Hey guys! Sorry for the long absence. I lost the plot, and needed a breather to retrace my steps. Hopefully this chapters makes up for that!

Charmed © Constance M. Burge and The Vampire Diaries © L. J. Smith. I don't own or have any affiliation with either TV shows.

I also claim no ownership of the movie Titanic. That belongs solely to director James Cameron and the movie's talented group of writers and editors.

Please review constructively and respectfully. Flames will NOT be tolerated.

MY UNDEAD STALKER

"Every move you make. Every vow you break. Every smile you fake. Every claim you stake. I'll be watching you."
~The Police: 'Every Breath You Take' (Synchronicity [1983])

On The Road Back To Mystic Falls
Night

The road trip back to Mystic Falls was quiet, tense and very uncomfortable. Phoebe glanced around at Elena, who was sitting in the backseat looking devastated and casting Damon angry looks. Damon, on the other hand, was studiously ignoring them both; a fact that Phoebe couldn't fault him for. The vampire had suffered enough for that night, and just barely made it out of their situation with his dignity in tact: his jet black hair now reeked of gasoline and his black clothes were sticking to him like a second skin. Phoebe knew that Damon was not likely to appreciate or accept sympathy to soothe his battered ego, and would sooner remove his daylight ring and walk into direct sunlight than admit it. Phoebe sighed and turned to stare out of the window. There couldn't be a worse moment for Celine Dion's My Heart Will Go On to suddenly come over the car radio, and both Phoebe and Damon stared at the radio like it was a potentially lethal type of snake. As Phoebe reached over to change the station, Elena suddenly spoke.

"How did you and Damon meet exactly?" Both Phoebe and Damon froze and looked at each other. After several minutes, Phoebe responded.

"I told you already. Didn't I?" Elena frowned, wondering why Phoebe was being so vague.

"No, all you told me was the movie Titanic was basically a rip off of Primrose and Damon's romance." Elena retorted, ignoring the snort that Damon gave.

Phoebe paled.

"Ah." She looked at Damon for assistance, but the vampire merely shrugged as though to say: 'you got yourself into this mess, don't drag me down with you.' Phoebe sighed. "Has this got anything to do with what we were talking about today?" Phoebe ignored the curious look Damon shot the both of them out the corner of his eye, as Elena blushed and hesitated.

"Not exactly." She admitted. "It's just that song sort of got me wondering…" She trailed off. Phoebe chuckled uncomfortably, trying to figure out a way out of this awkward situation, made even more awkward by the smirk Damon was displaying on his handsome face and the mischievous twinkle in his blue eyes. Then she was struck with an idea. Phoebe just hoped that her theory was correct.

"Would you like me to show you?" She asked. Both Elena and Damon looked at her with shock.

"How the hell can you do that?" Damon asked dubiously. Phoebe turned and grinned at him.

"Premonitions work both ways, Damon. I can receive them, and I can also project them."

Damon looked sceptical.

"What do I have to do?" Elena asked, sounding very interested. Damon choked on his spit.

"You can't be serious?" He exclaimed. Elena smirked at the back of his head.

"What's the matter, Damon? Afraid I might see something you want kept secret?" She teased. Damon scoffed.

"And what exactly would I have to hide back then?" Phoebe turned their attention back to her.

"All you need to do is hold my hand and close your eyes. I'll do the rest." She explained. Phoebe looked over at Damon, who was looking uncomfortable. "You're welcome to see this too, Damon. If you want to." Damon pulled over, and glanced down at Phoebe's outstretched hand. Elena had almost immediately grabbed the witch's hand and was waiting impatiently for Damon to make up his mind. Reluctantly, Damon took Phoebe's hand in his and both teen and vampire closed their eyes. There was a warm, tingling sensation in their hands as Phoebe started channelling, going back into her past.

"Wow, this is weird…" Elena muttered.

Phoebe smiled.

"Now, I want you both to picture a boat deck. It's night time; all the stars are out and the air is cold and crisp." It didn't take long for Damon to identify what Phoebe was talking about, because he had lived it once before. But it took Elena by surprise. The feisty teenager suddenly glimpsed the image of an impressive boat deck circa the early 20th Century. It was an eerie sensation.

"Wow! Am I actually seeing the Titanic right now?" Elena exclaimed, rhetorically. Then suddenly, she recognised somebody very familiar. "Woah, Damon. I didn't know you had long hair back then." Damon grumbled and frowned with embarrassment, but said nothing. Past-Damon was talking to a girl whom Elena believed to be Phoebe's great-great Aunt Primrose. The resemblance to Phoebe was freaky, and she gave a cry of shock when she realised what Primrose had intended to do. "Committing suicide? Really?" Elena was taken aback. "Isn't that a little extreme?" She demanded, sadly.

Damon fielded that question.

"If you knew the guy she was engaged to, you'd jump as well." Damon answered, still sounding bitter. Elena tensed when Primrose fell off the side of the ship, still clinging to Past-Damon's hand frantically, having had second thoughts against dyings, then gasped when Stefan made his appearance.

