Alexandria Gilbert

by JChavz95

Vampires, witches, werewolves and doppelgangers, oh my! All Alexa Gilbert wanted was a quiet life, a free drink and to party the night away with her friends without being nagged by her twin sister Elena, but the arrival of the mysterious Salvatore brothers may just ruin those plans... Starts Season 1, Episode 1, Slowburn Damon/OC, Now on Season 4!

31. Katerina

Disclaimer: I only own my OCs

A/N: I feel so mean with this chapter haha it starts off so lovely and then things get worse and worse. Of course, that's how all of season 2 is but I promise it all works out in the end! As with all flashback episodes, this one was a bit tricky but I think I did alright with it :)

XXX

I stared at my reflection in the mirror, lightly tracing my lips with my finger. They were, once again, tingling. But tingling in a good way. In a way that made me feel... ecstatic.

And I didn't know why.

I didn't know what the hell was causing that reaction. But it occurred everytime that I thought of Damon. My Damon. And I always ended up feeling so so so happy. Like I could just go boom with happiness.

But at the same time, there was this... deep, dark, sad pit. It just ate away at my happiness, making me feel sick to my stomach. It was such a weird feeling.

And what was even worse, I had the horrible feeling that I was forgetting something. Something important. But I just... couldn't figure it out. And damn that just annoyed the hell outta me.

But for the more important news. I was ready. Being kidnapped had helped me work it out. No, it had helped me accept it. I had spent so long trying to deny it. Deny it to myself. Deny it to Elena. Deny it to everyone else around me. Deny it to... him. But I was ready now. Stupid, isn't it? That it is only after a life-threatening experience like that that I am able to admit it.

I lov-

"Alexa!"

I sighed and rolled my eyes before turning to face my dear twin standing in the doorway.

"Yes Elena?" I asked in a perfectly pleasant tone of voice as I told myself that my twin didn't realise what she interrupted.

"Stefan just phoned," my darling oblivious twin answered with a wave of her phone. She was so utterly unaware that she had interrupted a Revelation moment, it was actually rather ridiculous. But that was my sister. So utterly oblivious at times.

"And what does dear Stefan want, twinnie?"

"He wants us to go down the Boarding House."

Really?

Seriously?

He wants us to go down to the Boarding House? Why can't come to our house, for a change? I mean, come one, we were kidnapped and our lives were threatened not that long ago. Cough, yesterday, cough. And he wants us to go to him.

Je-sus Stefan.

Talk about demanding.

"But Ellie, I don't wanna go to the Boarding House," I groaned, stumbling over and slumping down on my bed. I stared pitifully up at my twin through my fringe, silently begging her to not make me go out.

"Tough," Elena said as she walked forward and grabbed my arm. "Stefan said that it's important."

"Don't care what Stefan says," I muttered as my twin tugged on my arm and I went limp.

"Yes you do," Ellie slumped down next to me and poked my thigh.

"But he always says that it's important," I pouted as I turned onto my side so that I was facing my dear twin.

"That's because it is normally vampire related, which, of course, makes it very important."

I took the chance to closely look at my twin. I studied her face, playing attention to the obvious tiredness. There was a weariness in her body as she, too, turned onto her side. I knew that our little adventure in kidnapping had gotten to her. It was why she had snuck into my bed last night, even if she did disappear once the sun was in the sky.

"Ellie, are you ok?" I asked, staring my sister in the eye, just daring her to lie to me.

"I didn't sleep very well last night," she admitted, taking my hand in hers and looking down at it.

"To be perfectly honest, my dearest twin, I'd be very worried if you did sleep well. In fact, I would be even more inclined to seek professional help for you."

"And we all know how you love to be perfectly honest."

"Oh shush, Ellie," I stuck my tongue out at my sister, receiving a jab in the ribs in reply.

"But there is a more important question that needs to be asked."

"Oh?" I prompted, raising an eyebrow. We both knew that my attention had been successfully captured.

"How did you sleep, Lexa?"

Ah, damn, I was really really hoping that she would not ask me that. Crap. I had hoped that I had managed to fool her last night. Once she was in my bed and doing her barnacle impression, my sister had fallen asleep pretty quickly. So I didn't have to fake sleep for long. It was how I knew when she disappeared back to her own room.

"Well, uh," I stammered out, my mind desperately searching for an answer that she would believe.

"Alexa," Elena said, an unspoken warning in her tone, just daring me to hide the truth.

"Fine," I pouted before answering her question. "I didn't sleep at all."

"At all?"

Aaaaaaand there go the worried eyes.

"Hey, don't stress it twin, I just had a lot on my mind and as a result, I just… couldn't sleep."

"What were you thinking about?"

Do I tell? Or do I not?

If I tell her, then it will be true. I won't be able to deny it anymore. That's it. It will be out in the open. And I did want to tell someone. It would be good for me to tell someone. Especially my twin.

I looked my twin in the eye, "What do I usually think about?"

"Damon."

A small smile formed on my face. Without my permission, may I add. Stupid face.

"Yeah, Damon," the smile fell from my face as I sighed. "Y'know, I get the strangest feeling that he came over last night."

"And why is that strange?"

"Because I don't remember him visiting. And I would remember that. And don't even think about saying what you are about to say."

Ellie giggled slightly as she held up her hands in the surrender position.

"So do you think that he compelled you?" my twin asked, her face once again becoming serious. I knew that if she thought he had compelled me, then she would rain Elena fury down on the vampire.

"I don't know what to think, but whatever it was that happened last night, I know now."

"What do you know?"

I stared at the ceiling as I said, "How I feel about him."

"Oh?"

Right. Come on Alexa. It's now or never.

"Elena," I whispered as my gaze returned to my twin. "I'm in love with Damon Salvatore."

Ellie, my stupid, horrible, wonderful, amazing sister, didn't even bother looking surprised.

"Oh Lexa, it's about time that you admitted it."

"I know, I know. It was just never the right time. Things kept getting in the way or I just wasn't ready to admit it. Hell, I'm probably still not ready."

"So why are you?"

"Why are you asking questions to which you already know the answer?"

"Alexa."

Damn it twin.

"Because of yesterday. I thought that I would never see him again. And while I refused to think it, I realised that I didn't want to die without telling him how I felt about him."

Why are there tears in my eyes? I can't be crying. Darn it, I am. Why? Why? Why?

Hang on a minute…

I stared at my twin in suspicion as I said, "Why are you being so calm about this? I thought you hated Damon."

My sister shrugged, "I don't hate him, I just don't particularly like him. Besides, he makes you happy. And I could never hate anything that makes you happy."

"Thank you, Ellie."

"You're welcome, little sister."

I beamed at my dear twin and pulled her into a hug.

"So when are you gonna tell him?"

"Noooo idea. I would say when the time is right, but when is it ever right? So instead I am gonna say when we have the opportunity to talk for more than five minutes without getting interrupted."

"Then you will be waiting for quite a long time."

"Oh don't worry dear," I smirked wickedly as I wiggled my eyebrows at her. "I have my ways. Especially if a certain someone who loves me dearly agrees to distract a certain bunny eating Salvatore for me."

Elena laughed and rolled her eyes, "Yes Alexa, I'll do that for you."

Hang on a minute though…. Speaking of our dear Stefan Salvatore…

"Oh god, Stefan," Ellie gasped, shooting upright and getting off the bed. "He wanted us to meet him."

Oh yeah, forgot about that. I had more important things to think about.

Whoopsy.

"Do we have to?" I sighed as I reluctantly stood up.

"Yes, we do," Ellie replied as she grabbed my arm and pulled me from the room.

"Fine," I gave in but not without a pout.

XXX

I impatiently banged on the door while Ellie waited beside me, her arms crossed. I bounced gently on the balls of my feet as I waited.

C'mon Salvatore's. One of you open the damn door.

I knew that Elena was hoping that it would be Stefan answering the door because, well, she loved him. And they're dating each other. Or at least, I think they're dating each other. It's all a bit… unclear to me. Not that I wanted to get involved, anyway. No, it would probably be a lot easier to wait on the side-lines and offer support when needed.

Yup, that's much easier. And safer.

So imagine Elena's delight when a different vampire than Stefan opened the door.

My heart skipped a beat as I gazed upon the person in the doorway. And from that alone, I'm gonna take a guess and say that you can probably guess who answered the door.

"Hello Elena," Damon greeted my twin before his eyes flickered over in my direction. "Hello Alexa."

"Hi Damon," I smiled up at my vampire. And, dammit, I had to resist the urge to giggle and bite my lip.

Come on Alexa, keep it together girl.

Don't start getting all gooey-gooey just because you're looking at and speaking to the guy you lurve. Getcha head in the game. And make that stupid crush of yours behave. Can't let it take control. Hells no.

Using her mystical tin senses, Elena spoke up before Damon could engage me in a conversation where I would inevitably end up blurting out something which probably shouldn't be said in this very moment. Basically, I would end up declaring my love for Damon. Which probably wouldn't be the best idea. I think a declaration like that deserves a setting better than the Boarding House porch.

