Disclaimer: I only own my OCs

A/N: This chapter is a bit quieter in terms of action, but there's some lovely bonding moments, including Dalexa moments ;) It also has one of my favourite scenes to write. We're properly building up to the sacrifice now as well, which is always exciting.

XXX

Waking up the next morning was not fun.

In fact, that was an understatement.

My head pounded like a herd of angry bulls were running through it. My mouth felt fuzzy and disgusting. My body ached and I felt like I was going to throw up again. I didn't remember much from the night before. There was a random blonde dude and I remembered calling Ric to come pick me up. There was a fair amount of crying and I could definitely remember puking. Which was just ugh.

"Rise and shine!" a sadistic voice called out, causing me to groan and bury my face into the pillow.

"Noooooo," I pushed away the hand that prodded at me. "Let me die in peace."

"Alexa," a new voice spoke up, sounding stern. I moved the pillow away from my face and peered out into the room, blinking a few times to adjust my vision. Damon and Ric stood at the end of the bed. One look sadistically cheeky while the other looked tired. I'll let you work out who was which.

I glared at them, enunciating clearly, "Leave me alone."

"But Alexa," Damon smirked, moving so that he could sit next to me. "It's a brand-new day, don't you want to go out and enjoy it?"

I sensed where this was going and deepened my glare, "I swear to god, Damon, that if you open those curtains then I will kill you myself."

"Heard that one before," the little shit snorted, sounding unbothered by my threat.

"Didn't you ever learn to not fuck with a hungover lady, because I will rip your heart out before the hangover kills me," I narrowed my eyes at him, just daring him to try it.

Unfortunately, or maybe fortunately, depending on your point of view, Ric quickly intervened before the violence could start, "Damon, leave her alone." The vampire rolled his eyes but did as asked. "Alexa, Damon brought over some fresh clothes and toiletries. Get yourself ready and we'll take you home."

"Oh yeah," I wrinkled my nose in annoyance. I still didn't want to go and face my sister after having failed in my sobriety. "Do I have to?"

"Yes," Alaric answered, leaving no room for argument. "Jenna wants you home and I'm willing to be Elena does too."

"Phooey," I pouted before carefully sitting up. I had had enough hangovers to know that movement made everything a thousand times worse. And this time was no different. The pounding in my heart increased in viciousness as I sat up. I closed my eyes and hunched over, praying to every deity out there to save me from this pain. "Oh fuuuuuuuuuck."

"That bad?" Damon sounded a lot more sympathetic than he did before as he shuffled closer, allowing me to rest my forehead against his shoulder.

"Seriously, just kill me," I groaned, shuffling closer. "It definitely doesn't hurt as bad as this."

My vampire just laughed at me before gently helping me to my feet. I wobbled slightly and felt my stomach roll. Ugh, I'd forgotten just how bad hangovers were. Why was drinking so popular when you felt like absolute shit the next day?

I washed my face and brushed my teeth, hoping that would make me feel more human. But it didn't. Even changing my clothes didn't help. I just continued to feel like death on legs. And it sucked. When I ended up drinking my emotions and trauma away, I didn't sign up to feel like shit the next day. It just wasn't fair.

When I eventually stumbled out of the bathroom, a delicious scent wafted over. The beautiful smell of coffee lured me into the kitchen where a mug was filled with the amazing drink. When he caught sight of me, Ric nudged the mug, "Drink this, it should help."

"You're my favourite person ever," I sighed dreamily before taking a deep sip. It was still too hot to drink but that didn't stop me. I could taste the sugar in it and sighed again. Nothing made me feel better more than a coffee. It was just perfect. And the sugar would help my hangover too. Or at least, that's what I had read.

"Well, that's just rude," Damon gave me one of his special smiles before pushing over some toast. "I thought I was your favourite person."

I gave him a look while trying to hide a smile, "You were mean to me. Ric wasn't. He made me coffee instead."

"And I did you toast," my vampire protested, rolling his eyes. "I even brought some Nutella over for you."

"Well, okay," I gave in with a laugh. "That does put you back in the running."

My Damon smirked and ruffled my hair before speaking to Ric.

It didn't take long for me to finish my coffee and toast. Although I did manage to persuade them to let me have a second mug. In my defence, the coffee really did help. As did the toast. My hangover wasn't completely gone but I was able to look at the light without feeling like my head would explode.

Damon had kindly let me borrow his sunglasses. Which was the only reason why I didn't die dramatically when I left the sanctuary of Ric's apartment building.

"Evil sun," I muttered petulantly as I climbed into the backseat of Ric's car.

Damon huffed out a laugh as he got in the front, "Who's the vampire here, Alexa, me or you?"