"Stefan…" Elena whispered.

"Yep, Steffie also officially met Phoebe here too." Damon explained matter-of-factly.

They both continued watching up until the brothers pulled Primrose back over the railing before Phoebe broke the connection and sat back to observe their reactions; she wasn't disappointed. Damon studied Phoebe curiously, remembering that night well and thanking every entity that existed for putting forward the suggestion to Primrose to make an attempt to end her life. It lead both of them to this moment. He gave Phoebe a look of open adoration and thankfulness; a look Phoebe returned. Elena glanced between them noticing their genuine looks of love, and immediately felt like she was being a bit voyeuristic. But at the same time, she realised just how much she wanted that and more from Stefan; and decided to give her boyfriend a second chance AFTER he gave her an explanation regarding Katherine.

"Did you see what you needed to see, honey?" Phoebe asked Elena as Damon resumed driving, returning his thoughts back to Emily's grimoire and how he was going to locate and collect it. Elena nodded, but then turned her attention back to Damon.

"Why did you bring me with you and Phoebe?" She asked him. Damon sighed and glanced at her through the rear-view mirror.

"Well, you're not the worst company in the world, Elena." He reminded her. "You should give yourself more credit!" Elena made a face.

"Seriously?" Damon grinned.

"You were there in the road, all damsel-in-distress-like." He explained, then grinned devilishly. "And, I knew it would piss off Stefan." Elena was about to retort, when she realised he was teasing her and smiled.

"I used to be more fun." She admitted. Both Phoebe and Damon nodded.

"You did okay." Damon insisted.

"And you still can be. It just takes a bit to get back into the swing of things." Phoebe agreed. Elena nodded.

"And I saved your life!" Elena reminded Damon. Phoebe objected to that.

"I think you mean we saved his life." Damon was grateful.

"I know."

Salvatore Boarding House
Night

Damon dropped Phoebe back at the Gilbert's house before driving Elena to the Boarding House to face the music with Stefan. He had invited Phoebe for a nightcap, but the witch politely declined; citing an interest in catching up on her sleep. A little disappointed, but understanding; Damon didn't argue. But he did enjoy the look of utter nervousness on Elena's face when he parked in the Boarding House garage, and decided not to wish Elena luck. Where's the fun in that? He thought with amusement as they walked up the staircase. Damon casually abandoned her with a careless wave as he meandered in the direction of his own room, while Elena made her way towards Stefan's room. Knocking politely, she walked right in to finally confront him face-to-face about Katherine.

"Hi." Elena greeted her boyfriend, dully.

"Hi." Stefan replied. He looked nervous. Good… Elena sized him up and crossed her arms, not moving any closer to him until she had heard what she needed to hear from him.

"You could have told me." Elena pointed out, bluntly. Stefan nodded, maintaining the distance Elena was setting between them and smiling nervously at her.

"I wanted to tell you." He answered truthfully. Elena frowned at him.

"You said no more lies. Only the truth." She accused him. "I can handle the truth, Stefan. As crazy as it is, I can handle the fact that you are a vampire. And that you have a vampire brother. And that my best friend is a witch – something that you can relate to – and I can accept that the world is a much more mysterious place than I ever thought possible." Elena glared at Stefan, causing him to wince at the ferocity of the look. "But this… this lie. I cannot take." Elena started pacing, and walked over to sit on Stefan's bed, sighing. "What am I to you? Who am I to you?" She demanded.

"You are not Katherine." Stefan told Elena firmly. "You are the opposite of everything that she was." Elena eyed him dubiously.

"And when did you figure that out?" She asked. "Before you kissed me? Before we slept together?" Stefan shook his head.

"Before I met you." Elena was taken aback. This was the very last thing she expected to come from Stefan's mouth.

"What?"

"The first day of school; when we met. It wasn't for the first time, Elena." Stefan explained firmly. Elena stood up from her perch on Stefan's bed.

"Then when was it?"

"May 23, 2009." Stefan admitted reluctantly. Elena froze, her eyes widened when she recognised that date.

"But that was…"

"That was the day your parents' car went off the bridge." Stefan confirmed. Elena was shocked.

"You were there?" Stefan nodded solemnly.

"Every couple of years, I come back here to see Zach and see my home." He explained. "Last spring, I was out in the woods, by old Wickery Bridge. And I heard the accident. All of it." Elena covered her mouth her hand, unable to speak. "I was fast getting there, but not fast enough. The car was already submerged." Stefan paused, letting his mind drift back to that terrible night. "Your dad was still … he was still conscious. I was able to get to him, but he wouldn't let me help him until I helped you." Elena was in tears.

"Oh my God." She gasped. "When I woke up in the hospital, nobody could work out how I got out of the car. They said it was a miracle." Stefan nodded sadly.