"Is Stefan here?" she asked in her 'tell me now' tone of voice. God I hated that tone of voice. "He called. He said that it was important."

Damon's eyes momentarily flickered in Elena's direction before returning to me. And, call me crazy, but I could have sworn that I detected a hint of regret in that ice blue gaze. But what could he possibly be regretting?

Despite my excitement at seeing my vampire, I was forced to shift my gaze in an attempt to escape the regret in his eyes. Seeing the regret in his eyes made me feel all antsy inside. I hated seeing it, especially directed at me.

"Right this way," Damon directed, fully opening the door and moving to the side.

Ellie went in first, her gaze darting around, looking for her own Salvatore brother. I followed her at a much slower pace, allowing my arm to brush against Damon's. And for once, I gave myself permission to enjoy the tingling feeling that rushed through my body at his touch.

After all this time fighting it, it was actually rather nice to allow myself to enjoy it.

"Hey," Stefan said, appearing at the end of the hall with one of his broodier looks that quickly disappeared. He smiled at my sister as he walked towards her. I could see Ellie fighting a return smile as she made her way over to him. It was obvious that she still liked him. She just had to start dating him again.

"What is this about?" Ellie asked, glancing between the Salvatore boys as I joined her. Hmmm, maybe while Elena interrogates Stefan, I may be able to get some alone time with Damon…. Not in that way, of course. Just so that I can have a conversation with him, a conversation about a certain subject, certain feelings…

But, unfortunately, the answer to Elena's question did not come from Stefan, or even from Damon, thus meaning that my plan would never come to fruition. Instead, the person who answered was one of the few people who I never wanted to see again.

"You!" my twin exclaimed as she caught sight of Rose the Vampire Who Kidnapped Me and My Twin.

At the initial sight of her, all I could feel was fear. What if she was here to try and take my twin away from me again?

What could only have been instinct and habit had Elena stepping in front of me, much to my annoyance. I mean, come on twinnie, let me have a shot at the bitch who tried to use you as leverage. I wasn't allowed to hurt her beforehand, at least give me a chance this time round.

"What is she doing here?" I asked, spinning around to look at my vampire, eyebrow raised and a distinct Not Happy look on my face.

Damon was just about to answer me when Stefan cut in, "Why don't we move into the library and then Rose will explain."

"She's not the only one who needs to give an explanation," I muttered, stalking forward into the library, grabbing my twin's arm on the way. As we walked back the kidnapper, I gave her a dark look and pushed myself between her and my twin.

Their explanations had better be very, extremely good.

Or I will not be happy.

Le sigh, and I was having such a good morning.

XXX

Elena and I sat down on the sofa. I had a pout firmly fixed on my face and my arms crossed. It's safe to say that I was intent upon showing my displeasure and annoyance.

It wasn't so much the fact that Rose was here that annoyed me. Although that did annoy me too because why didn't either of the brothers kill the bitch who tried to sell my sister off to an evil vampire for a sacrifice. It was more to do with the fact that because she was here, I wouldn't get the opportunity to talk to Damon. Because her being here, it meant that bad doo doo was coming and that meant no quiet time. And that meant no confessions of feelings.

"Okay, you have to understand that I only know what I've picked up over the years," Rosie started, pacing in front of the fireplace as we all stared at her. "And I don't know what's true and what's not true." Well that really was not at all helpful. "It's the problem with all this vampire crap, but Klaus, I know he's real."

I guess that's a start. But seriously, Klaus? Not exactly a scary name, is it? Think of all the nicknames that you could make from that. Klausuy-Wausy. Klaus the Mouse. MouseKlaus. Klausy. I could go on and on. Was I being ridiculous on purpose? Yes. Did I care? No.

"Who is he?" Ellie asked, obviously not focusing on the name as much as I was. She was being the sensible one, for a change.

"He's one of the Originals," Damon spoke up from his position on the sofa arm next to me. "He's a legend."

And yet, no one had thought to mention him to us beforehand.

"From the first generation of vampires," Stefan continued from the chair on the left.

"Soooo, sort of like Elijah?" I asked, looking between the vampires as I uncrossed my arms and actually took an interest.

Rose immediately shook her head, "No, Elijah was the Easter bunny compared to Klaus." I liked the Easter bunny. He brings me chocolate. Anyone who brings me chocolate I like. It was a lot easier to think of that then be thinking of the fact that Elijah, who scared the shit out of me, was nothing compared to this Klaus person. Seriously, what kind of name was Klaus? "He's a foot soldier. Klaus is the real deal."

Ok, all joking aside, the thought of Elijah being just a foot soldier scares the be-jesus outta me. I mean, Elijah terrified me and if Klaus is supposed to be worse, then…. God, I don't even want to think about how bad he would be. He would most likely make terrified sound like an understatement.

"Klaus is known to be the oldest," Stefan interjected, giving Rose a look. Thus meaning the strongest.

Eek.

Alright Stefan, you can stop now. We get it. Be scared of him. He very very very bad. And we don't want to meet him, like, ever.

"Ok," Elena said, a strained tone in her voice. "So, you're saying that the oldest vampire in the history of time is coming after me?"

Oh shit fuck shit.

Not good.

Not good.

Not good.

I reached over and took my sister's hand in mine, giving it a gentle squeeze.

Don't worry Ellie, no nasty, strong, evil vampire is going to get anywhere near you. Not if I have anything to say about it. And I always have something to say, even if it's not constructive and useful. But the point is, Klaus won't get his vampire hands anywhere near my twin, even if he does terrify me senseless.

Which he most likely will.

"Yes," Rose answered at the exact same time that Stefan said, "No."

Sooo not helpful guys, which one was it? Yes? Or no?

But, and I really really do hate to say this, I was more inclined to believe the female vampire. She didn't particularly care about us, so she wouldn't censor her answer to protect our feelings and comfort us.

Stefan, on the other hand, would immediately want to reassure and protect us. Because he does care about us.

"What they're saying is," Damon cut in before Stefan could do more than give Rose a 'look'. "I mean, if what she's saying is true…"

"Which it is," Rose interrupted with a roll of the eyes.

"And you're not just saying it so I don't kill you," Damon allowed a hint of threat to slip into his voice as he spoke to the she-vampire.

"Which I'm not," she countered, sounding not at all bothered or affected by the threat.

"Then we're looking at a solid… maybe."

…. A maybe?

Damon, my darling Damon, that's even less helpful than the yes/no answer the other two vampires gave me.

From a quick glance over at my Ellie, I could see that she shared my less than impressed thoughts. But seriously guys, you call us down here and a maybe is the best answer that you can give us?

Stefan, who could see how unimpressed we were from the looks on our faces, quickly said, "Look, Elijah's dead, right? So one else even knows that you exist."

This last part was directed at Elena. The one whose life and freedom were on the line. I was just the unimportant, concerned twin sister in this situation.

"Not that you know of," Rose said, clearly determined to keep us worried and panicking.

"That's not helping," Damon told her, giving her a tight smile. I agreed with Damon. That really wasn't helping. Like at all.

"Look, I've never even met anyone who's laid eyes on him," Stefan spoke up, trying to sound optimistic and helpful. Ah, but Stefan, my dear bunny-eater, how many vampires have you actually met? Hmm? Not many, I'm willing to bet. And even if you have met more vampires than I think you have, this isn't exactly a normal conversation topic. Is it? You don't go to a random dude or dudette and ask if they've seen a dude named Klaus. Nor would the random dude or dudette include it willy-nilly in a conversation. "I mean, we're talking about centuries of truth mixed with fiction. We don't know if he's even real. For all we know, he could just be some sort of stupid bedtime story."

I like that point, Stef, so I'm gonna support it. I'd much rather believe that he's not real.

"He's real," oh well, burst my lovely obliviousness bubble, eh Rose? "And he doesn't give up. If he wants something, he gets it." Well, tough cookies, cause he ain't getting my sister. Over my dead body. "If you're not afraid of Klaus, then you're an idiot."

"Well," I drawled, hiding my worry and panic behind a well-practiced mask. "It wouldn't be the first time that we've been called idiots."

I had to hide a smirk as Damon, my Damon, sighed and rolled his eyes.

"Alright, we're shaking," Damon snarked, looking at Rose. "You made your point."

A nudge in the ribs was the only warning that I got before Elena stood up, using our joined hands to pull me up too.

"Where are you going?" Stefan asked, immediately standing up and walking over to us. Geez, vampey, considering the fact that you are so sure that Klaus is not real, you sure are sounding worried. At least and act cool.

"School," Ellie answered, not looking at the younger Salvatore brother as she shrugged her bag onto her shoulder. I had left mine in the car. "We're late."

"Ellie," I whined, pouting at her dramatically. "Do we have to go to school? I don't wanna go to school."

I really didn't want to go to school but my twin instinct was screaming at me to overplay my not wanting to go. Fortunately, I had a reputation for not wanting to go, so it wasn't that difficult to be believed. But the look on Elena's face… it was her 'I have a plan' look. And I was getting a strong feeling that the plan didn't involve school. So I made sure to keep myself on her side so that I would involved.

