessa nods "All that I'm aware of, but most of it's about Katherine, there is not much on Mary."
"Why not?" Buffy asks.

"Mary was a lot better at covering her tracks, there is nothing about Mary previous to her arrival in 1864. She's a ghost. All I know from Isobel's research that Mary was around long before Katherine."
Buffy sighs and grabs some vervain out of the box "Here." She says to Vanessa as she hands her the herb "Also I suggest you start wearing a cross or carry holy water."
Vanessa looks at her confused "Why?"
Buffy chuckles "Guessing Isobel didn't explain about the demonic type."
"No, she did. But she just thought that was something the real ones made up in order to help cover up their tracks."

Buffy shakes her head "Nope. All real."
"So, does vervain really work?"
"Nope! Not at all." Damon says from the other room.
"Can he hear us?" Vanessa asks the cousins.
"No!" Damon whispers "That would be creepy!"
"Can he read minds, too?"

Damon turns to the girls "You know, if you want to see me naked, all you have to do is ask."
Elena glares at him before turning to Vanessa "No. That, he can't do. He is very capable of being a first-rate jackass."
"A jackass whose gonna lose his head if he keeps up with that." Buffy says causing Vanessa to chuckle.

Buffy watches as Damon taunts Elena. When Elena walks off Damon chuckles slightly before walking over to Buffy. Buffy rolls her eyes "You know I really don't like it when you piss off my family members or taunt them with the information you don't have."
Damon raises an eyebrow "Who says I don't have the intel."
Buffy rolls her eyes and turns to face him "Fine. Prove it."
Damon smiles "You know, it's a bummer we're not friends anymore, then maybe I would squeal. You know, I may even know a thing or two about the witchy bitch."
"Damon, first of all, we were never technically friends, we had a mutual agreement, you don't piss me off I don't kill you. And second, you say that you want that again right? Maybe being a dick about everything, not the best approach."

"He guys, check this out." Alaric says as he hands Buffy a book.
"There's no record of werewolf mythology in Mystic Falls..." Vanessa informs the Slayer "...but here are some records of some of the lesser known legends. Everything from Scandinavian skinwalkers to the marcialderts."
Vanessa then points to one of the texts "That roughly translates to 'The Curse of the Sun and Moon'."
"It's native American." Alaric realises.

"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 terrorised 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. 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 ever is unlucky enough to fall under the werewolf curse turns into a wolf."

"The transformation? Can they control it?" Buffy asks.
"It's a curse, there is no choice." Vanessa pauses "Werewolves will attack humans. But instinct and centuries of rivalry have hardwired them to hunt their prey of choice—vampires."
Damon's eyes widen and he walks over to Vanessa "Well...if werewolves are hunting vampires, I would know about it."
"Not if there aren't that many werewolves left alive. Hundreds of years ago, vampires hunted them almost to extinction."
"Why would they do that?" Elena asks confused.
"To protect themselves. Legend has it that a werewolf bite is fatal to vampires."

Buffy turns to Elena, and hands her her phone "Call Stefan, fill him in." Elena nods and quickly exits the room.
As she leaves Buffy turns to Vanessa "Can I?" Buffy asks gesturing to the book. Vanessa gives her a smile and hands her the book.

Buffy looks down at the curse and looks over the pages, as she flips through the book, something horrific catches her eyes "Guys..." Buffy whispers as she stares at the page.
Alaric looks at her worried "Buffy, what is it?"
Buffy places the book down in the centre of the table and points at the drawing in the centre of the page "That!"

Damon looks down and his eyes widen, as there on the page, was a drawing of someone who looks exactly like Buffy. "What the hell, is Mary doing in some Aztec's book?"
Buffy shakes her head, they hadn't realised what had freaked her out "That's not Mary. First of all -the girl in that drawing doesn't have dark hair."

Alaric picks up the book "Look at the description." Buffy tells him.
"Dolore Stimulatus." Alaric reads before looking up at Buffy "What is it?"
"I've seen that phrase before, it means... The Slayer."
Damon takes the book out of Rick's hands and stares at the drawing "You mean?"

Buffy nods "Yep, I think that the crazy shaman from 600 years ago, drew a picture of me in his little storybook."

A little while later Buffy is going through the books on the curse, as well as anything she can find on Mary. As she does, Elena turns to Vanessa "Have you done any research on doppelgängers?"
Buffy looks up "Yeah, that's a good question. A Little bit more curious now, due to little old me being in a legend which is over 600 years old."
Vanessa turns to the cousins "Well, the word means a lot of different things to different cultures. But typically a doppelgänger is a living, breathing double of oneself."
"Did Isobel have anything that'd explained the link between Elena and Katherine or me and the witchy bitch?"

Vanessa points at the file in Elena's hands "That's all she had on Katherine, unfortunately. She had even less on Mary."
Buffy sighs "Mary makes Katherine look like the paparazzi queen."
"But I can tell you both that doppelgängers usually torment the people they look like, trying to undo their lives. It's not exactly up lifting."
Elena sighs "And more things we already know. I just wanna know why we look alike."

"Head-scratcher, isn't it?" Damon says.
Buffy rolls her eyes "Damon, either shut up or tell us what you know. My patience is wearing thin."
"You know 'if' I know anything, with your whole 'let's kill Damon' attitude, I will not be telling you."
"You wanna stop with the death threats then fine, stop trying to manipulate me and my cousin."

Buffy is about to get into the car when Damon steps in front of her "You're not going to be able to hate me forever."
Buffy shrugs "Don't have too. I'm 17, gives me another few years as the Slayer. I can hate you for that long. So can we go now?"
Damon looks at her intently before pulling out two books "You didn't dig deep enough."
Buffy takes the books and reads the names on the spines "Petrova? Wanna explain?"

"Katherine originally came from Europe. Petrova was her real name. Katharina Petrova to be exact."
"And you knew this how?"
"Mary let it spill one night, back when."

Buffy looks at the other book "What about this? Von Swartzschild?"
"Mary was from Germany or at least her family was. Marianna Von Swartzschild was her real name."
Buffy looks at him sceptically "I thought Mary was supposed to be the queen of secrets, how do you know this?"
Damon shrugs "A letter, from her mother. I found it in her room, back in the day. Men snoop too." Damon pauses "Let me know what you find. Very curious myself."

Buffy starts to move to get in the car, but Damon cuts her off, blocking her with his body "You have every right to hate me. I understand. You hated me before and we became friends or as you put it 'frenemies', it would suck if that was gone forever. So...is it? Have I lost you forever?"
Buffy ignores the question "Thanks for the books, Damon." She says before climbing into the car.

"Road trips work well for us." Damon says as he follows Buffy and Elena.

As Elena heads inside Buffy turns to Damon "Look, I appreciate everything you did. But I can't be your friend Damon."
"Oh, come on you know I chopped a bit off of your wall of hatred."
Buffy sighs "Look, I'm gonna ask you this once, and only once. Did you or did you not know about the ring?"

Damon hesitates "No. No, I didn't." He tells her honestly, a look of guilt filling his expression as he looks down at her, almost begging her for her forgiveness "Mary really pissed me off. And I snapped. And..I got lucky with the ring. And I don't know what I would have done if he wasn't wearing it. You most probably would have killed me and I can't blame you. Buffy, I'm sorry."

Buffy nods "Thank you." She pauses for a second before going on "But that is exactly why I can't be your friend. Damon, you snap and kill people impulsively and I'm the Slayer. I can't be your friend because one day, you may just snap again and I will have to take you out. And I refuse to kill another friend."

Buffy looks at him sadly before turning and heading inside the house.