"I went back for them. But it was too late, I couldn't…. I couldn't save them. When I pulled you out, I looked at your face." Stefan remembered the genuine shock and surprise he experienced when he registered Elena's face. "You looked like Katherine, I couldn't believe the resemblance. After that, I spent months making sure that you weren't her." Elena nodded. "I watched you. I learned everything that I could about you. And I saw that you were nothing like Katherine. And I wanted to leave town." Stefan looked Elena in the eyes. "But Elena, I couldn't. I couldn't leave without knowing you. I'm so sorry that I didn't tell you. I wanted to, but you were so sad." That was all well and good for Elena, but it still didn't answer Elena's first and foremost question:

"Why do I look like her?" Elena demanded. Stefan gave a martyred sigh.

"Elena, you've been through so much."

"Why do I look like her, Stefan?" Elena insisted, firmly. "What are you not telling me?" Stefan shrugged, just as confused as Elena was.

"It didn't make any sense to me. You were a Gilbert. She was a Pierce. But the resemblance was too similar. And then I learned the truth." This was where Stefan really hesitated. The knowledge he was about to tell Elena would either crush her, give her some relief or a combination of the two. He decided to take the plunge. "You were adopted, Elena." Stefan finally admitted.

Mystic Falls Library
Night

Jeremy sat on the floor of the library, surrounded by books, looking up the information he needed for his extra credit report for Alaric. Suddenly, Anna appears and approaches him with a folder.

"There you are." Jeremy looks up from a book and gives her a smile.

"Hey."

"Hi." She replies almost dismissively. "Okay, look. I know I don't know you, so don't ask me why I did this." Anna explains to a slightly confused Jeremy. "I just, sometimes…mostly all the time – I need to be right." Jeremy nodded uncertainly, indicating for Anna to continue. "So I googled and…" She thrusts a folder at Jeremy who takes it.

"What is it?" Anna sighed.

"Proof. Sort of." She explains. Jeremy starts looking through it. The folder contains printed-out articles from the Mystic Falls Courier newspaper. Some of the articles read sinister headlines like: 'Another Animal Attack – Second attack in two weeks lead to closings and cancelations' and 'Campers found mauled – Animal attack suspected in recent deaths.' He looked up at Anna.

"What does this mean?" He asked. Anna took the folder back and spread out the contents on the floor so the both of them could see it more clearly.

"Well, I only went back as far as 1942, and found that there's been a string of animal attacks periodically in and around this town for the past seventy-five years." She tells him. "It's consistent. In '62, five bodies were found. In '53, four people killed. In '74, three people dead. And there's been five this year." Jeremy's face clouded over. "All attacked. All suffered major blood loss, as in drained of blood."

Salvatore Boarding House
Night

Elena was still reeling from the information Stefan had just told her about being adopted. Both she and Stefan were sitting together on one of the red sofas in the Salvatore's parlour, with Stefan questioning whether or not he should've told Elena this news in a more delicate way. But then realised that no way was going to make Elena feel any less shaken than she looked right now. Elena turned to Stefan with large, sorrowful eyes.

"How do you know all this?"

"Your birth certificate from the city records." Stefan explained. "It says Elena Gilbert, Mystic Falls General. But there's no record of your mother ever being admitted. There's no record of her ever being pregnant." Elena nodded, liking this less and less.

"What else do you know?" She whispered. Stefan shook his head.

"For me to go any further, I would've had to look into the Pierce family, and I couldn't do that. It's too much of a risk." He told Elena, firmly. She nodded. "If someone found out I was asking about Katherine…" Stefan cut himself, off mentally shuddering at the possible consequences of such a phenomenon occurring. He turns and takes Elena by her shoulders gently. "Listen to me, it doesn't matter. You are the woman that I love." Elena's face brightened at his words. "I love you." Stefan admits and submits to Elena's kiss before he cradles her in his arms as she cries.

However, Elena had a bone to pick with her aunt the second she got home.

Gilbert Residence
Night

The second Phoebe stepped through the threshold of the Gilbert household, she was hit with tension so thick she could cut it with a knife… and all of it coming from a very stressed out and extremely agitated Jenna. Phoebe's aim was to head upstairs to the safety of the guestroom, and away from the firing lines…

"Elena?"

But it became clear that this was not going to be possible. Phoebe swore quietly to herself before heading back down the staircase, and pasting on a hopefully innocent, relaxed and calm expression on her face as Jenna came into the hallway, looking for all intents and purposes, out for blood; not an entirely inappropriate action, considering the town they were living in. Phoebe winced as a wave of anger hit her straight in the face.

"Nope, just me." Phoebe called out. Jenna's face softened slightly the moment she clapped eyes on Phoebe.

"Oh, Phoebe. Sorry, I thought that you were Elena." Phoebe smiled.

"Easy mistake. Something wrong?" She inquired, even though she already knew. Jenna's face instantly hardened again.

"Oh, you don't know the half of it." Oh, I bet I do… Phoebe thought, but forced her face to remain calm and neutral. "Elena skipped town today. Didn't bother to call me and tell me why, or why she wasn't in school like she was supposed to be." Phoebe gave a pained smile.