Stefan turned to leave the room, "Let me grab my stuff and I'll go with you."

Elena looked as though she wasn't too thrilled with that idea so, because I was such an amazing sister, I held up my hand to interrupt, "Whoa, whoa, whoa, easy there vamp-boy, hold ya horses. Ellie and I need some sister time because I have something really really important to talk to her about that is something that I don't want you to hear. And we can't do that with you there… no offence intended. Besides, we know where that building of Hell is."

I smiled at the vampire as I removed my hand from Elena's and instead wrapped my arm around her shoulders.

"Toodles."

With that said, I sent a bright smile to my vampire and guided my twin out of the Salvatore Boarding House.

"Thanks Lexa," Ellie smiled at me as we reluctantly parted and entered the car.

"No problem, twin," I shrugged casually. "Besides, my twinstinct as telling me that you didn't want Salvatore Junior coming along."

"Oh yeah, the twinstinct."

"Hasn't failed us yet."

We sat in content silence born from growing up together, Elena driving to somewhere that was not school and me sitting, doing nothing. Well… alright… I wasn't doing nothing… I was daydreaming. Not dreaming of anything in particular… nope…certainly not about a certain blue-eyed, dark haired vampire…

"So, dearest sister of mine, what is it, exactly, that you are planning?" I asked, slowly turning my head to face my twin as I finally thought it best to find out exactly what my sister was up to.

Ellie glanced over at me before, almost hesitantly, replying, "We need to talk to Katherine."

… Does not compute…

"Say what?"

"I anyone knows about Klaus, it's her."

"How'd you figure that one out?"

"I'm her doppelganger. Elijah knew her. And she always seems to know everything. Plus, she was running from something. It only makes sense that it was from Klaus."

Yeah, that's true, she does always seem to know everything.

I hate that.

I hate her.

I nodded in understanding, "Well, that would explain why you didn't want Stefan to come."

There was a thoughtful silence, "… Do you think that this is a good idea?"

It was my turn to think for a minute, a long minute, "I think that you're right, as usual, and that if you think that this is a good idea, then it probably is."

"So, we're doing this?"

"Appears so. Of course, we do have to consider the fact that she won't tell us anything for free."

Elena snorted, "Of course, Katherine never does anything for free nor does she do anything the easy way for other people."

"So, we need something that will make her want to talk. And tell the truth."

We cast our minds out for anything that could do the job.

"Blood?" Ellie eventually suggested with an uncomfortable look on her face.

I raised my eyebrows and repeated, "Blood?"

"Well, she is desiccating down in the tomb and we know that she needs blood in order to survive…"

"And if there is one thing that Katherine Pierce slash Katerina Petrova does, it's survive. Excellent, blood it is. Question: where are we gonna get the blood? Cause I sure as hell ain't gonna tap a vein for her."

"I wouldn't expect you to, Lexa," my twin was quick to reassure me.

"Good."

XXX

I waited anxiously outside the Lockwood residence for my dear sweet Tyler to arrive. Elena had dropped me off to get the other essentials while she disappeared off to get the blood. I still didn't know how exactly she was gonna get her hands on it. And I still didn't want to.

But any ways, on the ride over I had phoned Ty-Ty because I knew for a fact that he had what we needed. And as for how I knew that, well, that's a secret. Tyler had agreed to immediately skip school and meet me outside his house. He such a sweetie like that.

Come on Ty, come on. We're on a tight schedule here. Stefan was bound to discover our plans soon, especially when we never turn up at school. I could probably get away with not turning up, but Ellie definitely couldn't. That's one of the perks of being known as the difficult, naughty twin.

The sound of a car pulling into the Lockwood driveway caught my attention and I looked up from where I was biting my fingers. My nail vanish was already chipped so I felt no guilt at nibbling on my fingers. I watched as the car pulled up next to me and the moment that the door opened, I flung myself forward, trusting my Tyler to catch me.

Strong arms wrapped around me and pulled me close against a warm body. Sighing in contentment, I rested my head against his shoulder and allowed my body to relax. The last time that I had seen Tyler was before Elena and I were taken by Rose and Trevor. And before we even had a single hope of a rescue, I honestly believed that I would never see him again.

And boy did that thought just about kill me.

"Hey Alex," Ty-Ty whispered in my ear as he gave me an extra squeeze. While I didn't know about my adventures in abductions, Ty still knew that something was wrong. Of course, I insisted that he tell me all about the fact that he had triggered his werewolf curse. Because that was more important than what happened to me.

"Hi Ty," I whispered back, allowing a lazy smile to form on my face.

"What is it that you need, Alexa?"

"Uh, hang on a minute," I reluctantly pulled away, leaving just one arm wrapped around Ty's waist, and pulled my phone out of my pocket. Before she left, Elena had texted me a list of what it was that she, sorry, we, needed from Tyler. It was almost as though she didn't trust me. But, unfortunately, it's not like I can at all complain since I was gonna ask her for a list anyways, she just beat me to it.

"Why doesn't it surprise me that you have a list?" Tyler asked, a faint hint of amusement in his voice.

"Oh shut up," I stick my tongue out at him as I opened the text. After a quick scan through, I held it up so that my dear brother could read it. Biting my lip, I gave him a few more seconds to read through the list before asking, "Are you going to be able to get all of that?"

"I might have a bit of trouble with a couple of items but for you, dear Alexa, I shall do it."

"Aww, thank you bro," I beamed, going in for the fist-bump, which was quickly answered.

"Well then, let's go get these things for you."

With that said, Tyler used the arm that he still had around my shoulder to direct me towards the house.

XXX

I took the liberty of making myself a coffee while Tyler searched his house for what we needed. Unfortunately for Tyler, that also meant pinching any chocolate that he had lying around. It was his own silly fault though, he knew that I had virtually no will power to resist the siren call of chocolate when I saw it.

"You never did tell me why you needed this stuff," Tyler said as he came into the kitchen, his arms full of the goodies.

At the sight of me sitting on the kitchen counter with a mug of coffee in one hand and some chocolate in the other, he shook his head and rolled his eyes. But that was the only reaction that I got. Is it bad that that disappointed me slightly? Probably. Since it meant that my dear brother was getting far too used to it.

"Elena needs it too," I answered around a mouthful of chocolate, smiling sweetly at the mock-disgusted look that he shot me as he put everything into a heavy-duty bag. "We've learnt some potentially disturbing information recently and we need answers. Unfortunately, the only person who can give us those answers won't do it without a price. Hence the," I waved a hand around, looking for the right word, "stuff."

"Considering what you asked me to get for you, that makes a bit more sense than the scenarios that I was thinking up."

"Well, you've always had an overactive imagination," I smirked, finishing off my coffee and placing my mug in the sink.

"Ha ha," Ty deadpanned, rolling his eyes.

I giggled and slid off the counter before walking over to my dear Ty and draping myself over his back.

"Awww you know I love you Tywy," I cooed in his ear, only to get a jab in the ribs in reply. Laughing, I danced away from anymore incoming elbows.

Being here with Tyler, it helped me feel better. I had a clearer head and I could think of something other than the deep, dark pit and the fact that some psycho wanted to kill my twin. For a short while, I just… didn't have to worry about anything. At all. Because big bro Tyler would worry about it for me.

"Tywy? That's a new one," Ty remarked, looking over at my new position in the doorway.

"Well, what can I say?" I shrugged with a cheeky smile. "It just came to me."

"A lot of things just 'come to you', Alex, but that doesn't mean that you should share them with everyone else."

"Oh, puh-lease, you love my nicknames for you."

"Oh yeah? You sure about?"

"Pos. It. Ive."

"You'd say that even if you weren't."

I gasped in fake horror, "Le gasp, you know me too well, dear Tyleranthia."

"Whatever," big bro smirked and rolled his eyes, before striding over to me and putting the bag down on the ground. "Now, is there anything else that you need?"

"Well… if you're offering… could you possibly give me a lift somewhere?"

"If it means getting back to school later, then I'd be happy too, little brat."

"Hey! Who are you calling little?"

"You."

With that said, the meanie reached forward, picked me up and threw me over his shoulder. He picked up the bag with his other hand and strode out towards the car.

"Hey! Ty! Put me down!" I protested, words becoming mixed up with giggles. "You can't do this."

"Just did, little sister," Tyler smirked while lowering me to my feet.

"You're an ass," I muttered, playfully punching him on the shoulder. "I hate you."

"Sure you do."

Sticking my tongue out at the meanie, I climbed into the car and fixed an exaggerated pout on my face. I knew that Ty would appreciate my dramatics right now. After what he had gone through, triggering the curse, and what he would go through, a bit of normality would be appreciated by him.

"Awww," Ty-Ty mocked, poking me in the side. "Now where is it that you want to go?"

"Uh, to the woods near your family's old cellar."

"Why do you want to go there?" Tyler asked as he started the car and drove off.

"Because that's where we put the person who we want information out of. Duh."

"Don't be rude, Alexa."

"I'm not being rude. I'm just following the example set by my elders."

"Of course you are."

Oooh lookie, another eye roll. That must be some sort of record.

"That reminds me, can you cover for me today?"

