Disclaimer: See prologue.

AN: this chapter title is in remembrance of Cory Monteith aka Finn Hudson. He died in Vancouver today and I'm totally heartbroken... i am a major gleek. He sang this song in season 2.

and on another note, you should know that I have published my original fiction. epub anyways. It's available at Smashwords and is shipping to all retailers this week. I currently have 25% sample for free and it's only 99 cents to buy right now, if you're interested, let me know, I'll send you the link.

thanks

Well no one told me about her the way she lied
Well no one told me about her how many people cried
But it's too late to say you're sorry
How would I know why should I care
Please don't bother tryin' to find her
She's not there

Well let me tell you 'bout the way she looked
The way she'd act and the colour of her hair
Her voice was soft and cool
Her eyes were clear and bright
But she's not there

...

Kenzie remained quiet for the rest of the ride to Richmond, getting out of the car and following Damon to the apartment. They entered without knocking, and Damon used his speed to move past her, probably to wherever Elena was. She paused, waiting to hear them speaking before moving off in their direction. She entered to see Elena and Damon facing off with Rose and some goth chick staring at them. That girl so needed a makeover and she had a feeling she wasn't a vampire, just some wannabe.

"Damon Salvatore." Goth chick said in awe.

Damon sent her an annoyed look before glaring at Rose. "Get rid of her."

The older Vampire grabbed the girl and led her away, though she continued staring at Damon, awestruck.

"Someone's got a groupie." Kenzie sang. "And a goth girl too, ten bucks she wants to be a vampire. Did someone tell her you don't have to dress all freaky to become one?"

"You were supposed to distract him." Elena shot the red head an accusatory look, Kenzie only held up her hands in defense.

"Oh I was doing that, annoying the fuck out of him too but then his little girlfriend called and even though I took the phone to talk to her, there was that pesky little vampire hearing we have to contend with. Besides, how was I know you were planning on offing yourself?"

"Come on, we're leaving." Damon interrupted them, glaring at the brunette in front of him.

"No." Came Elena's simple reply.

The vampire's eyes widened in that very dangerous way he was so good at and Kenzie contemplated stepping out of the way before he went all crazy. "I said, we're leaving."

"I'm not going with you."

"You don't get to make decisions anymore." Damon informed her.

Elena shook her head in disgust as she glared at him. "When have I ever made a decision? You and Stefan do that for me now. This, this is my decision."

His brow furrowed in confusion as he shook his head. "Whose gonna save your life while you're out making decisions?"

"You're not listening to me, Damon. I don't want to be saved. Not if it means that Klaus is gonna kill every single person that I love."

"Get your ass out the door before I throw you over my shoulder and carry you out myself." He grabbed her arm and Elena shook him off.

"No."

He grabbed her arm again and Elena took a swing with her other arm, ready to punch him but he easily caught her fist, giving it a small squeeze and making her gasp as he leaned in closer to her. Kenzie stared with wide eyes, wondering if he was going to kiss her, the way he was staring at her. Instead, he gave her a warning.

"Don't you ever, do that, again." He whispered.

"Well, that's my cue." Kenzie said, seeing the look of fear on Elena's face. "Why don't we talk about this, civilly, like adults and not like the caveman and martyr we have going on here."

Both turned to glare at her.

"We don't have time." Damon said. "We need to go now."

"No." Elena cried. "Kenzie, you have to understand why I'm doing this. If I don't, Klaus will kill everyone I love, including you."

The redhead looked between the two of them with a raised eyebrow. "What, I'm the tiebreaker now?"

"No." Damon snapped, "Because we're going."

"Kenzie, please." The brunette pleaded with her. "You can help me get Damon to understand this. If you were in my position would you really sentence your friends and family to death?"

Kenzie pursed her lips, giving a small shake of her head in disbelief. Elena interpreted this as a victory, a small smile coming to her face but the redhead held up a hand to halt her.

"I'm not going to help you with Damon because truthfully, if I was in your position and I had 2 Vampires mooning over me and ready to move the earth itself to make sure I would be safe and nothing would happen to me or my friends, I would put a little trust in them."

"But Klaus could kill you." Elena cried, seeing she was losing her battle.

"So? I could die at any moment Elena. That's life. Whether it's by Klaus, getting hit by a bus, or drowning in my bathtub, if it's going to happen, it's going to happen. You being a martyr won't change that."

"It already happened." Elena all but growled.

"What did?" The petite teen asked in confusion.

"Nothing." Damon cut in, shooting Elena a warning glance. "I will go deal with Rose and Gothica, then we are leaving."

