Disclaimer: I don't own The Vampire Diaries! If I did it would be hell of lot more gay.
Remember that in the rest of the story Alex will go by Elena!
I also wanted to thank everyone who reviewed, I mean holy crap guys, you are awesome. And as a thank you for everyones support you get this chapter a day early :)I love all of you 3
The next evening Elena had asked Stefan to come over so she could tell Jenna about vampires and Jeremy about her being adopted. The talk about vampires went fine, if you don't count Jenna not believing her and Jeremy at first and then her freak out at Stefans vampiric face when Elena told him to show her some proof.
Telling Jeremy she was adopted went a lot better than she thought it would. Jeremy had hugged her and promised that she was his sister no matter what and that he loved her. If Elena had cried a little at that the others were kind enough not to say anything.
"So, vampires are real." Jenna muttered for the fifth time. "And one is sitting at my dining table right now."
"You okay, aunt Jenna?" Jeremy asked carefully.
"Yeah, I'll be fine, just need to prosses right now." Jenna nodded. "You can talk about whatever you want and I'll pipe in if I have questions or something."
"I wonder who the man in the road was." Elena wondered after a few minutes.
"I don't know." Stefan said with a shrug. "Do you remember anything else about him?"
"I wish." Elena muttered. "I never saw his face; he was wearing a hoddie. All I can remember was these black boots coming towards me."
"I got you some vervain." Stefan pulled out a wooden box. "I know you already have an armband and that you gave Jeremy a ring and Jenna a necklace but you can also put vervain in food, that way if you ever lose your armband you don't have to worry if you somehow lose it."
"What is vervain?" Jenna asked. "And what do you mean Elena gave me a necklace with it?"
"Vervain is an herb that prevents vampires from compelling you, which is basically a form of mind control." Stefan explained patiently. "And Elena put some vervain in your necklace to keep you safe."
"Thank you." Jenna smiled at Elena.
"You are very welcome." Elena smiled softly, then she turned towards Stefan. "Thank you for all off this."
"I just want you all to be safe." If Stefan was human or full of human blood, he would be blushing but one of the only perks of drinking animal blood was that he seldom had the ability to blush. "There's another vampire in town and until we know who it is and what he wants, we have to be careful."
The doorbell rang and Jeremy offered to go get it so Stefan and Elena could keep explaining to Jenna.
"Hey, that'll be $22." The pizza deliverer said as he pulled out the pizza from the bag.
"Oh, right, just come in and I'll go and get the money from the kitchen." Jeremy told the man as he walked towards the kitchen. He didn't notice the smirk on the mans face or even register that he had said the two words that shouldn't be said 'Come in'.
"Hi," Elena smiled brightly as she came to pay for the pizza. She held out $40 and said, "Keep the change."
"Thanks." The man smiled at her. "And you have yourself a good night."
"I wish you the same." Elena beamed as she closed the door.
XOXOXOX
The next day Elena and Caroline were walking in the front courtyard of the school while Elena filled Caroline in on everything that had been going on.
"So, wait," Caroline stopped walking and giggled. "You made out with this Bree woman, not once but twice?!"
"Yep." Elena smirked.
"Does that mean I can introduce you as my wife or my lesbian best friend now?" Caroline almost bounced in place.
"I'm not a lesbian though." Elena smiled.
"Darn." Caroline laughed.
"But you are allowed to introduce me as you 'Emotional Support Bitch' if you want." Elena joked with a laugh.
"Oh, I am definitely using that!" Caroline crowed.
"Anyway, how are things with you and Matt?" Elena smiled at her best friend. She really loved Caroline, she was such an amazing person and she hated how they treated her in the show.
"We've hung out a couple of times, that's it, but…" Caroline hesitated, then she took a deep breath and continued. "I just feel like we've peaked as friends. And I don't think Matt is over you."
"I have told Matt that I'm a different person since the accident and he'll just have to accept that." Elena told her. "He knows that he has to move on and who better with than you?"
"I'm so glad that you are my best friend." Caroline wrapped Elena in a hug. "I feel like I can talk to you about anything."
"On that point there is something I need to tell you." Elena sighed. "But I also need to tell Bonnie so could the three off us maybe meet up at the grill later today?"
"That works for me." Caroline smiled. "Care to give me hint?"
"It has to do with me and my parents." Elena hinted. "But it's not bad, not really."
Later that afternoon, Elena, Caroline and Bonnie was sitting at a table at the grill eating dinner as Elena tells them both about her being adopted.
"I can't believe that you are adopted." Bonnie muttered quietly. "I didn't see that coming."
"Not like it matters." Caroline shrugged. "You are still the same person and I, we, still love you."
"I love you guys too." Elena smiled at them. "But things get weirder. I looked at my birth certificate, it lists Miranda and Greyson Gilbert as my birthparents. None of it makes sense."
"But you said Jenna would tell you what you wanted to know when you were ready, right?" Caroline asked and Elena nodded her head.
"First of all, the Elena I know would always want the real truth, good and bad." Bonnie insisted.
"And second?" Elena asked with a small smile, she knew Bonnie was right about that one.
"You just found out that your male best friend is a vampire, so unless your birthparents are aliens… How bad could it be?" Bonnie looked at her.
"Unless her birthparents are veelas, like form Harry Potter." Caroline joked. "That would explain so much though."
"I don't know if that is a compliment or not." Elena laughed.
Caroline just wiggled her eyebrows with a smirk and stood up to walk over and talk to Matt.
"I'm going to have to go to the store." Elena sighed as she told Bonnie that. "My outfit for the dance is severely lacking in accessories."
"You do that." Bonnie chuckled. "I'll pay the bill."
"Thanks Bonnie." Elena smiled. "I'll pay next time."