"After all the torment that you have put me through, you want me to cover for you while you bunk off school?"

"Well, yeah," I said, grinning at Tyler's exaggerated incredulousness.

"Fine, if I must."

"Thanks, my favourite little Tyler," I leant over and pecked my dear big brother on the cheek. "Just tell anyone who asks that I've gone back to yours to sleep in peace."

"The fact that that is likely enough to be true should worry you, Alex."

"Meh, it'll be fine," I waved away his concerns. "I've passed school so far."

"Yeah, so far."

"Shush, child, shush," I instructed, placing a hand over Tyler's mouth. "Now drive."

XXX

It wasn't very long until Tyler had dropped me off at the agreed meeting point and he was back on his way to Hell. Whoops, I mean school. But it is basically the same thing, except school is more boring than Hell. And more painful…

Anyways, when it took longer than five minutes for Elena to arrive, I started to get bored. Not surprising, really. I mean, it is me that we're talking about here. But I tried to be good, I tried to just stand there normally. But unfortunately, I had a lot of nervous energy to use up. Although I had tried to convince myself otherwise, I was absolutely shitting it at the thought of seeing Katherine again. But I knew that I had to do this, for my sister. So I just tried to ignore the part where she killed me and focussed on the part where she could help me save my sister. Of course, that didn't stop the nervous energy from building up.

But in the end… I just couldn't resist.

It just happened. I couldn't control myself. The music just burst out of me.

"I'm on the highway to hell…. Mu mu mu mu… I'm on the highway to hell."

Add in a few head bobs, weird dance moves and a belting voice and you pretty much have an accurate image of what I was doing.

Hehe, I do love that song.

One of ma faves.

"… my friends are gonna be there too… I'm on the highway to hell… no stop signs… hey satan, payin' my dues… I'm on my way to the Promised Land… don't stop me… I'm on the highway to hell… I'M ON THE HIGHWAY TO HELL! Yeah!"

An amused cough had me freezing mid-dance move.

Ohhhhh, please tell me that no one is there, that no one has just watched me dancing like a lunatic.

Planting an abnormally large smile on my face, I spun around. Standing behind me were Elena and Caroline. My twin had an amused look on her face and she looked thoroughly entertained. I dreaded to think how much she had seen. The blonde vampire had a look of 'why does this not surprise me?' on her face.

"Hey guys," I beamed, skipping forward as I tried to silently order them to forget what they saw.

"Oh Alexa," Ellie shook her head. "Did you get bored?"

"Well, yeah," I replied, not at all ashamed at the fact that I got bored while waiting. It was a lot better for her to think that. I couldn't let her know the truth.

I picked up the bag from Tyler and linked arms with my twin, before allowing her to lead the way.

"So didja get everything that we need?" I asked as us three girlies walked through the woods.

"Yeah, Caroline had some blood that we could use at her house and I stopped by the house and got a little something extra that should help."

"That's good, do I get to know what that little something extra is?"

"Nope, not yet."

Is that an evil little grin that I detect there twinnie? Evil twinnie. She had learnt far too much from me.

"Fine, I suppose that I can accept that," I sniffed, dramatically throwing an arm over my face, enjoying the giggle that I got from her.

"Moving on," Elena said, gently jabbing me in the ribs. "Did you sort out your alibi with Tyler?"

"Yup, I am currently at his house, sleeping the day away because I am sick after our little adventure. Have you sorted yours out?"

"No, not yet. Hey Caroline?"

"Yeah?" the blonde answered, looking back at my twin from where she was leading the way.

"I need you to be my alibi while we're here."

"I… I don't know… I want to but I don't know how well I'd do."

"Please Care-Bear?" I pouted pitifully, knowing that we needed her to do this. "For us?"

I even batted my eyelashes for extra effect.

"Oh ok then," she relented after the famous twin puppy dog look came out.

"Thank you, Blondie," I grinned, revelling in the mini-victory.

"Tell everyone that I wasn't feeling well and I went to Tyler's house to be with Alexa," Elena instructed in one of her 'I'm in charge of this plan and I will be obeyed' tones. "That would make more sense than me going home by myself."

"I can't believe that I am agreeing to this," the vampire sighed, shaking her head at us. "I'm a terrible liar."

Uh oh, are those doubts that I hear Miss Forbes?

"And keep Stefan busy," Ellie added as it occurred to her that her maybe boyfriend would be very concerned if he didn't see her at school. "I don't want him to know what we're up to."

Smart idea that, twin. Stefan would most definitely not approve of this. Which is why we diverted him off earlier. The last thing that we need now is for him to catch us right before we even get any answers.

"I'm even worse at duplicity and you know this," Care protested as she gave us one of her wide-eyed looks. Yup, those are definitely doubts that I am hearing. Tut tut.

"You managed to keep me occupied when Katherine paid Stefan a visit."

Point to the Gilbert girl. Well done Ellie. Even if it was quite brutal and savage. It seemed to get the job done. Although I did make a mental note to apologise to Caroline later for the mean remark.

"Yeah, because she threatened me," the blonde retorted, giving my sister an unimpressed look. Hmmm, threatening, eh? Well, if you say that that works…

"Not that I'm saying that you should use that as a tactic," Caroline was quick to say when she saw me opening my mouth. Damn, that girl knows me too well. "It's just… Stefan's gonna see right through me."

Elena stopped so that she could look Caroline in the eye, "Caroline, as our friend, do you promise or not?"

Oooh Ellie, dirty move.

Sob, I am so proud of you twin.

"You had to break out the girlfriend code," Care sighed, but she relented. "Ok. I promise."

"Ok," Elena smiled slightly as she continued walking. We were rapidly approaching the steps that lead down to the tomb. We really did spend far too much time around this old, not there anymore church.

"Why don't you want Stefan to know?" the she-vamp asked as we all paused to stare down the stairs in front of us.

"Well, because he would never ever want us to do this, nor would he ever be ok with us doing this," I explained for my twin. Out of the corner of my eye, I could see the blonde nodding at my answer, obviously accepting it.

It was then that we made our way down the stairs.

I tightened my grip on Elena's arm. While I was near enough over my fear of Katherine, and that was only because of my encounter with Rose and Elijah, there was still a part of me that was scared of her. And I think that that part will be staying with me for a long time to come. Which was quite fair, I mean, she did kill me. The bitch. So, in order to actually go through with this plan, I used to twin to comfort myself.

Stopping in front of the door to the tomb, we all took a deep breath.

"Are you sure that you want to do this?" Caroline asked once last time, obviously hoping that we would change our minds and leave.

"Yes, we're sure," Ellie answered, staring at the door, a determined look entering her expression.

"Yup, absolutely and completely sure," I agreed and became immediately proud of myself when my voice didn't shake.

"She's the only one who knows the truth about Klaus," Elena continued, explain our reasoning to Caroline. "The only one who can tell us how to stop him."

And stop him we will.

"But you're asking for the truth from someone who's probably never given it. Are you sure about this?"

"Caroline, she has nothing to gain from lying to us. In fact, I would even say that telling us the truth would benefit her, even if it is just to terrify us," I answered, unable to take my gaze off of the only thing that blocked Katherine from me.

"I just… I can't just sit back and wait," Elena said, a quiet desperation in her voice. "I have to know, Caroline. Please."

Finally convinced, or at least, as convinced as she was ever gonna be, the vampire moved towards the door to the tomb and slowly pulled it open. We watched as Caroline eased the rock away and to the side, revealing the dark, dank tomb within. She was finally in the place where she should have been all this time.

"Katherine?" Elena called into the dark tomb ahead of us, before exchanging a look with me.

"Hello?" I added my voice to the call. Even though I really didn't want to see her, I knew that I needed to help my sister with her mission.

Noticing that Caroline was still stood next to us, my twin said, "We'll be ok from here."

A noise from the tomb pulled our attention back to the entrance. And what is that that I see?

Oh my god, it's a zombie!

Haha, only kidding, it was just a very not good-looking vampire. Hmmm, is it bad that I got so much pleasure out of seeing Katherine looking so weak?

The twin lookalike staggered to the entrance of the tomb before coming to a stop just before the magic barrier.

"Hello Elena, Alexa," she sneered, her voice husky and weak. "You come to watch me wither away?"

"I have," I smirked, deliberately tormenting the vampire who killed me. "She didn't."

The look the Kathy shot me was absolutely poisonous. And I revealed in it. I knew that right now, I was safe. She couldn't hurt me. So I would enjoy tormenting the evil bitch.

"Goodbye Caroline," she snapped pointedly, clearly not caring that her attempt to get rid of the other vampire was blaringly obvious.

Sensing her hesitance, my twin was quick to reassure, "As long as we stay on this side of the door, she can't hurt us. Please."

You've been using that word a lot twin. You really must be desperate to get these answers. Not that I could blame her. The thought of the oldest vampire in existence being after you is not a comforting one.

With a great amount of reluctance, Caroline left us alone in the tomb with Katherine. I watched her leave out of the corner of my eye. Even with the knowledge that I was safe, I was reluctant to turn my back to Katherine.