He left and Elena turned on Kenzie once more.

"Please, help me." She begged. "I have to do this."

"Right, let me go fight the two vampires that are probably listening to us right now, so you can escape and turn yourself over to some psycho. Great plan." Kenzie's sarcastic was evident as Elena let out a frustrated sigh.

"look, Elena, again, if it was me, I get wanting to keep the people you love safe but you also need to trust your boyfriend and his brother who also happens to be in love with you that they'll keep you safe."

"Even if it means they'll die?"

"How is your plan any better?" Kenzie hissed. "you're really only thinking of yourself. If something happens to you, what about the people you leave behind. Why don't you stop and remember what it felt like when your parents died. Think of how angry and sad you were. How could they have left you? How could they have done that to you? So now you're going to turn around and do that to all the same people that you supposedly want to protect?"

"But they would still be alive." Elena cried. "And that's all that matters."

"But you wouldn't be and maybe that's what really matters to them." She pushed past Elena and moved into the room that was currently occupied by Rose, who motioned that Damon was in the other room, probably with Gothica, working his vampire mojo on her.

She sat down and waited, not all surprised when Elena joined them and took the only other chair, not looking at either of them. Damon appeared moments later, looking completely annoyed.

"Time to go." He announced. "Alice is soundly sleeping and won't remember a moment of this horrible stupid day."

The doors of the apartment swung open and the three females stood up as three guys walked in the first one announcing they were there to meet the doppelganger. Elena stepped forward, ready to turn herself in when Kenzie, quick as lightening pushed Elena from behind into Damon, who caught her and pushed her behind him, warning her with a look to remain quiet. Kenzie stepped forward instead, throwing her arms wide open in embellishment.

"Here I am, all doppelgangy and stuff."

She heard Damon groan in disbelief and a pained noise from Elena. She glanced back to see his fingers digging into her arm, probably to stop her from speaking as he threatened to break her arm.

"You're not her, she's a brunette." The guy stated.

"Oh really? Have you seen Katherine?"

"Well no but we were told-"

"That she was a brunette. Duh. And I'm the doppleganger that is in high demand, so really, why would I want to look like her? It's called hair dye, you morons."

The guy standing by the door fell to the ground, dead and everyone looked at the new player. Elena gasped and Kenzie glanced at her, seeing the fear on her face as Damon looked on in puzzlement. Rose took a step back in fear before using her vampire speed to leave them all high and dry. Great, Kenzie knew there was a reason she hated that Vampire chick.

The new vampire, of that Kenzie was sure, since he had already killed one and had used his speed to stand in front of the other two, looked between them.

"I killed you, you were dead." Damon said in confusion.

"For centuries now." The newcomer replied.

"Is he a bad guy then?" Kenzie asked uncertainly, after all he had just killed on of the bad guys. "That's too bad, those cheek bones-"

Damon cut her off, grabbing her arm and yanking her back. "Don't talk."

"Who are you?" Cheek Bones asked one of the guys.

"Who are you?" He shot back.

"I'm Elijah."

"Darnit." Kenzie whispered, why did vampires have to be so good looking, it was really unfair.

"We were gonna bring her to you for Klaus. She's the doppelganger." He looked at Kenzie who smiled and gave him a small wave. Elijah also looked at her a small look of amusement on his face. "I don't know how she exists but she does. Klaus would want to see her."

"No, it looks like you were going to bring me a decoy. Tell me, does anyone else know you're here?" Elijah asked.

"No."

Elijah gave the two vampires a small smile "Well, then you have been incredibly helpful." He reached out, ripping their hearts out of their chest and as they fell to the ground, looked at the three remaining people, a heart in each hand.

Kenzie and Elena had gasped in disbelief, the brunette grabbing the smaller girls hand and pulling her closer as Damon stepped in front of them, ready to square off against Elijah. The Original only dropped the two hearts before disappearing out of the apartment in a blink of the eye. Damon slowly turned to look at the two girls, a look of confusion in his face that was mirrored in theirs, none of them understanding why he had left them all unharmed.

"Let's go." Damon told them, grabbing Elena's arm and dragging her out of the apartment, Kenzie right behind, whose arm was still attached to Elena's hand.

The three quickly hopped into Damon's car, Kenzie in the back seat as he took off, trying to put as much distance as possible between them and Richmond in as little time as possible.

"What were you thinking?" Elena asked Kenzie. "Trying to pass yourself of as the Doppelganger."