Elena waved at Caroline and Matt as she walked out of the grill. As she walked towards her car her phone started to ring. She pulled her phone put of her bag, "Hello."
"Hello Elena." A male voice said from the other end.
"Hey, who is this?" Elena asked.
"You hit me with your car." The man told her and Elena froze. "Is that a new one?"
Elena started to look around her for the person she was talking to. She spotted the man in the hoddie approaching her from the other side of the parking lot.
"You got away from me last time." The man growled. "You won't next time."
Elena quickly got into Jenna's car, started the engine and sped off down the road, right past the man who watched her drive off with a smirk.
She quickly drove to the boarding house to talk to either Stefan or Damon about what happened. Luckily for her both Salvatore brothers were home and as she told them about the call she started to pace in the library.
"Why me?" Elena asked when she was done retelling her story, more annoyed than scared. "What does he want with me? And if he's trying to kill me, why call first?"
"We are predators, Elena." Stefan told her slowly. "We hunt, we stalk and it's often more exiting then the actual kill."
"Take this." Damon walked over to her and gave her Jeremys pocket watch/compass. "As you know this tracks vampire and this way you'll know if you are in danger."
"Thank you, Damon." Elena kissed him on the cheek, then she groaned as she saw the time. "Ugh, I better get home so I can shower before the dance."
"I'll pick you up at your place." Stefan smiled at her as she walked out.
When Elena walked in, she met Jenna who was dressed in a cute '50s outfit and cleaning the living room.
"Cute outfit, aunt Jenna." Elena complimented.
"Thank you." Jenna smiled. "By the way, I talked to the insurance company and your car is totaled. You can keep using mine until you have taken your test for the motorbike."
"Thank you, aunt Jenna." Elena smiled. "So, looking at your clothes I assume you're going to the dance?"
"Alaric asked me to help chaperone." Jenna smiled.
"Chaperone, huh." Elena smirked. "Back in my day we just called it a date."
"Funny." Jenna laughed and blushed.
"Hey aunt Jenna?" Elena asked hesitantly. "I think I'm ready to hear about everything now."
Jenna sighed and sat down with Elena on the couch. "Your dad was about to leave the office one night when a girl showed up. She was sixteen, a runaway and about ready to give birth." Jenna told her softly. "He delivered her baby and gave her a place to stay, but a few days later, she disappeared and there you were. Your parents were trying so hard to have a baby, but it just wasn't happening and all Miranda ever wanted was to be a mom."
"So, my biological mother just left me there?" Elena asked sadly. "With two unknown people who could be in a satanic cult for all she knew."
"Elena…" Jenna sighed.
"Whatever." Elena sniffed. "Why were my parents' name on the birth certificate?"
"Your dad was a doctor, Elena." Jenna said as if that explained everything and it did. "He took care of it. They didn't want to lose you, so they kept it quiet, told as few people as possible, but if anyone ever wanted proof, they had documentation."
"What else do you know about her?" Elena asked quietly. "The girl?"
"Just her name." Jenna smiled sadly. "Isobel."
XOXOXOX
Elena looked in the mirror as she put the finishing touches to her '50s hair style. She walked into the bathroom to put a few hairpins in and then some hairspray. She had left the vampire compass on the bed and sadly the sound of the needle starting to tick was muffled. When she was done with her hair, she walked over to her closet to retrieve a pink scarf that would work well with the rest of her outfit.
"Hey, Jenna? Jeremy?" Elena walked over to the door and stuck her head out in the hall. When she doesn't get an answer, she assumed that they had already left for the dance. That is when she finally heard the compass ticking.
Elena quickly walked over to it and picked it up and looked at the needle moving, indicating that there is a vampire close by. She dialed Stefans number as she walked out of her room and down the stairs.
"Stefan's phone." Came Damons voice on the other end. "How my I help you?"
"Where's Stefan?" Elena asked slightly worried.
"He's on his way to you." Damon told her. "He forgot his phone."
"Oh, thank God." Elena breathed out a sigh of relief. "The compass was spinning but it must just be picking up Stefan. Thanks Damon."
"You're welcome, Elena." Damon said as he hung up.
Just as Elena hung up the phone a man jumped down from the ceiling. Elena spun around and gasped and before she could react the man grabbed her and moved his face towards her neck as his eyes turned black with veins under them.
"Elena!" Stefan called out as he pulled the man off her and threw him over the couch, making Elena lose her balance and fall to the floor.
"Are you okay?" Stefan asked worried after the hooded man had vamp-sped out of there.
"Yeah, I'm fine." Elena reassured him as he helped her up from the floor. "You got here just in time."
Fifteen minutes later Damon walked through the door and made his way over to Elena and Stefan who were sitting on the couch.
"How did he get in?" Damon asked even as he tried to subtly check if Elena was okay.
"He was invited in." Elena told him softly.
"He posed as a pizza delivery guy last night." Stefan explained.
"Well he gets points for that." Damon muttered and Elena snorted while nodding in agreement. "Did he say what he wanted?"
"No, he was too busy trying to eat me." Elena told him then added quietly. "And not in a fun way."
Damon chuckled deeply making shivers run up Elenas spine but she ignored them. So, sue her, she would dare anyone not to shiver when someone chuckled like that.
"And you have no idea who this is?" Stefan stared accusingly at his older brother.
"No, I don't." Damon declared and when Stefan looked unconvinced, he continued. "Don't look at me like that, I told you we had company."
"You think there's more than one?" Elena asked slowly.
"We don't know." Damon admitted as he sat down on the armrest of the couch.
"Damon, he was invited in." Stefan said again and Damon nodded understanding at what Stefan was hinting at.
"Then we go get him tonight." Damon declared and then he turned towards Elena. "You up for it?"
"What do I need to do?" Elena looked determined.
"Let me and Stefan escort you to the dance." Damon told her. "And we'll see who shows up."