"Stefan know that you're both here?" Kat asked, a mocking hint to her weak voice as she slumped against the entrance to the tomb.

I made the conscious effort to let Elena take control of this conversation. After all, the subject matter did affect her more. It was her life on the line, not mine. But I would listen and I would plan.

"I brought you some things," Ellie said instead of giving Katherine an answer to her question, and gave me a nod. Nodding back, I put the bag down on the ground next to my twin. Elena put her own bag of goodies down on the ground next to it.

"You came to bribe me?" the vamp asked, sounding slightly shocked as she stared at the bags. "What is it that you want?"

"I want you to tell me about Klaus," Elena answered firmly as she gestured for me to start to empty the bag that I had gotten from Tyler.

A flash of surprise crossed Katherine's face, but it was gone in an instant, leaving behind a cool, calm exterior.

"Hmm, you have been busy," she remarked casually as I straightened up, deciding that gift giving time was over. She wasn't going to get anything else from me until I got some answers in return.

"You have nooooo idea," I muttered, leaning against the wall. Busy was an understatement compared to what we have been recently. And it had only been two days. A crappy two days.

"I brought you this," Ellie said, pulling something out of her bag. It was one of the items that I did not know about, so I was just as intrigued as Katherine was. But even I, who knew my twin better than anyone, couldn't have expected her to pull the old Petrova book out of the bag. Wow Ellie, I'd never have thought to bring that along as a bribe. Katherine's grip on the wall tightened slightly, almost unnoticeable except for the brick dust that floated down.

"It's your family history," Elena explained, opening the book and flipping through it. "It says in here that the family line ended with you."

"And we all know that that is not true," I finished for my twin, crossing my arms. "The evidence is standing right in front of you"

"You think that if you brought me some family keepsake that I'd open up?" Kathie scoffed as Elena put the book down on the ground and nudged it forward.

"Nah mate," I replied as Ellie went back to the bag. "That's why we brought this."

And ta da.

My twin pulled a bottle of blood out the bag and held it up. She made extra sure that the trapped, starving vampire could see it.

This elicited a rather strong response from said vampire. Katherine shot forward, trying to get to the blood. But she was quickly stopped by the magic barrier that kept her trapped in the tomb. Oooh unlucky there, dearie.

"You don't look so good," Elena commented, slowly walking forward.

"I wonder, how long is it until your body shuts down?" I carried on, enjoying this torment that I was inflicting.

"10 years?"

"20 years?"

"It must be painful to desiccate and mummify."

I sighed and shook my head, "We can't even begin to imagine."

Giving up on standing, Katherine slumped to the floor, leaning her tired body against the wall. Exchanging nods, we joined her, but with just a tad more grace. I let Elena take charge of the blood and watched in disgusted fascination as she poured some in a small, plastic shot glass, courtesy of moi. After I passed her a stick, Ellie pushed it across the magic barrier and into the starving vampire's greedy grasp.

Katherine grasped the glass and immediately downed the blood. It had an almost immediate effect on the vampire as her skin regained some more of its colour and she just looked better in general. Or, more like me when suffering from a bad but not too bad hangover.

"You have the Petrova fire," the vampire commented as she cast her gaze over my twin and I.

"More blood?" my twin offered, clearly pleased that the she-vamp had taken the bait. Said vampire placed the plastic cup on the floor and pushing it back in our direction.

"It's a long story, Klaus and I," Katherine offered as Elena poured her more blood. "It goes all the way back to England, 1492, after I left Bulgaria," Kathie paused before adding, "Or was thrown out."

Ok, one, 1492? Yowza, that was a long long long time ago. And two, thrown out? That sounds… potentially interesting. Meh, who am I kidding, I am so very interested in learning the story behind that. I had always wondered if Katherine was born a manipulative bitch. Or if it was a behaviour that she had learnt over the years.

Elena waited until the vampire had the blood on her side of the magic barrier before repeating, "Thrown out?"

Katherine nodded before downing the blood, "My family, your true ancestors, they disowned me. My indiscretions were not tolerated at that time."

"Why? What did you do?" I asked, curiosity taking over.

"I had a baby out of wedlock," the vampire answered before mockingly adding, "The shame."

Yikes. Poor Katherine. And I never ever thought that I would ever think that. Damn, what is happening? Am I feeling sorry for her? Yuck.

"It was kept secret?" Elena prodded as she pulled the cup back towards her.

"Mhmm," Kat nodded, taking the cup back. The strength of her grip caused the plastic to scrunch in on itself. "My baby was given away." Aww that is so sad. While I may hate the bitch for everything that she has done, I would never wish for her baby to be taken away from her. "I was banished to England and had to learn to adjust so I quickly became English. It was there that I caught the eye of a noble man named Klaus. I was quite taken with him at first until I found out what he was and what he wanted from me and then I ran like hell."

Can't say that I blame her there. I would probably run as well. Hell, there is no probably about it, I would run screaming for the hills the moment that I found out.

Ellie and I exchanged looks. We knew that the good part of the story was on its way. The part that we needed.

"So, what did Klaus want?" Elena asked as I gave her a nod.

"The same thing that he'll want from you," Katherine replied a bit too casually for my liking. "He wants to break the curse."

"By sacrificing the Petrova doppelganger," Ellie breathed as she realised her part in this. I immediately reached for her hand and took it in mine, giving it a firm squeeze.

"He wanted to drain every single drop of blood from my body."

Noooot gooooood.

XXX

Damon's POV

I wasn't even around her and she was still managing to drive me insane. What was it about that girl that I just couldn't get her out of my mind? I could still remember the softness of her lips and the warmth of her body against mine. Get it together Damon, you're supposed to be the big bad, evil brother. Forget about her, just like you made her forget about your confession.

Get Alexa Gilbert out of your head and start focusing on this Klaus problem. Because if he really was after Elena, and if he does actually get his hands on her, then there won't be an Alexa to think about.

I strode into the living room, searching for the errant vampire that I had reluctantly agreed to house. Why did I agree to do that again? Oh yeah, because she might know something about some big bad vampire who might exist and might want Elena. That was far too many 'mights' to make me happy.

Spotting her sitting on the couch, I made my way over to her.

"Alright Rosebud, I need some answers," I declared, standing right in front of her. It was then that I noticed that she was crying. "Oh please, don't tell me that you're crying cos your buddy Trevor lost his head."

You've gotta be kidding me. From what Alexa told me, he was a tool anyway.

"You've always been this sensitive?" Rose asked, wiping away the last of her tears and standing up.

Me?

Sensitive?

Only for the right person.

And you, Rosebud, are not the right person.

"Full vampire switch for this very reason," I retorted, completely avoiding answering her question. "Takes the emotion out of it."

"Yeah, you switch yours, I'll switch mine."

"Is that a dig?" I asked, allowing a hint of threat to enter my voice.

"It's an observation," Rose corrected, once again sounding completely unfazed at my threat. "Being in love with your brother's girlfriend's twin sister must be difficult."

"I'm not in love with anyone," I immediately retorted. It was practically second nature to deny my feelings for Alexa by this point. Especially since I knew that she could never return them. She deserved someone better, someone who could give her what she needed. Someone who was not me.

"You want to try that again?" Rose asked, raising an eyebrow with a challenging look.

"Don't get on my bad side," I growled, moving forward and showing a hint of fang.

"Then show me your good side," the other vampire countered, impressing me with how unfazed she was. It reminded me of another brunet that I know.

Ok, so she wants to play it like this then, well, that's easily done. Fine. I can do that, "How do I find Klaus?"

"You don't find Klaus, he finds you," Rosebud answered, shaking her head.

Ugh, that was extremely unhelpful.

"Come on," I groaned, gladly allowing the Klaus issue to take my mind off of the crazy Gilbert girl who had stolen my heart. "Somebody's got to know somebody who knows where he is, right?"

"Add another two hundred somebodies to that and you're still not even close."

I wasn't too happy with that, "Humour me. You got in touch with Elijah, how did you do it?"

"Through a very low somebody on the totem pole," I gestured for her to continue when she paused. "A guy named Slater in Richmond."

"Perfect. I'll drive."

I started to move towards the doorway, eager to get on my way.

"No. You forget that not all of us can do the sun."

I turned to see that the female vampire had not moved from her previous position. Damn, I had forgotten that. Guess I was just too used to having the luxury of a ring to protect me.

"Then you drive. Come on."

XXX

Alexa's POV

I stared at Katherine as she accepted another cup of blood from Elena. I almost did not want to believe what she was saying. But I knew that it was the truth because she had no reason to lie. In this situation, the truth is far more worse than any lie could ever be. And Katherine knew that.

"What does the Petrova blood line have to do with Klaus?" my twin asked, her grip on my hand tightening.

"It's really tedious," Kathy stated before drinking the blood and crushing the cup in her grip.

"Tedious or not, we don't care," I said, fighting to keep my voice steady. "Just tell us."