"Did she now?" She wanted to be anywhere but here, but she suspected correctly that Jenna probably wanted Phoebe to stick around as back up for the impending parenting that was about to happen. Little did both women know that the shit was about to hit the fan, big time. And it had nothing to do with Elena's truancy and that she had skipped town.

Minutes later, Phoebe was stuck sitting in an armchair nursing a glass of red; and trying to figure out a polite way of getting out of this situation about to erupt before her eyes. Jenna was sitting on the sofa, flipping furiously though the pages of a magazine; not really looking or taking the content in, when the front door opens and closes. Elena walks in and immediately claps eyes on Phoebe. Elena's eyebrow rises in question, before she notices her aunt sitting on the couch, then a thunderous look creeps across her otherwise lovely face, and Phoebe knew something was wrong. What is this? Phoebe couldn't help but wonder as Jenna fixes Elena with a stony glare, oblivious to Elena's obvious anger.

"I don't set a lot of rules, Elena. Not with you." Jenna began her 'lecture' as Elena's eyes narrowed, ringing alarm bells in Phoebe's head. "I trust you to tell me the truth. Where were you? Why would you lie to me about it? I thought that we were closer than that?" Jenna demanded.

Elena scoffed in disbelief.

"Now is not the time you want to talk to me about lies." Jenna's eyes narrowed angrily as Elena turns and walks away towards the stairs.

"Don't do that. Don't turn this back on me, I didn't do anything!" Jenna warned her, following her to the staircase as Phoebe followed both women warily. Halfway to her room, Elena turns on Jenna.

"Okay… Question: am I adopted?" The anger on Jenna's face evaporates faster than water in the Sahara desert and she suddenly looks scared. Phoebe's face reacts with shock. What exactly did Stefan tell her while she was alone with her tonight? "I trust you to tell me the truth too, Jenna. "How could you not tell me? I thought we were closer than that." Elena demanded, sounding betrayed.

Jenna can't meet Elena's eyes.

"Elena, I don't… they asked me not to." Phoebe winced. That was clearly a very wrong thing to say to somebody obviously coming to grips with the fact that the man and woman that raised her and called her their daughter, weren't in fact her real parents. Elena's face closed off immediately.

"I don't want to hear it!" She screamed and continued down the corridor to her room, slamming it behind her which made the walls shake from the impact. Jenna looked at Phoebe helplessly, but the psychic witch wisely chose to stay out of it. This was a family matter, people outside of the family had no business knowing. Phoebe merely gave Jenna a sympathetic smile before bidding her goodnight and retreating to the safety and privacy of the guestroom.

Phoebe pulled out her phone and began a new text:

'Just found out an interesting twist in the Katherine/Elena saga, Damon. Poor Elena is devastated.' – P :'(

Mystic Grill
Night

While Elena's personal brand of 'hell' descended in the Gilbert house, Alaric was at the Mystic Grill; sitting up at the bar, drinking bourbon. The history teacher and amateur vampire slayer was brooding; trapped within a distant memory that seemed to be causing him pain. Damon enters, and swaggers up to the counter, sitting two seats down from Alaric who takes notice of him and turns in his direction. Both Damon and Alaric make brief eye contact with each other. Damon is the first to break contact and turns to the bartender.

"Bourbon." He orders succinctly. Alaric studies Damon intently, as the vampire takes his first mouthful of bourbon, seemingly ignoring Alaric staring at him. He lets his mind drift and Alaric remembers seeing his wife, a woman looking vaguely similar to Elena and Katherine called Isobel, lying in her bed. He had been getting ready to leave. Isobel had smiled at her husband.

"I love you." She had said. Alaric returns the loving gaze and leans over to kiss her tenderly.

"I'm going to be late tonight." He tells Isobel.

The memories shifted once again to one of Alaric's most painful recollections: that same night, Alaric returned home; expecting to find Isobel exactly where he had left her, asleep in their bed. Instead, he finds a then unknown vampire, standing with his back to Alaric and holding Isobel in his arms, drinking her blood. Alaric starts when he realises that that same vampire he had seen murdering his wife, was sitting two seats from him drinking bourbon and pausing to check a text message he had just received. He sets down his drink on the bar, trembling.

Damon frowns down at the text message he had just received from Phoebe; wondering what shit storm Stefan had created; since his baby bro was the last person Elena had seen and talked to before she had gone home and caused Phoebe to send him this disturbing message. Damon's thumb practically flew across the keys in his haste to respond:

'How intriguing. Do tell?' – D.

Gilbert Residence
Night

Across town, Phoebe hesitated. She was definitely sure that Elena would be less than impressed if Phoebe had suddenly revealed her 'dirty laundry' to other people; god forbid even Damon Salvatore. But, Phoebe could sense that Damon was – slowly and but surely – attempting to turn over a new leaf, despite his somewhat obsessive attempts to gain access to an old tomb underneath the ruins of the Old Fell Church. She knew that if she persuaded him, Damon would keep Elena's unfortunate discovery a secret; lest he suffer Phoebe's wrath otherwise. Hope I don't regret this… Phoebe reluctantly text a response back to Damon:

'Come 'round tomorrow. I'll tell you then.' – P.