"That's a bad idea." Stefan muttered.
"This house isn't safe until we get this guy." Damon remined him. "For anyone who lives here. It's worth a shot."
"Let's do this." Elena gave a decisive nod and stood up. "I'll be with the two of you so I'll be safe as can be."
XOXOXOX
When they arrived at the school the dance was in full swing. Elena got a lot of looks from the others when she walked in with two gorgeous guys on either side of her. The three of them ignored the looks and walked over to a table at the side of the dancefloor.
Damon offered to get them some punch and Elena smiled gratefully at him. "Thank you, Damon."
"You're welcome." Damon muttered as he walked towards the punch table while Stefan decided to look around to see if he could find anything suspicious.
"Having fun?" Elena smiled at Caroline and Bonnie as they came over to her.
"No, but this took about two hours, so I'm staying for at least, half that time." Caroline laughed.
"What's Damon doing here?" Bonnie asked as she glared at Damon who were talking to Stefan.
"He wanted to come and he is my friend." Elena told her.
"So, what is this, like, a threesome now." Caroline sent a leering smirk Elenas way. "You and the Salvatore brothers? You in the middle of a Salvatore sandwich?"
"Caroline?!" Elena laughed. "It's not like that."
"I really wouldn't blame you if it was." Caroline looked over at Damon and Stefan again. "Those are some really good-looking men, though."
Bonnie sneered at them and kept glaring at Damon and even Stefan, the one who had saved her life several times.
Damon walked up to them with Stefan following him and approached Bonnie. "Hi, Bonnie." Damon smiled charmingly at her. "Wanna dance?"
"I'm out of here." Bonnie sniffed and glared at him.
"Please give me another chance?" Damon pleaded softly.
"Back off." Bonnie stormed off.
"What did you do?" Stefan chuckled at his brother.
"Nothing! I was perfectly polite." Damon defended himself, then he turned to Elena with a smile and held out his hand towards her. "Elena, would you like to dance?"
"I would love to." Elena smiled back and took his hand.
Elena heard Stefan ask Caroline for a dance as Damon led her out to the dancefloor with a smile. He twirled her around and pulled her close to him. Elena laughed quietly as she wrapped her arms around his neck and his hands on her hips as they started to sway to the music.
"Shouldn't you guys be able to sense each other or something?" Elena asked after they had danced for a while.
"Doesn't really work like that." Damon shrugged. "See him anywhere?"
"Not unless he has a pompadour." Elena giggled softly.
"Yeah that was not one of the better fashion trends." Damon chuckled.
"Please tell me you have pictures?" Elena pleaded with a laugh.
"Of Stefan? Absolutely." Damon smirked. "Of me? Nope, those are burned and buried."
"So, what was the fifties like?" Elena asked. "Because in my mind I have this picture that is a mix of 'American Bandstand' and 'Grease'. It's all varsity sweaters and milkshakes."
"Well there was that and, you know, McCarthyism and segregation and nuclear arms race." Damon hummed.
"That's depressing." Elena murmured the she got a glint in her eyes. "Please tell me there was poodle skirts at least?"
"There were poodle skirts." Damon smirked and spun Elena around before he pulled her back in again.
"You are so teaching me to do the hand jive." Elena informed him with a bright smile.
"I am, am I?" Damon hummed as he smirked at her.
Elena and Damon walked off the dance floor to get something to drink and after a few minutes Caroline and Stefan joined them.
"Okay, now I'm having fun." Caroline admitted with a smile.
"Me too." Elena admitted as she saw Damon talking to Alaric a few paces away.
"I was thinking about going to the grill to spend time with Matt." Caroline told Elena. "He couldn't come to the dance tonight because he had to work but that doesn't mean I can't spend time with him at his work."
"Care for one last dance, Caroline, before you go?" Elena offered her hand to Caroline.
"I would be delighted." Caroline smiled and the two girls made their way out on the dance floor.
"Mind if I cut in?" Damon came up behind Elena and Caroline a few minutes later.
"Not at all." Caroline smiled and hugged Elena. "I'm going to see Matt."
"Bye Care." Elena murmured.
"Having a good time?" Damon asked as he pulled Elena close.
"Yeah, I am." Elena smiled. "And you?"
"Not too bad." Damon spun Elena around again.
"Maybe he's not going to show." Elena murmured as she looked around the room.
"You mean we did all this dancing for nothing?" Damon mock gasped in horror.
"Oh no, the travesty." Elena giggled.
The music switched and became faster and Elena smiled brightly as she grabbed Damons hand and started to twist her hips. "Show me how it's done in the fifties."
"You really think you can handle it?" Damon smirked at her.
"Bring it, pretty boy." Elena challenged.
Damon pushed her out and twirled her back in towards him, then he picked her up and dipped her on one side and then the other, holding her in the last dip for a few moments. As he straightened up again Elena laughed freely and brightly.
"That was awesome." Elena beamed at him.
They danced for a little while longer until Elena saw the man in the hoddie at the other end of the room. "Damon, back corner."
"Get Stefan." Damon ordered softly and started to make his way over the dancefloor after the man in the hoddie.
Elena quickly lost sight of Damon and couldn't find Stefan anywhere so she decided to look around. When she walked over the dancefloor her phone rang and she pulled it out to answer.
"Hello Elena." A male voice greeted her from the other end and she froze. "Here's what you're going to do. There's an exit behind you, you have five seconds."
"No." Elena declared strongly.
"Or you brother dies." The man threatened.
Elena quickly looked over to the punch table where Jeremy was serving punch with a smile. Behind her little brother she saw a man talking on the phone and staring at her.
"I can snap his neck so fast that I bet there's not even a witness." The man threatened. "Now, start walking!"
"Don't you dare touch him." Elena growled into the phone even as she started to make her way to the exit.