"Well, clearly I am the superior being out of the two of us," I sniffed, crossing my arms. "So I'll let you answer your own question."

Bantering with Damon helped me forget my worry over going home. I didn't know how much Jenna and Elena knew about last night. But I was willing to be that Ric had ratted me out. Especially since he had mentioned that Jenna wanted me home.

When Ric pulled up in front of my house, I immediately resorted to one of my favourite moves from my childhood. I crossed my arms and refused to leave the car. Was this a battle that I would win? Probably not, especially since Damon was there and he had the frustrating ability to get me to play along. But I had to try. Especially if it meant that it would take longer for me to face my family's disappointment.

I lasted all of five minutes before giving in. Damon, gorgeous Damon, had given me a soft look, those amazing eyes reflecting in the sunlight. And I felt my resistance melt away. My feelings for him were very inconvenient at times as it meant that I was unable to say no to him when he asked so sweetly. Honestly, you fall in love with someone and you instantly gain a weakness.

The moment I walked through the door; I had an armful of Jenna. She wrapped her arms around me and squeezed tightly. I spluttered as I got a face full of hair but carefully hugged my aunt back.

"Uh, hi?" I was so confused and neither of the men behind me were any help. "I missed you too?"

"I was so worried," my aunt sighed, pulling back to examine me. Her eyes glanced over the cuts from yesterday, clearly looking for anything new. "I had no idea where you were and neither did Elena. And then Isobel turned up our doorstep and I knew that last time she broke your wrist and I had no idea if she had done something to you again."

I stopped listening after Isobel. Isobel was at our house? Isobel was back in town? My evil bitch of a birth mother was once again tormenting my family? Well fuck.

"Isobel was here?" I glanced over my should accusingly. Damon looked unapologetic but Ric winced guiltily.

"And you weren't," my aunt stepped back, suddenly looking stern. Uh oh, not good. "Where were you? Ric told me that you had been drinking and had gone off the deep-end."

Well, Ric's a snitch. And snitches get stiches.

Luckily, I was saved from answering by the arrival of a new person. And for the second time that morning, I had an armful of family who were determined to squeeze the life out of me.

"Ellie… can't… breathe," I wheezed as my twin refused to let go. I patted her back helplessly, looking at the adults in the room for help. But they abandoned me to the mercy of my twin.

Elena eventually let go and stepped back, crossing her arms. I looked around the disapproving faces and Damon before sighing, "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to worry anyone. After watching Dr Martin die the two ways that I died, I kind of lost it. And I didn't have the mental energy to resist drinking so I just… drank. But I should have told you where I was and I'm sorry."

Silence followed my speech and I couldn't stop myself from cringing, "Is anyone going to say anything? Like I'll even take angry yelling over this silence."

I was saved by the most hated person in the house. I saw movement behind Jenna and Elena. John was exiting the kitchen, looking as smug as he normally did. I must have drawn everyone's attention to him as my two female family members spun around.

And Jenna saw red.

"You!" she yelled, her voice echoing around the house. "Are you the reason why Isobel turned up on my doorstep last night?"

John took a step back, looking surprised by the sudden outburst, "Is it such a bad thing that she is here?"

"Last time Isobel was in town, she broke Alexa's wrist and threatened Jeremy," my aunt hissed furiously, her anger growing at John's confirmation that he was responsible for Isobel's reappearance. "Of course it's a bad thing. And I know that you're using her to break me and Ric up."

"Is he still trying to do that?" I stepped forward to mutter in Elena's ear.

She nodded and whispered back, "Isobel said something like 'so you're woman my husband is dating'."

"Oh dang," my eyes widened in surprise. Isobel had made it quite clear last thing that she didn't give a shit about anyone, especially Ric. And now she was making sly digs at my aunt because of her relationship with him.

Jenna and John had continued their arguing while my sister gave me the gossip. It ended with John shouting, "I can do a better job of protecting them than you can, so why don't you just leave town?"

I honestly thought that Jenna was going to kill him. I had never seen her look so furious. Not that I could blame her. Jenna had been there for us ever since our parents died. That night, she dropped everything to come and look after us. John didn't. He just swanned in and out of town as he pleased, pissing everyone off when he did.

To everyone's shock, Jenna wasn't the first one to raise a hand to John.

Ric beat her to it. He slammed a punch into my uncle's nose, causing John to stagger back from the force used. Everyone was shocked as Ric seethed, "You don't get to speak to her like that after what you did."

It didn't take a genius to realise that Ric was talking about John's stunt with the dagger. Not only had he tried to get Damon killed, he put the rest of us at risk. After all, none of us knew if the dagger actually worked if a vampire used it. Cos yeah, it killed the vampire, but did that mean that it negated the magic of the dagger. I knew that Alaric had been pissed about that ever since the dinner party. Clearly John's words just now had pushed him over the edge.