Damon's reply came back instantly.

'Can't get enough of me, huh?' – D ;)

Phoebe rolled her eyes, and moved to turn off her phone when it dinged again.

'I'll see you then.' – D.

Phoebe sighed, shaking her head.

'Night, Damon.' – P.

Gilbert Residence
Day

True to form, Damon was extremely prompt and arrived at the Gilbert's house ready to hear this so-called 'fun fact' about Elena. Unfortunately, Stefan picked the exact same time to visit Elena as well, so Damon had to sneak in to avoid being detected by his judgmental brother. Damon came across the tree that was directly across from the Gilbert's guest bedroom window, and after glancing around for anybody who could be observing him at that moment, Damon expertly scaled the wall and perched on the window ceil of the open window. He found Phoebe sitting cross-legged on the bed typing away at her laptop, seemingly engrossed with what she was doing. Amused, he took in the view: Phoebe had obviously opted for a lazy sort of day, because she was dressed in black yoga pants, a Guns 'n Roses T-shirt and socks. Her normally curly brown hair had been freshly straightened and was tied back into a sloppy ponytail; and Damon noticed a pencil had been wedged in her hair and she was wearing reading glasses.

"Knock knock?" Damon drawled casually, causing Phoebe to jump ten feet into the air.

"Christ, Damon! A little warning next time." The witch scowled disapprovingly at the chuckling vampire who stepped into the room and came over, lounging casually next to Phoebe and peering curiously at the laptop screen.

"What are you doing?" Damon asked, curiously.

"My job. I'm the advice columnist for The Bay Mirror in San Francisco. This is today's entry." Phoebe explained distractedly as she scanned what she had already written and edited her work. Damon raised an eyebrow. Then promptly closed the laptop lid firmly. "Hey! What are you doing? I'm on a deadline, Damon!" Phoebe protested. Damon rolled his eyes.

"Yeah, well, 'Bored in Berkeley' can wait a few minutes while you tell me this 'interesting twist' you described to me last night about Elena." Damon retorted, but not unkindly. "So spill, I've got shit to do today." Phoebe scowled at him.

"Well, excuse me." Phoebe bit back, before sighing. "In a nutshell, apparently, Elena was adopted." Damon's eyebrows disappeared into his hair.

"Well, shit. Didn't see that one coming." Damon muttered, sitting up and giving Phoebe his complete attention. "I take it that she didn't take being lied to very well?" Damon guessed. Phoebe smirked.

"You tell me. You've lied to her, and not to mention the rest of us before. How do you think she'd take it?" Phoebe stated. Damon nodded thoughtfully.

"Well, it's out in the open now. I suppose that's what Stefan's doing here at the moment. Discussing Elena's adoption." Phoebe nodded.

"Yep." She opened up her laptop, momentarily pleased she had thought to save before Damon had unceremoniously closed the lid and put the laptop into automatic sleep mode. Damon took the hint.

"Well if that's all you've got for me. I'll talk to you soon." Phoebe nodded absently, lost in her train of thought. Damon was almost at the window, when he without warning paused and went back to Phoebe's side and planted a wet kiss on her cheek; catching the witch off guard and breaking her train of thought. Phoebe cupped her cheek and stared at Damon in confusion.

"What was that for?" She asked him. Damon smirked.

"I wanted to." He replied carelessly. "I also wanted to give you this, I kept forgetting to give it to you." Damon produced a necklace from the pocket of his jeans and dangled it in front of Phoebe's face. It was noted by the witch that Damon was holding the chain of the necklace with a handkerchief. Phoebe paused and stared wide-eyed at the necklace itself: it was silver, very intricate, very Wiccan and also very familiar.

"The triquetra?" She looked up at Damon questioningly.

"Is that what it's called?" Damon asked looking blank. "Well, you learn something new every day."

"Where did you get this?" Damon achieved the impossible; he actually looked genuinely modest for once.

"After I got over being mad at you when you came back that day – it literally took me a day and a half – I did some research about the Charmed Ones and stumbled upon that weird symbol." He pointed at the triquetra dangling from the chain in Phoebe's hand. "Didn't have a clue what the hell it was supposed to mean, let alone represent, and didn't really care, but I knew that it had some sort of connection to you so I had a necklace specially made for you and coated it in a layer of vervain."

Phoebe was almost speechless.

"This is my family's crest. It literally symbolises the Power of Three." She explained. "It represents the Triple Goddess: Maiden, Mother and Crone." Damon looked less than interested in the history Phoebe was describing to him. But he was pleased that Phoebe seemed to so eagerly accept his gift of devotion and protection.

"I'm just glad you like it, Phoebe." Damon stated. Then Phoebe frowned.