The redhead didn't look away from the window to look at her. "I was thinking that there was no way in hell I was going to let you go with them. There's a reason they want you and from all the TV I've watched, it's safe to say it won't be for rainbows and puppies and unicorn rides."

"They would have killed you." Elena told her.

"They would have tried, I'm sure someone would have rescued me before then, if not, oh well." Kenzie said with a shrug.

"After all that stuff you spewed at me about leaving loved ones behind?" Elena cried. "Isn't that a little hypocritical?"

"No." Kenzie snapped, turning to face her, fire flashing in her emerald green eyes. "I don't have to worry about that. I won't be leaving anyone behind. I'm in some town where no one wants me involved in anything, where the people who say they are my friends want nothing to do with me, or really talk to me and the only person who loves me, hurts every day when he sees me because I'm just a reminder of the other daughter and wife that he lost. No matter how much either of us tries, it hurts him to look at me, so sometimes it might just be better if I was lost to him too."

She reached into her bag and pulled out her ipod, slipping the ear buds in and cranking up the volume as loud as possible as she turned to look out the window again.

When they arrived at Elena's house, Damon followed the brunette to her door and Kenzie took the time to try and slip out so she could sneak away and go home. She was moving as quietly as possible and just got both feet out when Damon and Elena rushed back pushing her into the middle as he took off.

"What now?" She huffed.

"It's Stefan." A teary Elena replied but didn't elaborate.

Kenzie kept quiet waiting until they reached their destination and when they arrived back at the tomb, Elena didn't even wait for the car to come to a complete stop before she got out and took off at a full run. Damon swore and threw his car door open taking off after her. Kenzie stared after them bewildered before turning off the car and grabbing the keys, running after them too. She ran down the steps just moments after Damon grabbed Elena and threw her up against the wall and they began arguing. Kenzie slowed down, finally realizing that Stefan was trapped in the tomb with that bitch Katherine.

Elena began struggling, hitting Damon as she yelled at him to let go. He refused to and she finally slowed down, pleading with him.

"You done?" Damon finally asked. He hesitantly let her go and when she took another step towards the tomb, held up a finger in warning. Frustrated, Elena pushed past him, leaving the tomb in anger. Damon watched her go, still not noticing Kenzie was watching him with wide eyes from the shadows.

The Vampire turned back to the opening of the tomb with a shake of his head just as his brother appeared.

"Of all the idiot plans Stefan."

The younger Salvatore just nodded as he looked at the invisible barrier.

"I'll find a way to get you out."

"Ah, it's alright. I'll handle myself." Stefan assured him. "Bonnie has the moonstone. Work with her. Try to figure out how to dis-spell it."

"You martyr yourself in a tomb and I get partnered with a semi competent witch? Wonderful."

"Keep Elena away from here." Stefan told him. "You should probably keep her away from here too."

Damon followed his brother's gaze to Kenzie who was backed up against the wall, watching them.

"Her I can handle, Elena, not so much."

"Promise me. No matter what happens, you'll protect her." Stefan begged him.

"I promise." Damon replied, turning to leave. He motioned for her to follow as he walked back up the stairs and Kenzie took a step towards Stefan but hesitated when Katherine appeared behind him, surprise on her face when she noticed the little redhead.

"You're alive."

"What are you talking about?" Kenzie asked, confused. "Of course I'm alive, why wouldn't I be?"

"Katherine." Stefan warned, trying to stop the other vampire, who ignored him as she stepped closer to the tomb entrance.

"I killed you, you were dead." If Kenzie wasn't so confused, she would have found Katherine echoing Damon's words from earlier funny. Instead, Kenzie cocked her head to the side just as Damon returned and grabbed her arm, pulling her up the stairs.

"What was that?" Kenzie asked when they were outside of the tomb.

"Katherine being Katherine."

Kenzie shook her head, not buying that explanation. "No, why would she act as though she killed me. Did she kill me and if so, how am I alive?"

"Obviously she didn't if you're still here." Damon told her. "She's trying to mess with you."

Kenzie stood outside the car, refusing to get in. "No, there's something more. Now tell me what the hell is going on."

He ran a frustrated hand through his hair, this girl was more stubborn then Elena, hell she was more stubborn then him and that was saying something.

"Kenzie, nothing is going on. Don't you see that the bitch is trying to get in your head? She's trying to put doubts in your head and you're buying into it."

"Why do you call me that?" she whispered.

He let out a frustrated sigh. "Call you what? Your name?"

She looked away, almost embarrassed. "You always call me Redbird but lately, you only call me Kenzie."