"Keep walking through the door." The man chuckled at her threat.
Just as Elena passed thorough the exit she looked back and saw the man walk past Jeremy without touching him. That's when she decided to hang up the phone and run. She ran through the corridor and forced herself not to look behind, that is how you die in a horror movie.
Elena ran over to a door and tried to open it but the fucking thing just had to be locked. Who had the bright idea to lock the doors in the school when she was going to have to run for her life?!
She ran down a different corridor, all the while cursing enough to make a sailor blush. Elena almost whooped in happiness when the door to the cafeteria opened but the joy was short lived as the door on the other side of the cafeteria was locked.
"That's just fucking typical!" Elena hissed just as the man, and if she remembered correctly from the show his name was Noah, flung the double doors open and vamp-sped towards her. She attempted to bolt but Noah managed to garb her hair and she screamed and struggled as best she could.
Noah pulled her closer and then he threw her across a table where she skidded and fell to the floor. Elana frantically grabbed two pencils from the ground just as Noah grabbed her from the floor and pushed her up against a wall.
His smirked as his fangs extend but before he could bite her, Elena stabbed him in the stomach with one of the pencils. Noah, who was shocked enough to take a step back, pulled the pencil out and started to advance on Elena again.
Elena shoved the other pencil thorough Noah's hand and pushed him to the floor, because she absolutely refused to go down without a fight, she is not a fucking damsel in distress!
As she backed away, she bumped into a cleaner's cart with a mop that had a wooden handle and she quickly grabbed it and broke it over her knee, creating a crude stake. When Noah walked towards her again with a growl, Elena thrusted the makeshift stake towards his chest but it seemed like he wasn't shocked at her resistance anymore and managed to catch it.
He ripped the stake out of her hand and snarling went for her neck but before he got to close Stefan had ripped him off her and thrown him across the room.
"Hey, dickhead!" Damon called out to Noah with the discarded stake in his hand. "Nobody wants to kill you, we just want to talk."
Noah smiled and rushed towards Elena but both Stefan and Damon had expected this so Damon threw the stake at Stefan who caught it and showed it into Noah's stomach, making him grunt in pain and fall to the floor.
"Now do you feel like talking?" Stefan asked.
"Screw you." Noah growled.
"Wrong answer." Stefan dug the stake deeper as Noah groans in pain. "Why are you doing this?"
"Because it's fun." Noah smirked.
"What do you want with Elena?" Damon asked as he walked around the kneeling vampire.
"She looks like Kathrine and she smells good." Noah admitted.
"You knew Kathrine?" Damon looked shocked, as did Stefan.
"Oh, you thought you were the only ones." Noah gave a laughing sneer. "You don't even remember me."
"Tell me how to get into the tomb." Damon demanded.
"No." Noah denied with a smirk.
Elena pushed Stefan and Damon out of the way and pulled the stake out, only to dive it in again a little closer to his heart. "Tell him."
"The Grimoire." Noah gasped out in pain.
"Where is it?" Damon growled and when Noah didn't answer Elena agonizingly slowly twisted the stake to give maximum damage and pain.
"Check the journal!" Noah screamed desperately. "The journal. Jonathan Gilbert's journal."
"Who else is working with you?" Stefan demanded to know and grabbed the stake from Elena when Noah didn't answer and showed it in further.
"Who else is there?!" Damon glared.
"No," Noah gasped. "You're going to have to kill me."
"Fine by me." Damon backed away and Stefan pulled the stake out only to shove it through Noah's heart.
"You're pretty badass, you know that." Damon told Elena.
"Well, duh." Elena smirked.
They heard a door open and saw Alaric coming through one of the door's windows and Stefan turned to Damon and said, "Go, I got this."
"What do you need me to do?" Elena asked Stefan as Damon left.
"Me and Damon will handle the body." Stefan reassured her. "You can go home and I'll come over later and we'll talk."
"Okay, if you're sure." Elena hesitated but at Stefans nod she walked out of the cafeteria.
XOXOXOX
Elena sat on the couch playing with her pink scarf as Stefan made tea in the kitchen.
"Doing okay?" Stefan asked as he came over with two mugs and sat down beside her.
"Yeah, why wouldn't I be?" Elena asked, looking at him.
"You just help torture and then kill someone." Stefan reminded her softly.
"First of; when he threatened Jeremy, he forfeited his life because that is one thing I cannot let go or forgive!" Elena growled. "And second: there is very little I wouldn't do to protect my friends and family, plus I refuse to be a distressing damsel that always needs rescuing."
"I wish you didn't have to fight at all." Stefan admitted.
"Is that you're upbringing in the 1800s or are you being a misogynistic pig?" Elena glared at him. "Because if it's the second I will kick your ass."
"I think it's both my upbringing and that I don't like seeing my friend in danger." Stefan answered quickly.
"Good answer." Elena smirked at him.
"I do need to tell you something and I don't know how you're going to feel about it." Stefan said slowly.
"What?" Elena turned so all off her focus was on Stefan.
"I told Damon that I'd help him get into that tomb to get Kathrine back." Stefan informed her and she smiled but Elenas smile slipped as he continued. "But that was a lie. I let him believe he could trust me."
Elena slapped him hard over the back of the head and glared at him. "Stefan!"
"What?" Stefan actually looked shocked, like he didn't know why she was mad at him.
"We are helping him get Kathrine back!" Elena declared.
"Why?" Stefan asked. "Damon kills people and it will be more dead bodies if Kathrine joins him."
"Stefan, you are vampires, killing is in your very nature." Elena tried to make him understand.
"But that doesn't mean we have to kill and be monsters." Stefan argued.
"Oh Stefan." Elena sighed softly as she saw the self-hatred in his eyes. "Just because you are a vampire and kill people doesn't make you a monster."