"Hang on, did you say you coated it in vervain?" He nodded, but he didn't say more. "See ya around, gorgeous." He promised before disappearing out of the window and out of sight. Phoebe gave a bemused smile as she examines her new necklace before tying it around her neck, shaking her head with fond exasperation and resuming her work.

Elena's Room
Night

Meanwhile, in Elena's room, hours after Damon's visit to Phoebe; Stefan and Elena were lounging around on her bed, recapping the events of the previous night. Including when Elena had run over that vampire in her car.

"Stefan, who was that man in the road?" Elena asked Stefan, who frowned.

"I don't know. Do you remember anything else about him?" Elena shuddered, but tried to remember that event while at the same time suppressing her fear.

"I wish. I never really saw his face. He was wearing a hoodie." Elena admitted. "All I can remember is that there was these black boots coming towards me." Stefan tightened his grip around Elena's shoulder and pulled her closer, wishing that he had been there to both protect her and ID the unknown vampire. They were silent for several minutes.

"I brought some vervain for, um – for you and Jenna." Stefan announced as he reached over and grabbed a box from the end of Elena's bed. Curiously, Elena sits up and watches Stefan open the box up. He smiles shyly at his girlfriend, who raises an eyebrow in amusement. It was slightly strange to see a highly dangerous vampire acting so coy and vulnerable, and not his usual way. "And, um…" Stefan produces a very masculine bracelet and gives it to Elena who takes it and examines it. "I made this bracelet for Jeremy, few extra ones for friends." Elena smiles gratefully. "You can put it in jewellery, or you can even put it in food or drink, but as long as it's in you or on you, a vampire cannot control you." Stefan instructs. He then passes Elena small vial of liquid vervain, while Elena also picks up a bunch of dried up vervain from the same box.

"Wow, there's so much to remember." Elena complained. But Stefan remained adamant.

"I know, but there's another vampire in town. So until we find out who it is and what he wants, we have to be careful." Elena nodded understandingly. The young couple and Phoebe had no idea that the situation with the unknown vampire was about to get worse and even more dangerous. Downstairs, Jeremy was lost in his own little world, sketching at the dining room table. The doorbells rings, annoying Jeremy a little as he gets up to answer the door. It's a pizza delivery guy, who waits on the front porch; hood up which obscured his face and holding a bag with a hot pizza in his hands.

"Hey man." The guy, whose name was Noah, greets Jeremy with a pleasant smile, but a crafty intent in his eyes that Jeremy fails to notice. "It's gonna be $22 bucks." He tells the teenager while pulling the pizza out of the bag. Jeremy nods absently and turns to yell up the stairs to where Elena, Stefan and Phoebe were.

"Elena, I need the money!" He turns back to Noah. "Uh, here. Come in." Jeremy opens the door wider and walks down the hallway back to the dining room. "Just put it on the table." Jeremy disappears back into the dining room, and Noah pauses for a moment before deliberately stepping through the threshold of the house, and places the pizza on the table. Noah eyes Elena coming downstairs, and grins sinisterly from underneath his hood.

Elena retrieved the cash from her wallet.

"Hi, um, keep the change." She hands the money to Noah who takes it and walks backwards out of the house.

"Thanks. And you have yourself a good night." He tells her and Elena smiles at him before closing the door behind him. Noah turns around and pulls down the hood from his head. He is the vampire that Elena had run over with her car two nights before; and what was worse, was the fact that he had been unknowingly given an all access pass to the Gilbert household.

Salvatore Boarding House
Day

Damon is downstairs in the Salvatore's private library. Books had been strewn haphazardly all around the room, as Damon sorts through books and discards the ones he doesn't need. This is what Stefan sees when he walks into the library.

"What are you lookin' for, Damon?" Stefan asks mildly, hiding the anger he was feeling towards his older brother about recent events.

"Not your concern." Damon replies without looking at him, and continuing to sort through books. Stefan's temper rises.

"No, but putting Elena and Phoebe in harm's way; that is my concern." He retorts, and Damon bristles inwardly that Stefan fully believed that he would deliberately put Phoebe into harm's way. Damon picked up a book and started flipping through it.

"Hm hm. What are you talking about?" Stefan just barely keeps his temper at that point.

"I'm talking about Atlanta." Damon looks up casually from his book and at Stefan, and smiles pleasantly.

"Oh, yeah. The three of us had a blast." Damon smirks. Stefan continues his accusations.

"I get it. You're just bitter because one of us gets to be with the person that we love, and Phoebe is still resisting your advances to get together again." Damon eyes Stefan in annoyance and suspicion where was he going with this. Those figures were yesterday's news. "And as for Katherine? Well, she's just out of reach. Unless there's another way for you to get into that tomb. Is that what Bree said?" Stefan fished.

Damon rolled his eyes and scoffed.

"You're pathetic when you're fishing." Damon stated, not even remotely fazed by Stefan's childish taunting about their love lives; successful or otherwise. Stefan did not smile at his small triumph.