Damon sighed, unsure of what to say. "Look, just let me take you home and we can talk okay?"

She nodded, getting into the backseat, quiet as he dropped Elena off before taking her home. She got out of the car and closed the door, thinking he would follow her in but instead he took off and Kenzie threw her arms up in defeat before walking in to the house, seeing a note from her dad that he was working nights and that there was some dinner in the fridge. She ate a few bites before finally giving up because to her, it tasted like cardboard and she trudged up to bed, feeling completely put out by Damon's attitude towards her. She knew he was an asshole but still, she thought they had come to an understanding.

She walked into her room and fell back onto the bed, not bothering with turning her light on or changing. She closed her eyes and when she opened them again, was staring up into a pair of unnaturally light blue eyes. She let out a small squeak of surprise before covering up her mouth at the super girly squeak.

"You actually scared me." She shot him an accusatory look and was almost relieved when he smirked at her.

"You said you wanted to talk,"

"you also took off on me without a word."

"Had to get rid of the car. What would the neighbors say?" He asked in mock horror before falling onto the bed beside her, propping himself up on an elbow. "Your dad isn't here." He stated.

"He's working weird shifts, I dunno. What's going on?"

"well, shall we recount all the idiotic things you did today?"

"really? I don't think there was many. Not my fault Elena went on a suicide mission."

"You should have told me the minute she left."

Kenzie turned her head to glare at him. "You know, you can't play white knight for her all the damn time, especially when she doesn't want a white knight."

"Somebody sounds jealous." He pointed out, inwardly wondering why she would be. He had compelled her to forget any feelings she had for him.

"I'm not." She grumbled. "I'm just stating a fact."

"Okay, how about you trying to pass yourself off as the doppelganger."

"I unlike Elena, have full confidence in your abilities to save me." She looked away in embarrassment. "You would have saved me, wouldn't you?"

"Yes." He groaned. "Like I would leave you to get yourself killed. People would care, you know. What you said to Elena was complete and utter bullshit."

Kenzie scowled. "Not really. I know it hurts my dad to look at me sometime. I mean, hello, identical twins? So technically, I am a doppelganger, just not the one they want."

"But other people not caring? I'd be a little annoyed if you got yourself killed, you know. Plus Caroline and Elena and the little Gilbert, they'd probably care."

"Then why won't anyone tell me what's going on?" she cried. "Why is everyone treating me like I'm made of glass? Did something happen to me that I don't know about? Because how is that possible, I never take this ring off anymore and why don't you call me by that ridiculous nickname anymore?"

"So you want me to call you that?"

"Yes." She replied with a small pout. "Why doesn't anything make sense anymore?"

"Because you're dealing with vampires and werewolves and witches?" Damon suggested.

"Oh my." She sarcastically finished. "But that's not what I mean. Please tell me, what's going on? When did I die, how am I here and why don't I remember it?"

"Because you didn't, that's why." Damon told her. "Katherine's a bitch, you know that."

"She seemed genuinely surprised, not to mention Elena mentioned something about it."

"No, she didn't. Whatever you think is going on, it's all in your head, no one is hiding stuff from you, you want to know something, just ask."

She sighed with a small shake of her head. She was unsure if she bought it but she didn't see why Damon would lie to her. Sure it was Damon and that should've been a reason but he didn't lie to her so maybe her loneliness was just making her paranoid.

"Fine." She conceded. "So will everyone just stop leaving me out? I kind of wouldn't mind knowing if we're going to have to be on guard for psychotic crazy original vampires showing up."

"Fine." He agreed. "Just don't do anything stupid."

She turned on her side to face him giving him a look.

"Anything more stupid then you've already done."

"Don't challenge me." She warned him.

"Kenzie."

She glared at him and he rolled his eyes. "Fine, Redbird, I'm serious, don't do anything stupid. You don't have any vampire powers or witch powers going for you and I wasn't lying when I said I'd be a little upset if something happened to you."

Kenzie laughed as she sat up. "For you, that's practically a confession of your undying love. Too bad you're getting it on with the she vamp or I'd jump you."

"She's not here." He pointed out.

Kenzie rolled out of her bed so she could change, not caring if he was watching her or not. "see, double standards, no. You were all 'whine, whine, bitch, bitch, I don't want anyone elses hands all over you' but it's okay for you to go fuck whoever you want and think I'll let you back into my bed."

He smirked as he gestured to him lying in her bed. She unhooked her bra and took it off, turning towards him.