"But…" Stefan looked so lost.
"Think of it like this; if the earth gets an overpopulation of rabbits, what happens?" Elena asked him when he just looked confused, she continued. "The population of foxes also go up to regulate the rabbit population. You with me so far?"
"Yeah, but I don't see what this have anything to do with vampires." Stefan shrugged.
"In this conversation the rabbits are the humans while the foxes are the vampires." Elena explained patiently. "Vampires are basically there so humans don't over populate the world, well more than they already have."
"Oh." Stefan looked like he was deep in thought and contemplating everything Elena had told him.
"Think about it, Stefan." Elena encouraged him. "How do you think the human population would fare without vampires if we already have basically over populated the world and starving, homeless and jobless people are a norm and our natural resources are running out?"
"It would be chaos and a lot more people would die." Stefan said in realization.
"Exactly." Elena smiled proudly at him.
"I've never thought about it like that before." Stefan looked at her and smiled. "Thank you."
"You are very welcome." Elena smiled back. "Now are you onboard with helping your brother?"
"Yes." Stefan declared strongly and hugged Elena.
XOXOXOX
Two days later Elena woke up in Stefans bed at the boarding house after she had fallen asleep while they watched Disney films. She was determined to make Stefan watch every single Disney film in existence.
"Morning." Elena mumbled as she snuggled closer to her pillow.
"Good morning." Stefan smiled from where he was sitting by his desk and writing in his journal.
"Rise and shine, sleepyheads." Damon declared dramatically as he walked into Stefans room.
"Good morning Damon." Elena smiled and sat up against the head board, making the sheets fall down to her waist showing off her black bra.
"Did you two have sex?" Damon leered but had a weird look in his eyes.
"Huh?" Elena asked but the she looked down. "Oh right, no we did not have sex. It was way too hot during the night so I took of my clothes to sleep in my underwear."
"And you're not trying to cover up right now, because?" Damon wondered as he looked at her.
"It's not like you and Stefan hasn't already, sort of, seen me naked." Elena shrugged with a laugh.
"No, we haven't." Stefan denied, confusion plane on his face.
"So, you didn't sleep with Kathrine?" Elena asked with a smirk.
"Well, yeah." Stefan nodded. "But what does that have to do with anything?"
"Is he always this slow in the mornings?" Elena turned to Damon with a smirk.
Damon was laughing so hard that he had tears streaming down his face and had to lean against Stefans bed. "Stefan…" He couldn't finish his sentence because of the laughter.
"If your goal for this visit was to make me feel stupid, you have succeeded." Stefan pouted.
"Stefan, aren't Kathrine and I identical in our appearance as far as you can tell." Elena asked with a bright grin.
"Yeah." Stefan nodded slowly.
"So, if you have seen Kathrine naked then you have as good as seen me naked, right?" Elena giggled.
It took a few seconds for Stefan to catch up and then it was as if a light bulb when off in his head and he got an embarrassed look on his face. "Oh."
"I came in here to discuss some important business with you two." Damon had managed to calm down somewhat but still let out a chuckle every now and again. "In order to open the tomb, we need to find Jonathan Gilbert's journal to get the grimoire to undo the spells."
"Yeah that would probably help." Elena nodded with a mock seriousness.
"First things first: since you are Elena Gilbert, you are on journal duty." Damon continued like Elena hadn't said anything.
"I'll look for it when I get home." Elena offered with a smile.
"Good." Damon smiled back at her.
"How do we know that this journal will hold the location of the grimoire?" Stefan asked slowly after he had gotten over his embarrassment, but he did have a hard time looking at Elena without letting his eyes wander. "We're really going to take the word of this vampire? He seemed like a bit of a dimwit."
"In lieu of other options." Damon nodded.
"So, just to be certain that I know what we are looking for, a grimoire is a witch's spell book, right?" Elena looked between the brothers.
"Yup, could also be called a witch's cookbook." Damon smirked.
"Every spell that a witch casts is unique unto itself, so every witch would document their work." Stefan explained.
Elena looked at Damon and together they chorused, "Cookbook."
"What about our mystery vampire?" Stefan smiled at them with a raised eyebrow. "Dimwit obviously wasn't working alone, so whoever's out there knows who we are."
"And, frankly, I don't like the disadvantage, so…" Damon clapped his hands together. "Chop, chop."
"One part of me wants to say 'You're not my real dad!' while the other wants to say 'Make me!'" Elena smirked with a shrugged.
"You know, I really like this whole menage a threesome team thing." Damon snorted. "It's got a bit of a kink to it."
"So, if you and Damon started fucking, who would take it up the ass and can I watch?" Elena looked at Stefan with a leer as Damon walked out of the room.
Stefan stared horrified at Elena and they heard Damon stumble down the stairs and Elena started to laugh devilishly.
"You do know we are brothers, right?" Stefan asked as he looked at her.
"Stefan, you and Damon are my friends and I don't judge." Elena laughed and then smiled kindly at him, knowing Damon was also listening in. "If you one day decided you wanted to get gang banged by a whole freaking biker gang, I would just make sure that everyone was consenting adults and that you all had enough lube."
"Your mind is a very dark, disturbing place, isn't it?" Stefan asked quietly and Elena just smiled innocently back at him.
XOXOXOX
Later that day Elena looked through boxes of old family memorabilia for the journal while Stefan sat at the breakfast bar watching her.
"How are you feeling?" Elena asked as she pulled out a few stacks of papers from the box.
"I'm fine, why do you ask?" Stefan looked at her.
"Well, I did basically change the way you looked at the world a few days ago." Elena shrugged.
"I'm trying to get used to it but I always find myself thinking about things 'the human way' so to speak and it's hard to just switch my way of being." Stefan tried to explain. "And I just can't stop feeling a high regard for human life."