"And you're transparent when you're deflecting." He pointed out. Damon eyes Stefan, and points out:

"Don't you have school?" Damon grabs another book off the shelf, as Stefan walks out of the room not seeing Damon watching him leave.

Mystic Falls High School
Day

It was the end of class and Jeremy was taking his time packing away his stuff. A paper is thrown down on his desk by Alaric, who waits to see Jeremy's reaction to a large red 'A' he had marked on Jeremy's work. He was very proud of how much effort the young Gilbert boy had put into his extra-curricular essay. Jeremy grinned, stunned by the grade.

"Surprised?" Jeremy glanced up at Alaric, who was slouched on the desk opposite with his arms crossed casually over his broad chest. "It's a good essay. Your thoughts are clear, and your argument is well laid out. It's just, uh, you don't actually believe that there are vampires in Mystic Falls, do you?" Alaric walked back over to his desk and sat down behind it. Jeremy shrugged.

"No I mean, I think statistically there's been more and more animal attacks, mysterious deaths, uh, people gone missing; more so than any other place in the whole commonwealth of Virginia." Jeremy explained. Alaric nodded, understanding Jeremy's logical reasoning. It was obvious the boy had put a lot of thought into the subject. Still…

"It's conjecture, but it's also creative. Which is why you got the 'A'. I just wouldn't get too, uh, caught up in the whole conspiracy of it all." Alaric warned him. Jeremy scoffed, slightly amused by the idea.

"Ah, I won't." He reassures his teacher. He gathered up his things, gets up and leaves the classroom. Jeremy was almost out the door when something else occurred to Alaric.

"The source that you cited for the 1860s info, uh, Johnathan Gilbert…?" Alaric queried, quizzically. Jeremy stopped and looked back at him.

"My ancestor's journal?"

"I'd really like to see that sometime." Alaric asked, looking like a kid in a candy store. Jeremy raised an eyebrow.

"Really?" He asked, incredulously. Alaric nodded enthusiastically.

"A first person account of the Civil War? That like porn for a history teacher." He explained to an amused Jeremy who digs around in his backpack and retrieves Johnathan Gilbert's journal.

"If you think my essay's creative, wait till you get a loud of this thing." He told him, tossing the journal casually onto Alaric's desk. Alaric picked up the book carefully because of its age.

"Thank you." He told Jeremy sincerely. Jeremy smiles and nods before turning and disappearing to his next class. Alaric turns the book around and around his hands before unbinding it and thumbing through the pages curiously.

Mystic Falls High
Front Courtyard
Day

Following Stefan's advice, Elena promptly started handing out the vervain laced accessories to her friends. She and Caroline were walking across the front courtyard lawn, and Caroline was observing the necklace Elena had just given her.

"It's so pretty." Caroline gushed. "Thank you. God, it'll go with like, everything." Then she looked at Elena curiously. "What's the occasion?" She asked. Elena shrugged like it was nothing.

"No occasion. Just a little friend gift." She replied, dismissively. Both girls sit down at a table.

"Lesbian friend necklace? 'Cause we're freaky like that?" Caroline teased Elena, winking sarcastically. Elena gave her a warm, disarming smile.

"Your friendship is important to me." Elena insisted. Caroline's smile faded slightly.

"Why are you being so mushy?" Elena sighed.

"Because you've been avoiding me, and I wanted you to know that whatever is going on with you and Matt, it's okay." Caroline bit her bottom lip, looking slightly guilty.

"I was gonna talk to you about that." Caroline confessed. "I was, but there's just not much to say. You know, we've hung out a couple times. That's it, but … I feel like we've peaked as friends." Elena nodded, encouraging her to go on. "This is weird. I shouldn't be talking to you about this." Caroline frowned. "It's weird. It's weird, right?" Elena considered this before nodding uncomfortably.

"It's a little weird, but…" She laughs. "If it's what you and Matt want, then it's not about me." Elena decided. Caroline disagreed.

"But it's all about you." She insisted. "Matt's not over you, and we all know it." Elena shook her head, firmly.

"I'm with Stefan now. Matt understands that. He knows he has to move on." She unwraps her sandwich and Caroline looks at her, unconvinced.

Mystic Grill
Late afternoon

Phoebe made her way into town, intending on running a few errands and just generally taking a long walk to keep her mind off her troubled thoughts. She couldn't deny it to herself, that despite craving a world without demons, she hadn't counted on being bored half the time. The crazy part was that she actually missed it when demons, warlocks and the like made attempts on her life, her sisters' lives or the occasional unfortunate innocent. Granted, Elena was now being targeted by an unknown vampire that neither Stefan nor Damon knew about. Which meant that Phoebe had the perfect opportunity to do some research into who the jackass was, but no further attempt on her life had been made; so Phoebe had no choice but find some other way to amuse herself.