"Not what I mean and you know it." She grabbed a tank top and slipped it on over her head, noticing he was still looking at her chest. "Eyes up here, moron."

"You can't get all naked in front of me and try to argue, there's rules on that. Also, saying you won't fuck me, then getting naked is all sorts of unfair." He pointed out.

"I'm reminding you of what you screwed up." She batted her eyelashes at him. "I'm all for fooling around Damon, you know that but if you're going to give me rules, you get them too. I'm all about being fair."

"Rose, who?" He asked, knowing he was treading on thin ice. To go down that road again with Kenzie would only be bad for him and he knew it but another part of him just couldn't get enough of her and missed her and her body.

"Nice try." She told him, slipping on the tiny shorts she slept in, for some reason taking great delight in getting Damon all hot and bothered and knowing that, even though it was all physical, he still wanted her. She lied down on her bed, pulling the covers over her and noting with some satisfaction the he got under the covers too, pulling her into his chest. She didn't know why this made her so happy but it did.

"Since I've had so much time to myself, I've been thinking about something I want to look into more now."

"What's that?" he asked, running his fingers through her hair.

"Two founders, Jack and Jill Miller."

His hand stilled. "Where did you hear those names?" He cautiously asked.

"Jeremy found them what seems like forever ago now. Apparently they're part of the Millers that founded the town but apparently they were later mentioned as vampires. Did you know them?"

"I knew of the Millers." Damon hesitantly told her. "I actually remember Jack, from the war."

"You were in the war?" She asked in disbelief.

"Don't sound so surprised, I told you I was pretty decent as a human." He told her with an eye roll. "All I know was there was a baby born just after he went to war and he came home early but I don't remember why. I don't know if they disappeared when all the vampires were rounded up but I couldn't tell you what happened, I was a little busy being dead."

"So if they had become Vampires, chances were they ended up in the tomb but you said there was a child right? So they would've been turned after the birth of their child but what happened to it after they were trapped in the tomb?"

"I'm guessing relatives took it." Damon suggested. "But your hair is definitely a Miller trait."

"What?" she asked.

"I remember Jill now that you mentioned her. She had this fiery red hair and these hazel eyes, your eyes are definitely greener. If not for Jack, and if I wasn't in love with Katherine, I probably would have courted her."

"courted?" She asked with a laugh.

"Can you stop for a minute and remember what time I lived in?" He asked with a scowl.

"Wait a second. So you fell in love with Elena because she reminds you of Katherine and you're all over me because my hair and eyes remind you of my ancestor. Sheesh, do I be insulted?"

"Oh please." He waved it off. "You jumped me, remember? Besides I didn't remember much about them until you gave me their names."

"Were they the only Millers in town?"

"At the time, yes. The rest of the family had already moved West but Jack and Jill had just married and wanted to settle into town."

"So if the others had left, where would the baby have gone because I'm guessing I'm descended from Baby Miller if the red hair comes from Jill. I need to talk to Stefan, maybe he'll remember something more."

"No, not a good idea." Damon told her.

"Why?"

"Because he's in the tomb and we don't want Katherine filling your head with lies."

She sat up, her eyes shining in excitement. "Of course! Katherine would know about the Millers, especially if they were turned. Maybe she turned them."

"No." Damon said. "Absolutely not. Katherine is a lying conniving bitch, before you know it, you'll be willingly handing yourself over to her so she can feed or something."

"Then come with me. Stefan will be there too."

"No, I don't want you anywhere near her."

Kenzie suspiciously furrowed her brow as she stared at Damon, trying to figure out why he was so adamant about her not seeing Katherine.

"Look." Damon tried to explain. "she'll more than likely find a way to kill you and since you don't care either way, it's up to me to make sure you stay alive."

"Why do you even care?" She asked, exasperated. "you're Damon Salvatore, you're not supposed to care. Unless I'm eEena, which I'm not."

"Stop." He told her, swinging his feet over the side of the bed and standing up. "Just stop with the Elena shit, okay? There's a lot you don't know, so just drop it Kenzie and stay the hell away from Katherine, got it?"

She had never seen his anger really directed at her like this and she just stared at him, dumbfounded.

"I'm serious, if I find out you went down there, I'll-" He stopped, knowing threatening her life wouldn't do anything. "-I'll turn you into a vampire."

She sat up on her knees, her hands on her hips as she glared at him. "I hate you."

"No, you don't. Go to sleep, we'll talk later."

He left out her door and she could only scream in frustration. What a complete and absolute douche bag.

… … …