"You don't have to become apathic towards human life or anything like it as long as you realize that killing something to be able to eat has been done as long as life has existed." Elena smiled reassuringly at him.
Elena picked up a photo of a man from the box and Stefan stood up to walk over to her to be able to see the picture.
"That's Jonathan Gilbert." Stefan informed her.
"He looks a bit like my dad." Elena murmured softly.
"Genetics tend to do that." Stefan teased and she elbowed him in the stomach playfully.
"What's this?" Elena opened a wooden box and contained within it was what appeared to be a muzzle.
"That is a muzzle designed for vampires." Stefan explained softly. "It is made so your jaw is unable to open and that way you can't feed."
"That's just barbaric." Elena exclaimed in disgust. "If you hunt and kill vampires, fine I can accept that but to starve them? That is just unnecessarily cruel."
"What are you guys doing?" Jeremy asked as he entered the room.
"Realizing that our ancestors were disgusting and sadistic pigs." Elena sneered but then she smiled at her little brother. "We are looking for Jonathan Gilbert's journal. Know anything about it?"
"Yeah, I just did a history report on it." Jeremy smiled proudly. "I even got an A on it."
"That's amazing, Jeremy!" Elena jumped up and hugged Jeremy.
"What do you need the journal for anyway?" Jeremy laughed as he hugged Elena back.
"Oh, it's supposed to contain the location of a grimoire that we need." Elena told him.
"A grimoire?" Jeremy asked wide eyed. "As in a witch's spell book?"
"Exactly like that." Elena beamed,
"Witches are real too?!" Jeremy looked flabbergast and then a smile slowly broke out on his face. "That is so cool!"
"I should really stop being surprised at how easily this whole family accepts the supernatural." Stefan mumbled with a shake of his head.
"So anyway," Elena smiled. "Where is the journal now?"
"I gave it to Mr. Saltzman, he wanted to see it." Jeremy shrugged then he turned hesitant. "Shouldn't I have?"
"Eh, we'll just go ask him for it." Elena smiled and ruffled, or tried to ruffle, Jeremys hair, but she frowned. "Jeremy?"
"Yeah?" Jeremy looked at her.
"Since when did you become so tall?" Elena giggled.
"When did you become so short?" Jeremy smirked teasingly at his older sister.
"I'm not short," Elena pouted. "I'm fun sized."
XOXOXOX
Elena came downstairs after having taken a shower, wearing blue booty shorts, thigh high socks and a black, off the shoulder top, to find Damon slicing tomatoes and talking to Jenna, who sat at the counter drinking wine.
"My father never approved of anyone I dated, which only made me want them more, of course." Damon chuckled. "What about you?"
"There were a few guys." Jenna admitted. "Logan isn't the only loser I've dated."
"About that, you know about…?" Damon hesitated.
"Vampires?" Jenna asked and nodded the she smiled at Elena. "Hey Elena."
"Hey Jenna, Damon." Elena smiled back and grabbed a coke from the fridge.
"Elena." Damon leered and looked her up and down while Elena just raised her eyebrow at him.
"What were you saying about vampires?" Jenna asked Damon.
"Huh? Oh, right." Damon looked at her. "Logan Fell isn't really missing, he's dead."
"What?" Jenna gasped.
"You remember all those 'animal attacks'?" Damon asked and Jenna nodded. "Well, those were actually him. He was a vampire and he not only threatened Elena, Jeremy and you but he actually kidnapped Caroline Forbes in the intent to turn her."
"Oh my God." Jenna looked shocked, then her face turned into a sneer. "I hope he burns in the deepest reaches of hell."
"Aunt Jenna." Elena laughed.
"What? He threatened you and Jeremy." Jenna said. "If I had known I would have killed him myself."
"You are pretty bad ass." Damon chuckled. "I can see were Elena learned it."
Jenna and Elena smirked and fist bumped to celebrate their bad assery.
"I'm going to freshen up a bit before dinner." Jenna said after a few minutes and walked upstairs.
A while later Damon placed something the dinner table and headed back to the kitchen. On the way he bumped into Elena who was carrying plates towards the table.
"Woah." Damon hummed as he steadied her so she wouldn't fall.
"Thanks." Elena smiled.
"No problem." Damon smiled back and made his way to the stove. "Where is Stefan? He's missing family night."
"He should be here soon." Elena told him as she walked back into the kitchen.
"Is it real?" Damon asked quietly.
"Is what real?" Elena looked at him.
"This renewed sense of brother hood?" Damon took the spoon from the pot to taste the sauce. "Can I trust him?"
Elena smiled gently at him and walked closer to place a hand on his cheek. "I can understand that you have a hard time trusting Stefan after all these years, I have no idea what happened to ruin you bond and I don't need to know. What I can tell you is if you can't trust Stefan then you can at least trust me."
With that little speech Elena gently patted Damons cheek and went to put napkins on the table, ignoring the vulnerable look in Damons eyes until he had been able to put his mask back in place.
"There was a time when I trusted him more than anyone." Damon admitted softly. "Did you know I basically helped rase him?"
"Really?" Elena smiled at him. "Was he as an adorable kid as I think he was?"
"Oh, he was more adorable than you can imagine. Big green eyes, tufts off blond hair and a toothy grin. He could get away with almost anything as long as he turned his sad green eyes at the servants and those times he couldn't get out of trouble on his own, I helped him out of it." Damon smiled then he started to smirk. "Of course, I got him in a lot of trouble too."
"You still love him." Elena said softly.
"What gave you that idea?" Damon asked defensively.
"Because there is nothing, and I mean absolutely nothing, Jeremy could do to make me love him any less." Elena looked at him with a knowing glint in her eyes. "But don't worry, I won't tell."
Around forty minutes later Damon placed the food on the table just as Jeremy came walking in.