Eventually, Phoebe made her way into the Mystic Grill seeking a bite to eat before heading back to the Gilberts. She was halfway through her burger and fries when the door opened admitting Elena and Bonnie who waved at her when they noticed her, and a few minutes later Matt Donovan; whom Phoebe noticed was understandably a little more quiet and withdrawn since Vicky's 'departure' from Mystic Falls. Wincing sympathetically at the melancholy feelings she could sense coming from the blonde jock, she couldn't help but eavesdrop on the conversation he and the cute waiter, Ben, started up the second Matt sat at the bar.

"Matt Donovan." The blonde glanced up at Ben, curiously. "What do you know?" Ben observed, smiling pleasantly at him. Matt returned the smile, and reached out to shake Ben's hand.

"Ben McKittrick. What's up, man?" Matt greeted him. Ben nodded, as Matt requested a job application and handed it to him wordlessly. He retreated momentarily to give Matt some breathing space to fill out the form. A few minutes later, Ben walked back over and placed down a tray of glasses.

"Rough season, bud." Ben attempted to strike up a conversation with Matt, who shrugged as he glanced up at the older boy.

"Yeah, it's kind of hard to recover when you have to forfeit half your games." Matt stated. Phoebe noted the annoyance in his tone as he admitted this fact. Matt passes the completed job application to Ben, who took it and raised an eyebrow.

"You gonna be workin' here?" Ben questioned. Matt ignored the obvious retort.

"Yep, followin' in your footsteps, minus the state championship." He replied, dryly. Phoebe nodded, not altogether surprised that Ben and Matt knew each other. She had a feeling that they were close to age.

"Well, we can't all be Football Gods." Ben shrugged. Matt looked defeated, and Phoebe frowned.

"Yeah." If Ben noticed Matt's pain, he didn't say anything.

"So what's the plan? Cook line?" He asked, curiously. Matt shook his head.

"Busboy." He mumbled.

Phoebe decided now was as good a time as any to leave. She finished off her last mouthful of her soda before getting to her feet and headed for the bathroom. She caught the tail-end of the conversation between Elena and Bonnie, and realised that both girls were discussing Elena's newfound adoption status.

"I can't believe you're adopted." Bonnie was saying. "I never saw that coming." Phoebe agreed with her sister witch. It wasn't something any of them expected, considering how much Elena and Jeremy resembled each other, and cousins – which was essentially what they were to each other now – didn't usually look anything like the other.

Elena nodded.

"It gets weirder. I looked at my birth certificate." Elena stated. "It lists Miranda and Grayson Gilbert as my birthparents. None of it makes any sense." She sounded frustrated.

"Which is why you should ask Jenna." Bonnie insisted. Phoebe stepped into the bathroom, as Elena groaned at the idea. She emerged minutes later, and nearly collided with Elena as both of them headed out of the front doors.

"Whoops! Sorry, Elena. How was school?" Phoebe greeted the younger girl, who looked a little awkward.

"It had its moments. Can I drop you off anywhere?" Elena asked her. Phoebe looked thoughtful.

"I was just on my way home." Phoebe stated. Elena frowned, noting that Phoebe actually looked a little bored.

"I need some help buying some accessories for the Decade Dance at school, do you wanna come with?" She asked. Phoebe smiled.

"Sure, why not?" She agreed, and Elena returned the smile linking arms with Phoebe. Both of them made their way through the parking lot towards Elena's car when Elena's cell phone started ringing.

"Who is it?" Phoebe asked curiously. Elena frowned at caller ID, before answering the phone and holding it up to her ear.

"Hello?" She answered, as she and Phoebe continued walking to her car.

"Hello, Elena." An unfamiliar male's voice responded.

"Hey, who's this?" Elena replied, retrieving her keys. Phoebe's own phone buzzed, and she glanced down to see she had a text message from Damon. Smiling, Phoebe hit reply, and was texting something back when she was suddenly hit by a wave of panic. She immediately glanced up and saw a wide-eyed Elena gaping at the driver's side window.

"What's wrong?" Phoebe questioned, urgently. Elena didn't reply, instead turning on the spot to glance behind her. Phoebe looked up and noticed a man dressed in jeans and a hoodie walking slowly towards her. Her eyes narrowed, immediately getting bad vibes from him. "Get in the car, Elena. Quickly!" Phoebe stated firmly. Elena didn't waste time as she hung up and quickly unlocked the doors, and gets in. Phoebe follows suit and buckles up as Elena ignites the engine, reverses and speeds off down the road; narrowly avoiding hitting the hooded stranger.

"Oh, my God!" Elena breathed, white-knuckling the steering wheel. Phoebe glanced at the teenager with concern.

"You're alright, sweetheart. Just breathe." Phoebe ordered her, and Elena relaxed; but only a little. "We need to tell Stefan this." She tells the scared girl. Elena nodded and immediately changed course, heading for the Boarding House.

A/N: There we are. I broke hiatus. Hope that you've enjoyed reading this chapter. Please review with your thoughts. The next chapter will be up soon. TTFN xx