Jenna was quick to pull her boyfriend away from John and out of the room. She herded him upstairs but you could see the pride in her expression. I was willing to bet that she loved him even more after that.

I could hear Damon laughing quietly behind me and I had to bite my lip to stop myself from joining in. The look on John's face was hilarious. He looked like he couldn't quite believe what happened. Even as he dabbed at the blood that trickled from his nose.

But the icing on the cake was the look that my twin gave him. It was one of her most vicious and unimpressed looks, "You know that you brought this on yourself, right? And that it's all your fault. Because it is."

With one last glare, my sister flounced up the stairs.

Lol burn.

XXX

In an attempt to resist the call of the booze, I had gotten craftier in my hiding spots for it in my room. Unfortunately, now that I had fallen off the wagon, I was free to drink again as I pleased. I know, I know, I had felt so guilty for drinking. But it honestly did help. I felt so much better when I was able to numb the memories. And I needed that right now, especially with my bitch of a birth mom rocking into town.

So when Damon disappeared downstairs to update Stefan on what happened, I immediately shot over to one of those hiding places. Several years ago, just after I became a teenager, I had spilt milkshake on my carpet in the corner by my mirror. As I frantically scrubbed at the carpet, I managed to pull the corner free. That was when I discovered that one of the floorboards in that corner was loose. After making that discovering, I never bothered to tell anyone. That little gap in the floorboards had become one of my favourite hiding places.

And that was where I was now. Quietly pulling free the carpet and floorboard to get to one of the bottles of whiskey. This one was unopened and that would make it easier to keep track of how much I had drank. I knew that it wouldn't be long until Damon came back so I downed a couple of swigs, enjoying the burn as it went down. This was one of the good bottles that I had pinched from the Salvatore cellar back in the day. And you could instantly tell that it was the good stuff. I had a couple more swigs and hid the bottle. My mind felt pleasantly buzzed but it wasn't enough for it to be noticeable. That's how I had to play it now. I had to drink enough to feel it but not enough for it to be noticed.

I retreated back to my bed where I finally decided to brush my hair. It had gotten long over the past year, even with me getting regular trims. I had decided against getting it cut short again each time. So now the ends of my hair brushed against my neck. Of course, the extra length meant that brushing it had become more annoying. It got tangled easily and I usually resorted to just yanking my brush through it, ignoring the pain that came with it.

When the door opened, I expected it to be Damon. Instead, John stood in the doorway, a cautious look on his face.

"What do you want?" I rolled my eyes as I threw my brush to the side.

"I need you to come downstairs," he answered, gesturing behind him. "Elena is already on her way down."

"Ugh, fine, but only because Ellie agreed to it too," I squared my shoulders and pushed myself to my feet. I shoved past my uncle and met Elena at the top of the stairs. "So what's all this about then?"

I glanced at Stefan and then Damon. Both of them shrugged. Clearly John was being uber secretive. And that never boded well for anyone. I walked downstairs with my twin, the Salvatore brothers behind us.

When we reached the bottom, I near enough died inside.

Isobel walked out the kitchen, her face as cold was it was before. Her hands were tucked into her pockets and she glanced at the two vampires behind us.

I couldn't stop myself from yelling, "What the fuck?!" at the sight of our birth mother.

"I asked John for a do-over," Isobitch stated coolly as we all turned around to glare at John.

"You invited her in?" Elena hissed at him as she pushed me behind her and further away from Isobel. I was too busy glaring daggers at John to comment about her over-protectiveness. But I couldn't blame her, Isobel did hurt me last time she was around.

John tried to defend himself, "She has information about Klaus. Please, just listen to her, okay?"

I was practically vibrating on the spot as Stefan exchanged a look with my sister and said, "Alright, what do you know?"

John walked past us towards the kitchen and I let rip at the sight of my birth parents standing next to each other.

"You're joking, right?" I exclaimed loudly, looking between the two traitors and the rest of the gang. "After what they did, you're going to just listen to them?"

"We want to help you," Isobel spoke calmly, which just pissed me off even more.

"Oh, so now you want to help," I scoffed, shaking my head. "Where was that warm parental feeling last time you were here, huh? When you were too busy threatening our brother to get what you wanted. Don't think I've forgotten that."

I had failed to notice that my audience had grown. Jeremy and Jenna were lurking on the stairs, and were quickly joined by Ric. Stefan had a resigned look on his face while Damon smirked and twin looked like she wanted to join in with my scolding.