"Oh food!" Jeremy looked enthusiastically at the food then he frowned and looked at Elena. "Aunt Jenna didn't cook, right?"
"Hey!" Jenna called out as she hit him over the head and Elena started to laugh and Damon chuckled.
"No, Damon cooked." Elena smiled and they all sat down to eat.
Jeremy moaned as he took a bite of his food and then he turned mischievous eyes towards Elena. "You better marry him or I will."
Damon choked on his food and started to chough as Jenna started to laugh her ass off.
"I didn't know you were interested in men, little brother." Elena teased back.
"For food like this?" Jeremy smirked. "I'll be interested in whatever he wants me to be."
"I'm very flattered, baby Gilbert, but I have a girlfriend I'm trying to free from a tomb." Damon smirked after he had managed to stop coughing.
"Darn it." Jeremy mocked groused.
"Hey Elena?" Jeremy asked mischievously after a while. "Why do they make birthday cake flavor when birthday cake can be any flavor?"
"I don't know." Elena smiled back devilishly. "But I do know that onion rings are just vegetable donuts."
"Well, your stomach thinks all potatoes are mashed." Jeremy fired back.
"Lobsters are mermaids to scorpions." Elena bantered with a smile.
"Cookie dough is the sushi of desserts!" Jeremy countered.
"If tomatoes are actually a fruit," Elena pondered. "That makes ketchup a jelly."
Jeremy was quiet for a while and then he nodded. "Okay, you win this time."
"Really you two?" Jenna laughed.
"What?" Elena and Jeremy asked at the same time with big, bright smiles.
"Never mind." Jenna just shook her head.
Jeremy's phone went off and he took out his phone to look but then he just ignored the call and put the phone away.
"Who are you dodging?" Damon asked as he leaned back in his seat.
"This girl, Anna." Jeremy said with a shrug. "She can be, uh, persistent."
"Is she hot?" Damon raised his eyebrow at Jeremy.
"Yeah, I guess but she can be a bit weird." Jeremy admitted.
"Hot trumps weird, trust me." Damon told him and then he smirked. "Just look at your sister."
"First off; HEY!" Elena threw a bred roll at Damon who dodged. "And second; Yeah that's fair."
"Did you just admit to being weird?" Jenna giggled.
"Well of course." Elena beamed. "Who wants to be normal anyway?"
"Boring people?" Jeremy asked with a smile.
"Exactly!" Elena nodded. "Listen to the boy, he is going places."
That made them all chuckle and agree, then the doorbell rang and Elena was standing in front of the door in a rush of air.
"Did you just vamp-speed me to the door?" Elena laughed even as she opened the door to see Stefan standing there.
"Maybe…" Damon hummed then turned to Stefan. "Hello little brother, how went the retrieval?"
"Come on, Jenna and Jeremy are waiting at the dinner table." Elena led the way.
As Stefan and Damon sat down at the table and Stefan started to tell them what had happened with Alaric, Elena went around and poured more wine for Jenna and Damon, and got coke for Stefan, Jeremy and her.
"So, who took it?" Damon asked after Stefan was done.
"I don't know." Stefan admitted. "But…"
"You know what, it's that teacher." Damon growled, interrupting Stefan. "There is really something off about him."
"You mean other than him being a vampire hunter?" Jenna asked, still reeling from that.
"No, he doesn't know anything. Somebody got to it right before me. But that…" Stefan was interrupted again.
"Who else knew it was there?" Damon demanded to know.
"I did." Jeremy piped up. "And I might have told Anna."
"Wait, who's Anna?" Stefan asked.
"That's what I want know." Damon fumed.
"It doesn't…" Stefan tried to say.
"Anna wanted to meet at the grill tonight if that helps?" Jeremy offered before Stefan could finish.
"Perfect, I'll drive." Damon stood up but before he and Jeremy could start walking away, Stefan gave a piercing whistle that caught everyone's attention.
"Like I've been trying to say for the last fifteen minutes; We don't need the journal!" Stefan sounded annoyed and pulled a stack of papers from his jacket. "Alaric had made a copy of the journal and I might have borrowed it without permission."
"Why didn't you just say so in the first place?" Damon huffed and sat down again.
"How about this, Jeremy and Damon still go to the grill and find out who this Anna girl is while me and Stefan look through these papers?" Elena asked quickly before Stefan could attack Damon, because if looks could kill Damon would be deader than a doornail. "Then when we find something, I'll call Damon and we'll meet up again?"
"Works for me." Jeremy nodded.
"Do you promise to call?" Damon looked Elena in the eyes.
"I promise." She smiled gently at him.
"Right." Damon stood up again. "Come along, baby Gilbert."
"What am I supposed to do?" Jenna asked, not having received a task.
"Take an early night." Elena smiled at her. "You have a meeting early tomorrow morning, if I remember correctly."
"If you're sure." Jenna hesitantly got up. "But come and wake me if you need me, okay?"
"Absolutely." Elena agreed.
"Listen to this," Elena spoke up twenty minutes later and started to read out loud. "The Fell family believed it should be I, not them, who protected the witch's spell book, but I feared she would haunt me from hereafter. They mocked my fear, but it was Giuseppe Salvatore who- Is that your father?"
"Yeah." Stefan nodded and took the pages from Elena so he could continue to read. "It was Giuseppe Salvatore who removed my fear. He told me he would protect the secret of the spell book. he said he would carry it to his grave."
Stefan frowned in thought for several minutes then his face cleared as he got a look of dawning apprehension there instead of a frown. "I know where it is."
"You drive and I'll call Damon and Jeremy." Elena said as she started to make her way to the car.
"Hey, Damon." Elena said as Damon picked up the phone.
"Found something, then?" Damon asked.
"Yeah and if you could grab Jeremy and meet Stefan and me at the old cemetery, that would be great." Elena told him.