The vampire gave me a look before saying, "The curse was bound by the sacrifice of Petrova blood." Of course it was, because nothing in our lives was ever easy. Apparently that included our bloodline being needed for breaking curses. "Witches are crafty with their spells." That's of absolutely no surprise to us. The amount of trouble that we had gotten in because of witches and crafty spells. I wonder if there was such a thing as an uncrafty witch spell. "The doppelganger was created as a way to be able to undo the spell. Once the doppelganger reappeared, the curse can be broken."

Well, wasn't that just… wonderful…

Not.

"And let me guess, you ran before he could kill you?" I piped up, pushing away any and all thoughts of my sister dying. Because that was not going to happen, not on my watch.

"Something like that," Kat replied, shrugging carelessly as she threw the crushed cup back in our direction.

There was a couple of seconds of silence until I raised an eyebrow and asked, "Care to elaborate on that?"

Seriously, if looks could kill, Katherine would have killed me several times over with the amount of glares that she had sent me. And oh look, there's another one. But this time she couldn't kill me.

Katherine then proceeded to elaborately describe her escape from the evil Klaus, "Trevor helped me escape the night before the sacrifice. I spent the night running through the woods, successfully managing to avoid all vampires that I encountered. After a very harrowing night, Trevor directed me to a small cottage. It was there that I met Rose who was immediately displeased once she had learnt what Trevor had done. She was adamant that I would be returned to Klaus at nightfall, along with the moonstone. She even went so far as to locking me in the backroom to stop me from escaping again."

XXX

Damon's POV

Rose directed the car down into an underground parking lot behind a coffee shop. A coffee shop? Seriously? We're going to meet a vampire and we're at a coffee shop. Honestly, what are vampire standards slipping to nowadays?

"Back entrance," I remarked as we got out of the car, looking around the sunless parking garage. "How convenient."

"That's the point," Rose said, ignoring my sarcasm. "We can't all have daylight rings."

I wiggled my fingers, showing off my snazzy little daylight ring. Despite her flaws, Emily Bennett did do a good thing by giving me this ring.

"How do you know that this Slater guy is even here?" I changed the subject because even I was not mean enough to rub in the fact that I could go out into the sun. Even if Alexa was of the opinion that I am a 'meanie'.

"I called him. He's here. He's always here."

"Good," I nodded before shooting forward and wrapping a hand around her throat. Pushing the female vampire against the wall, I leant in and whispered, "Just one thing. If you're setting me up in any way, I will rip your heart out and shove it down your throat. It's something that I'm very good at."

I added a proud little smirk to the end of my threat, taking a moment to reminisce about all of the hearts that I had ripped out.

But I was quickly pulled from my thoughts as Rose broke free from my grasp. She grabbed hold of me, spun me around and pushed me against the car. I didn't even bother struggling because I just knew that I wouldn't be able to break free.

"I'm older than you and stronger. Don't get on my bad side."

As the older vampire released me, I slowly turned back around. I was extremely reluctant to admit it, but my respect for the female vampire was slowly increasing. She had spunk. And she was trying to prove that she was genuine in her declarations of help.

"You can trust me."

Trust? Yeah, that's probably never gonna happen. I didn't trust easy. And it took a long time for it to happen.

I followed Rose into the coffee shop and blinked at the amount of sunlight that flooded the room.

"Whoa," I looked over at my companion. "What about the sunlight?"

"Double paned and tempered. UV rays can't penetrate," she promptly answered, a comfortable smile on her face as she enjoyed the sun. "You see the appeal now?"

I did.

As I looked around the shop, I couldn't help but think that Alexa would love this place. It was just the sort of coffee shop that she would like. Well, as long as it sold coffee she would like it. But I could imagine bringing her here for a drink one day. Even with all of the vampires, I knew that my crazy girl would enjoy it here.

"That and the free Wi-Fi."

I drew away from my thoughts as a young-looking man approached us, smiling at Rose. Rose smiled back at the vampire and pulled him into an embrace. I watched on with raised eyebrows, my mind unwillingly drifting towards another brown-haired, green-eyed girl who greeted her friends with hugs. I couldn't help but notice the physical similarity between Rose and Alexa. The short spiky brown hair. The captivating green eyes. The tanned skin. I suppose that that is why I gave Rose this opportunity to help and why I just didn't immediately kill her the moment she arrived last night.

"Hey, how are you?" Rose asked, pulling away from the vampire who was obviously Slater.

"Good," he answered, that annoying smile still on his face. "I saw you come, what are you doing here?"

"Mmm, it's a long story, but I wanted you to meet," Rose started but was quickly interrupted by Slater.

"Damon Salvatore. Turned 1864 in Mystic Falls by Katherine Pierce aka Katerina Petrova." Ok… how does this vampire who has never met me know so much about me? Should I be worried about that? "So I take it that I was right, what I told you about the tomb under the church was true?"

And he knew about the church… Seriously, who was this guy? And why did he know so much?

"Yes, it was right," Rose replied with a grateful smile. "Thank you for the tip."

Slater then turned his complete attention to me, "It's nice to meet you. Maybe."

He held out his hand and I reluctantly accepted it. As we shook hands, I looked at Rose, hoping that she would do something about the strange vampire who was staring at me so intently.

"What's going on Rose?" said the strange vampire asked when we released hands. "Where's Trevor?"

As Rose's face fell, I looked away.

Awkward.

XXX

Alexa's POV

"Rose never ended up taking you back to Klaus, did she?" Ellie asked, but we already knew the answer.

"No, but not because she had a change of heart."

Of course, Ellie and I know from experience that Rose was not the sort of person to have a change of heart in these sorts of situations. But hey, I respect her for knowing what she wants.

"I was desperate to not go back to Klaus. After all the effort that I had put into escaping, it would be meaningless to just go back and die. So I stabbed myself with a knife that I had stolen during my escape. I knew that Rose wold come back into the room eventually so all I had to do was wait. And I knew that she would need to return to back to Klaus alive. When she discovered the wound, the first thing that she did was to feed me her blood. All I had to do then was wait until she was distracted and then, well, you can guess what I did. Fortunately, Rose had given me the perfect opportunity. I took the rope that she had intended to use to tie me up, tied a noose and hung myself."

"Oh my god," I whispered, while I knew that Katherine would go to extreme lengths to survive, I didn't realise that she would go to that extreme. More fool me, I suppose.

"You killed yourself?" Elena exclaimed, her voice filled with shock and horror.

"Klaus needed a human doppelganger," Katherine shrugged, sounding not at all bothered. "As a vampire, I was no longer of any use to him."

So does that mean that if Ellie got turned into a vampire, then Klaus wouldn't need her? And that she wouldn't be hunted down by him and his lackeys? Was that even an option? I didn't know my sister's thoughts on being turned, but I had the feeling that it wouldn't be her first choice.

"But it didn't work," my twin pointed out shrewdly. "You didn't really escape; you've been running from Klaus ever since."

Ooh yeah, that's a good point Ellie.

"I underestimated his spirit for vengeance," Katherine remarked as casually as could be. "But living in a suitcase is better than dying so you can have your blood spilled over some silly little rock."

The look on my sister's face worried me, she did not look good. I shuffled to the side and wrapped my arm around her shoulders, pulling her close. Maybe talking to Katherine was not such a good idea. I mean, yeah she gave us the answers we needed but she also made things worse. Her words were likely to drive Elena to do something stupid.

"What's wrong? Afraid that I'm right?" the vampbitch asked mockingly, knowing that her words had struck a sore point. "You don't want to die? Well, there's another way out."

She held out her wrist and made a small cut with her nail. Blood slowly oozed out of the wound. Vampire blood.

"Better hurry," we watched as the small cut slowly began to heal. "Your opportunity is going… going… going… and gone."

Katherine looked up at my twin, completely ignoring my presence.

"I made the other choice."

"No," I shook my head, trying to convince my sister as well. "You chose to use others to save your own life. You tricked them into turning you."

"Rose and Trevor spent the last 500 years running because you used them," Elena backed up my point. "Trevor just got killed."

But the bitch didn't seem at all bothered, "I never thought that he would have lasted that long."

I mean, she did have a point. He seemed a bit dopey. And I do feel bad thinking that, considering he was dead and all. But he was probably only still alive because Rose was a clever one.

"You don't even care that you ruined their lives," Ellie breathed, sounding horrified.

"Of course she doesn't Elena," I said through gritted teeth. There was a familiar burning in my eyes and I stood up, hiding my tears. "Katerina Petrova doesn't give a damn about other people."

I don't know why I was crying. But I guess it was to do with the hopelessness of the situation. The only reason that Katherine escaped the sacrifice was because she turned herself into a vampire. Even then, she's been on the run for 500 years because she pissed Klaus off by doing so. And the injustice done to Trevor and Rose. I mean, I didn't like them, they kidnapped my twin for godsake, but they didn't deserve to be used like that. Nor did they deserve to be hunted for 500 years because of Katherine.

What could we possibly do?

How could I save my sister from this doom?

"Your sister's right, Elena, I was looking out for myself. I will always look out for myself. If you're smart, you'll do the same."

With that said, she turned her back on us and opened up her family book.

XXX

Damon's POV

"And you're sure Elijah's dead?" Slater asked me as we made our way over to a table by the window.

"Beyond dead," I replied, thinking back to the satisfying moment that I got to drive a stake through the heart of the vampire who tried to take my Alexa away from me.

"Trevor was a good man," the other vampire lamented sadly. "He helped me with my dissertation on sexual deviance in the Baroque period. I was schooling for Psych PHD."

And I wanted to know that because…?

"Slater's been in college since '74," Rose told me, causing me to once again wonder why they were telling me this. It's neither interesting nor an answer to the question that we're here to answer. It was useless information about someone that I didn't care about.

"When I was turned," the younger vampire added. "I have 18 degrees, 3 masters and 4 PHD's."

"The point?" I asked, wondering why the hell he felt the need to tell me even more irrelevant information.

"Exactly, I mean, what is the point?" the idiot exclaimed, completely missing the point of my question. "What should I be doing with my eternity? If you have an answer, pleas enlighten me."

I was not impressed with his sarcasm. Nor did I appreciate it. Who did this little punk think he is? Talking to me like that. I glared at Slater and just as I was about to tell him in no uncertain terms what I thought that he should be doing with his eternity, Rose spoke up. Obviously she had noticed my reaction to the idiot's words.

"We need your help," she said, giving me a quick glance. "If someone wanted to get in touch with Klaus, how would you hook him up?"

"Craigslist," Slater instantly answered, looking completely serious.

"Really?"

There was no way that he is serious about that.

"Seriously. I respond to a personal ad to get sent to somebody who knows somebody who knows Elijah, who's dead and that's where my connection ends."

Damn.

XXX

Alexa's POV

"So how much of your little story is true?" Elena asked as she stood up and moved to stand next to me. I wrapped my arm around her waist and leant against her slightly. Feeling her warmth against me was a small comfort, but one that was much appreciated after hearing what I did.

"I have no reason to lie, Elena," Katherine answered, not even bothering to look over at us. "I have no reason to do anything but sit here and read and rot."

"Ok, assuming it's even partially true, that's the reason why you came back, isn't it?" Ellie was onto something. "Because you wanted to be the one to hand me over to Klaus."

The vampire dropped the book to the ground and pulled herself up. Was it bad that I felt happy that she was still quite weak, even after the blood that we had given her? She deserved to feel helpless for everything she had done to my loved ones.

"500 years on the run, I figured that maybe he'd be willing to strike a deal," she shrugged, looking at us.

"So you got Mason Lockwood to find you the moonstone."

"Right again," Katherine nodded, looking reluctantly impressed.

Good analysing and deducting there Ellie.

"But that can't be everything that you need," I spoke up, doing some deducing of my own. "Otherwise you would have just taken Elena and left town already. So you must need something else to break the curse."

I don't know whether to be offended or not by Katherine's surprised look.

"Ooh, look who is getting smarter."

"I've always been smart, bitch, you've just been too busy trying to kill me to notice," I shot a smirk at the vampire.

"Alexa's right. Because if it was just me and the stone, there would have been no reason to trigger Tyler Lockwood's werewolf curse," Elena continued, a thoughtful look on her face as I saw her putting the pieces together.

I felt a burst of anger at her words. I was so pissed that Katherine had done that to my Tyler. That she had made him trigger that life destroying curse. I did my best to act normally around my big bro, but the deep, overpowering urge to hide him away from the world and the curse took a lot to control. And, once again, it was all Katherine's fault. Why is it, that whenever something bad happens to one of my siblings, she's the one who caused it? Tyler with the werewolf curse. Helping to push Damon off the deep-end which caused him to almost kill Jeremy. Actually killing Jeremy herself. And well, I don't even need to list everything that she has done to Elena.

"Witches and their spells: so many ingredients, so many people to sacrifice."

"So you need a werewolf?" Elena took over the part that involved the werewolf, and by extension, Tyler. She knew that it would be difficult for me.

"Believe it or not, they're hard to come by."

Keep it up and you'll be hard to come by.

"What else?" I demanded through gritted teeth. I just wanted to get this conversation over with so that I could just get away.

"A witch to do the spell. Mine bailed but Bonnie will do just fine."

The hell she will. Stay away from my Bonnie.

"What else?" Ellie asked, pushing for the answers she needed but probably wouldn't want to hear.

"A vampire."

A vampire…? Oh…

"Caroline," we gasped out in unison.

"It could have been anyone," Bitcherine shrugged callously. "I was going to go for precious little Alexa. But then I figured that it would be much more satisfying to watch her live after nearly everyone that she loves has died."

"You bitch," I breathed, my heart freezing as I realised the truth in her words. If she was successful, I would have lost some of the most important people to me.

"But I do like the poetry of Caroline," Kat finished with a smirk.

"So you were gonna just hand us all over to be killed?" Ellie asked, pulling me even closer.

"Better you die than I."

With those chilling words said, the vampire just turned around and walked back into the tomb.

XXX

Damon's POV

"Here's what I don't get," I started. "Elijah moved around during the day, which means that the originals knew the secret of the day ring. Now why would Klaus want to lift the curse of the sun and the moon?"

"To keep the werewolves from lifting it," Slater was quick to answer. "If a vampire breaks the sun curse then the werewolves are stuck with the curse of the moon forever and vice versa."

Oh isn't that just wonderful.

"But werewolves are extinct," Rose frowned, sounding confused.

"True, I've never seen one but rumour has it," Slater started, an annoying look on his face.

"Not such a rumour," I interrupted, wincing slightly.

"Mystic Falls?" the younger vamp asked and I nodded. "God, I've got to visit this place. It sounds awesome."

"Awesome doesn't even begin to describe it," I corrected him before getting back on topic. "Can we stop the curse from being broken at all?"

"What do you mean?" Slater frowned, glancing over at Rose.

"Well, if we make the moonstone useless, would it stop the curse from being broken?"

Please be that simple. For once, please be that simple.

"Well, yeah, probably, but why would you want to do that?"

"Tell me how," I demanded, unwilling to waste any more time.

"You think I'm gonna help you figure out how to do something that will piss off an original?" Slater scoffed, shaking his head. "And keeping them from walking in the sun?"

I rolled my eyes, "You want to walk in the sun? I can make that happen if you help us."

If it helped Elena then I'm sure that Bonnie would help. If not, Alexa would be able to make her, especially if it helped to save her twin. Alexa could be particularly persuasive if she needed to be.

Slater was almost convinced and I was so close to having an easy and simple solution to this problem. But then the windows shattered.

It was complete panic with people running around screaming and glass flying everywhere. I flung myself to the ground along with the other occupants of my table. The vampires who were unlucky enough to not have daylight rings started to burn, including Slater and Rose. Pushing myself up, I looked out of what was once a window, trying to find the person who could have done this. But I could not see anyone was looked like they had done it.

Just as I was about to go outside and have a proper look, I glanced down. While Slater had quickly fled the scene, the little weasel, Rose was still burning on the ground. After one last glance outside, I picked up her jacket and used it to cover the other vampire's skin. Supporting most of her weight, I helped Rose out through the back entrance and into the underground parking lot. When she stumbled, I adjusted my hold and picked up, carrying her to the car.

After gently setting her down on the backseat, I pulled off the jacket to see that the burns were already healing.

"You're gonna be ok," I told her, keeping my voice low and gentle.

"I know," Rose returned, her voice shaky, even as she pulled her jacket closer.

Now that I knew that she was ok, I had to ask, "Who's behind that?"

"I don't know," she answered with a sob. "Where is Slater?"

"Iowa by now. Who the hell knows?"

"He's not behind this, he's a good guy. He wouldn't betray me."

"Who did it?"

"It's Klaus," Rose sobbed, unable to stop once she had started. "Don't you understand? You don't know this mean, we're dead, we're all dead."

Feeling slightly shocked at the force of her outside and the fear in her voice, I pulled Rose closer and allowed her to cry onto my shoulder.

Things just got a whole lot more difficult.

XXX

Alexa's POV

With Katherine's last words still echoing in our minds, we remained frozen in place, watching the tomb entrance. Sighing, Elena moved forward and began to pack away the things that were left on our side of the magic barrier. I watched my twin move with a heaviness in my heart, I could just tell that thoughts were going through her mind that I would not like.

But before I could say anything, Mr Hero came hurrying down the stairs.

"Elena," Stefan exclaimed, rushing over to my twin. He added an "Alexa," when he saw me lurking over by the wall.

"Stefan, what are you doing here?" Ellie asked, her voice sounding off. That's quite a stupid question to ask, dear sister, for it is rather obvious that he came here for you.

"I could ask you the same question," Stef countered, grasping Ellie's shoulders and pulling her closer.

"Caroline told you," Elena nodded. I frowned, there was a quiet defeat in my twin's tone. And I did not like that. While I might not know the exact thoughts going through her head, for her to have that tone, I knew that they were pretty damn bad thoughts.

"No, she kept your secret but it didn't take long for me to figure out what was so important that you'd have to keep it from me."

There was an underlying tone of hurt in Stefan's voice.

"I knew that you'd stop us," my twin defended her actions.