"We'll be there. And Elena," Damon said before she could hang up. "Thank you."
Elena and Stefan are setting up torches and taking out supplies by Giuseppe's tombstone when Jeremy and Damon arrived.
"Why isn't your father buried in your family's tomb?" Jeremy asked as they walked up.
"It wasn't built until after he died." Stefan explained.
"You will never guess who this Anna chick is." Damon said as he sat down on the tombstone.
"Who?" Stefan looked up at his brother.
"Annabelle Zhu." Damon smirked.
"You know her?" Jeremy asked. "Then why didn't you say anything to her?"
"Annabelle's mother was good friends with Kathrine back in the day." Damon explained. "And if I had approached her, she would have found out that you knew about all this and we would lose our insider, sort of."
"Oh, yeah, I guess you're right." Jeremy shrugged not really surprised that Anna was a vampire.
"How sure are we that the grimoire is here?" Elena asked softly.
"As sure as we can be." Stefan picked up the two shovels and tossed one at Damon.
"What do you want us to do?" Elena indicated towards herself and Jeremy.
"Just stand there and look pretty." Damon smirked and started to dig.
"Aww you think I'm pretty?" Jeremy mock squealed.
"You are a real-life Disney princess." Damon bowed at Jeremy with a laugh.
"I'm sorry you both have to do this." Elena murmured sadly.
"It's no problem for me." Damon shrugged. "Let's just say that me and my father never got along and leave it at that."
While the Salvatore brothers dug up their father's grave Elena started to giggle and shake her head.
"What?" Stefan asked as he looked up at her.
"Oh, I don't know. Could be that I'm in an old cemetery in the middle of the night helping to dig up my vampire best friends' father to get a witch's grimoire." Elena laughed. "What is even my life?"
"When you put it like that it sounds like the plot of a bad movie or tv-series." Jeremy laughed and the only thing Elena could think was, 'Oh, you have no idea'.
"Stefan why don't you get out of this hole?" Damon asked his brother as his shovel hit the lid of a coffin. "It's too small for both of us to be in here."
Jeremy offered Stefan a hand up from the hole, not that he needed it, but it was the thought that counted, right? As Elena pointed the light beam of her flash light down to help Damon se better.
"Here goes nothing." Damon muttered and opened the lid of the coffin.
Damon gave a sigh of relief as he bent down to retrieve the grimoire which was covered in a brown cloth bag and was cradled in his father's arms. He then jumped out of the grave and pulled the bag of only to gasp as a cloud of dust flew up in his face.
Stefan stepped forward to help his brother when Damon started to scream in agony, but Damons gesture for him to stay away stopped him in his tracks.
"Not dust." Damon forced out as he coughed up blood, having breathed in the dust, and the skin on his arms, hands and face started to blister. "Vervain!"
"Here." Jeremy rushed froward as he pulled his outer shirt of and wrapped it around the grimoire.
"What can we do?" Elena asked desperately as she hurried over to try and help Damon.
"You need to take his shirt of." Stefan told her quickly. "The vervain dust is still on it and flying up and around him every time he choughs."
"It's gonna be okay, Damon." Elena murmured as she carefully but quickly removed Damons shirt. "Then what?"
"He needs fresh blood." Stefan admitted as he watched his brother suffer without being able to help.
"Take mine." Elena offered her neck to Damon.
"Are you sure?" Damon asked her even as he stared longingly at her neck.
"Yes, now do it!" Elena ordered him
"Thank you." Damon murmured and then he sank his teeth into her exposed neck. He pulled back as Elena started to sway a little.
"Do you need more?" Jeremy asked as he came over.
"You would let me…?" Damon looked confused.
"Well, yeah, you're my friend and I don't like seeing my friends hurt." Jeremy offered his wrist to Damon. "But you are not drinking from my neck, it would be a bit awkward to bend down for that."
"Did you just call me short?" Damon snorted but took the offered wrist and bit down. He didn't need to take as much from Jeremy as he had from Elena and slowly pulled back.
Stefan walked over and pulled Damon in to a hug. "I'm glad that you are okay."
Later Damon carried Elena into her bedroom and laid her down on the bed gently while Jeremy and Stefan explained what had happened to Jenna who had woken up when Damon rushed through the door.
"You know you don't have to do this, right?" Elena smiled at him. "I'm fine, just a little dizzy and headachy."
"I know but you did save me from a lot of pain." Damon shrugged. "Where's your aspirin?"
"Downstairs I think." Elena mumbled.
"I'll go find it." Damon told her and walked out of the room.
Elena felt her head throb and closed her eyes, when she opened them again a young woman was standing over her but before she could scream everything went black.
A/N: The long ass chapter is now done!
I hope you all liked it :)
First a question unrelated to this fanfic: A very good friend of mine made two fic requests that I could choose from and I wanted to ask you what you thought sounded more interesting.
The first one is about an older sibling to Elena and Jeremy who somehow gets the ability to see the future.
The second one is about an OC friend of Stefan that decides with Stefan, who is a lot more like Damon in this and a lot less like a brooding boring guilt tripper, to use her powers to travel back in time when Damon was kidnapped by Augustine to help him and Enzo escape but something went wrong and they ended up a lot earlier than they meant to.
Anyway, back to the questions relevant to this story:
Do you guys want Caroline and Matt to stay together or should they break up? And if they break up, who should Caroline be with?
And who should I pair Elena with? You can review your option and I'll tally them and the one who gets the most 'votes' so to speak, wins :)
The tally at the moment are:
Elijah: 14
Klaus: 17
Kol: 5
Finn: 3
Damon: 5
Elijah & Klaus: 1
Elijah & Klaus & Kol: 1
Damon & Klaus: 1
Until next time
XOXO
Nyxi