"Listen to me, whatever she said to you is a lie," the vampire desperately told Elena. "Do not listen to her. She's a liar, Elena."

No Stefan, for once, she's a truther.

"What if she isn't?" Elena countered, sounding like she was close to losing control. "You didn't hear what she said."

While I was desperate to get involved, I knew that I shouldn't. This was between Elena and Stefan. And they needed to sort this out themselves.

"You don't have to worry, I'm not gonna let anything happen to you," Stefan was quick to tell my sister.

"That's the problem, you won't but you'll die trying. How's that any better?"

At my sister's words, I closed my eyes. I knew it. I just knew it. In her mind, she thinks that if she gives herself up to Klaus, then we'll be ok. That if she dies in this stupid sacrifice, then we'll all live. She'll give up to save us.

"There's nothing you can do, Stefan," I opened my eyes to see that Katherine had returned and was smirking at the other vampire. "I haven't even told you the best part of the story. When I got back to Bulgaria, I arrived to find all the servants and cattle dead. Slaughtered brutally. You can almost guess what I found inside the house. My dad was dead, skewered to wall with his own sword. But it was the next two bodies that were the worst. Lying on the bed, one on top of the other, were my mother and younger sister. My sister, she had eyes that were so much like yours, Alexa." I looked at Katherine only to see her staring directly at me. "Their throats were torn out and blood covered them. He killed them, my entire family, just to get back at me for running. Whatever you do to escape Klaus, he will get his vengeance on your friends, your family, your precious little twin and anyone that you've ever loved."

And those were the words which would ensure that Elena would give herself up. Anything to save the people that she cared about.

"No, look at me," Stefan said softly to my twin, pulling her gaze away from Katherine. "No, do not listen to her, ok?"

"Always the protector," Kat mocked him cruelly, enjoying the torment her words were inflicting. "But even you must realise that she's doomed. There's nothing that you can do to stop it… unless, of course, you have this."

The vampire held up the moonstone.

"What?" Ellie frowned from Stefan's arms, her eyes wet with unshed tears.

"Oh there it is," Stefan growled at Katherine. "It's the ultimate lie, isn't it? You spun this whole thing so that we would have to get the stone from you, didn't you?"

Oh Stefan, you're so desperate not to believe her.

"I didn't spin anything, Stefan," Katherine argued. "It's the truth."

"No, let me guess. You want to trade that stone for your freedom, you manipulative, psychotic bitch."

"My freedom? That's where you're wrong, Stefan. I don't want my freedom because when Klaus shows up to kill us all and he will, I'll be in the tomb, where no vampire will enter because they can't get out. I'll be the safest psychotic bitch in town."

Katherine once again retreated back into the tomb. And we were left with her final words.

I was left with the feeling that unless we did something, I would lose my twin to her own self-sacrificing stupidity.

XXX

Damon's POV

I sat staring into the flames, trying not to think of the girl who had stolen my heart. I had decided to forgo a glass and drinking directly from the bottle. After the past couple of days, I had gone straight to the good stuff, as Alexa liked to call it.

"I'm sorry about today," Rose said as she entered the room. "I didn't know that that was gonna happen."

"I believe you," I muttered, not taking my eyes off of the fire.

"I wish that we could save Elena. I know that you want to, especially for Alexa."

"And I will."

"You remind me of Trevor."

I frowned at Rose's words as walked up next to me with a glass. She looked down at me with soft eyes, taking in my strong grip on the bottle.

"Why? Why him?" I asked as I poured her a glass.

"Because he always talked a big game, he was always working on an angle but underneath it all, he was the best friend anyone could hope for."

"And where did that get him?"

"Dead. And my loyalty to him almost got me dead too."

I nodded, holding up the bottle, giving a mock toast, "To friendship."

"You're right to fight it," Rose remarked as she sat down on the couch. The couch that Alexa had claimed as hers. "The way you feel about her."

"And why's that?" I asked, turning around to look at the other vampire, my attention successfully diverted.

"Because if you want to survive, you need to not care about anyone."

"Caring gets you dead, huh?"

"It might just be the time to turn the switch off on your emotions."

Remembering our conversation earlier in the day, I countered that with, "I will if you will."

Rose smiled at me and for the first time, I realised that for the first time in 500 years, she was alone. Her best friend was dead, murdered before her eyes and here she was, helping to save a girl that she probably didn't even like. She needed a best friend. And I needed a friend who was not the girl that I loved.

"Your friend is dead, right?" I remarked as I walked over and sat down next to her on the couch, right in Alexa's favourite spot.

"Yeah," Rosebud frowned as I filled up her glass.

"You looking for a new one yet?"

The female vampire stared at me for a minute before smiling, "Only if you think that you're up to it."

"You're the one who's going to need to be up to it, I come as a package deal: me with a whole lot of trouble."

"For a new friend, I think that trouble will be worth it."

We sat there sharing the rest of the bottle. And Alexa said that I couldn't make friends.

XXX

Alexa's POV

I slowly followed as Elena raced up the stairs, desperate to get into the house before she completely fell apart. Stefan was closer behind her than I was.

"Elena," he called as he reached her.

I waited at the bottom of the porch stairs, watching as Ellie failed to get the door open.

"I can't talk about it, Stefan," she told him, her voice thick with tears as she turned around.

"You don't have to," Stefan, amazing Stefan, reassured her. "Don't shut me out, Elena, please."

My twin broke down, tears falling thick and fast. And for the first time in my life, I resisted the instinct to go running over to her and pull her into my arms. Instead, I allowed Stefan to pull her close to him.

"I wanted to know the truth and I got it. It's not just me that's in danger. It's Caroline and it's Tyler and it's Bonnie. They're all part of breaking the curse. I can't blame anyone else anymore because it's not because you came into town or because you and I fell in love. That's not why everyone that I love is in danger. It's because of me, everything is because of me."

Seeing that Stefan had everything well in hand with comforting my sister, I turned and slowly walked away. My heart breaking with every step.

XXX

Damon's POV

"It's a lie, you know," Rose remarked halfway through the second bottle. "There's no switch that you can turn off. Sure, when you're a newbie but after a couple of hundred years… you just have to pretend."

Well that just… sucks.

The sound of a phone ringing caught our attention and I watched as Rose dug it out of her jeans pocket.

"Slater?" she murmured in surprise before answering it. "Hello?"

I eavesdropped on the conversation, not even bothering to hide what I was doing.

"Rose?"

"Slater? Are you ok?"

"Yes, I took off. I'm sorry, I was freaking freaked."

"No, I'm sorry to involve you."

"Look, I want no part in any of this but I did some digging."

I gestured for her to get him to continue.

"Ok, what did you find?" Rose asked, looking over at me

"You can destroy the curse but you need the moonstone."

We both frowned at that. While it was something that I was asking earlier, I never actually considered it to be a plausible idea.

"How? What do you mean? I don't follow."

"Can your friend get the moonstone? You need it."

I nodded the moment that I heard the question. If there was chance of breaking this curse before Alexa would lose her sister, then I would do anything, even talk to Katherine again.

"Yes, he can get it. What next?"

"You need a witch. Get the moonstone, a witch should be able to figure out the rest. Good luck, Rose."

Our frowns deepened as he hung up. That was an… interesting conversation.

XXX

Alexa's POV

Getting back was difficult but I needed to do it. My twin's live hung in the balance. And if anyone could help, it would be her. As for her price, I could help her get exactly what she needed.

The entrance to the tomb was empty. Not that I expected her to be there.

"I figured it out," I said, my voice echoing. "What you mean when you said that you have something that I need."

There was still no sign of her, but I could just tell that she was listening.

"You had information. About Klaus. About the sacrifice. About what will happen to my sister."

"Well done, little Alexa," Katherine smirked as she stepped into view. "You've finally worked it out."

"Once I had all the information, it wasn't that difficult."

"Hmm, but the question is, what do you plan on doing now?" the vampire walked all the way forward to the edge of tomb, a gleam of interest in her eye.

Right, deep breaths Alexa, this is why you're here. You can do this.

"I'm willing to make you a deal, Katherine," I stated with confidence that I didn't was hard to tell whether or not this was what she wanted. But it was what I needed.

"Go on," she pushed when I hesitated.

"If you help me protect Elena and keep her alive, then I'll help you get out of this tomb."

"Ok, but I want something more."

Pushing down all of my nerves and anxieties, I asked, "What is that?"

"I want you to kill Klaus."

I stared at her, my eyes wide, "This is what you wanted all along, isn't it?"

"I needed someone crazy and desperate enough to do it. And when I first met you, I knew that you had a greater chance of succeeding than anyone else because it meant saving your precious twin sister."

"Right, ok, fine, if I get you out of this tomb and kill Klaus, you'll help me keep my sister alive. Deal?"

"Deal."

Why do I feel as though I had just made one of the worst mistakes possible?

A deal with the devil indeed.

XXX

A/N: Thank you for the reviews, my lovelies, please keep them coming as I am having major writer's block right now. The last few episodes of season 2 are proving to be particularly troublesome :/ but knowing that you are all enjoying this story is keeping me going! Until next time, enjoy xoxo