"Or that fact that you threatened to go on a random killing spree, because you did that too, don't forget. And you insulted our friends, which was not a cool move, like at all."

"Don't forget that she broke your wrist," my twin helpfully pipped up, shooting John a vicious look as she contributed to my rant.

"That's right! You broke my wrist, you hateful bitch. That's right, I called you a bitch. Respect be damned, you don't deserve it. You broke my wrist. If it wasn't the fact that I was killed by Katherine not long later, I would probably still be wearing the cast!"

I shook my head, "Let's just face it. You're an absolute disappointment and I don't want you anywhere near my sister."

"Alexa, stop being so unreasonable," John made the mistake of saying, drawing my attention to him. "She's been helping us and you need to listen to her."

"I'm the one being unreasonable?" I narrowed my eyes and hissed. "After what she's done?"

"You need to move past that right now," John was trying to be stern but I wasn't in the mood to listen to him.

"Oh do I now?" I crossed my arms and went into full on bitch mood. "Why don't we go through your greatest hits, because you have just as much as her. And they are all reasons as to why you shouldn't be trusted either. Because while I am grateful that you gave me and Jeremy Gilbert rings, that doesn't give you a free pass to do whatever the hell you want!"

Behind me, I could hear Ric muttering, "Should we stop this?"

Jenna quickly disagreed and I could hear the amusement in her voice, "Nah, let her keep going. They both need to hear this."

I took a deep breath before continuing, "Because let's not forget that you tried to get Damon and Stefan killed on Founder's Day. And that you did kill Anna, which broke Jeremy's heart. Then, after Stefan brought you back to help save Elena, you try to get Damon killed with the dagger that took down Elijah. Yeah, I know what you were up to."

I could feel Stefan trying to get my attention, probably to get me to shut up, but I was on a roll and finally letting out a lot of stuff that I had been holding in, "Oh, and another thing, you made a deal with Katherine! You knew what she did to me and yet you still made a deal with her. And that deal almost got Damon killed. And, to top it all off, you've been trying to split up Ric and Jenna! Which is just stupid and petty and pathetic and if you don't stop, I will give Damon permission to mess you up."

I felt Elena place a hand on my shoulder and decided to end my rant, "Now, we are going to listen to what Isobel has to say. That does not mean that we trust you, because we don't. But you might have some useful information and that is important. But the second you finish; I want you both out of the house."

With that said, I grabbed Ellie's hand and pulled her towards the kitchen, shoving John out of the way as I went. I definitely felt a lot better after that. Like I said, despite my gratitude over the Gilbert rings, John had done a lot to distinguish that since he got back into town. And any goodwill that I felt towards him was fading fast. Which sucked, because I really did want to love him and have him in my life. But it felt like he was doing everything possible to stop that from happening.

"Feel better?" my twin muttered into my ear, sounding impressed and amused.

"It needed saying," I shrugged as I got her settled on one of the chairs at the island and stood in front of her. Elena laughed, the sound relaxing me as it had been a while since she had laughed like that. My twin rested her forearms on my shoulders and pulled me closer.

Damon and Stefan stood on either side of us. My vampire still looked amused at my little bitchfit while Stefan just looked resigned. But I did see the amusement in his eyes. No one liked John so it was always fun when he got yelled at.

The rest of my family followed, with Jenna giving John a narrow-eyed glare. From the look on his face, John wasn't expecting Jenna, Ric or Jeremy to join them. But as this concerned our family, they had every right to be there.

Isobel started it all off once it became clear that no one else was going to speak, "Since I was last here, I've been doing everything possible to find Klaus. We knew that our best chance was to find him before he could find you."

"Best chance at what?" Stefan asked, exchanging a look with his brother.

"Keeping Elena alive," John answered and I could feel my sister tense behind me.

"I agreed to listen to Isobel, not you," she snapped as I patted her hand. "So you don't get to talk, okay, not after everything that you've done."

It was the ever-responsible peacekeeper, aka Stefan, who spoke next in an attempt to restore the peace, "Were you able to find Klaus?"

I looked between Isobel and John, keen to know the answer. If they had found Klaus, then it would make my task of killing him a tiny bit easier. Of course, I still had to find a way to kill him but if I knew where he was, then it would be a bit more possible.

"No," Isobel replied, showing a hint of frustration for the first time. "Nobody knows where he id but there are these rumours that are flying around. That a doppelganger exists."

I was willing to bet that Elena's idiotic little stunt with Cody was partly responsible for that. But as long as the rumours didn't point in the direction of Mystic Falls, she was safe for now.

"Which means that any vampire that wants to get in favour with Klaus will be lining up to capture you," John added, with a serious look.

"Over my dead body," I muttered and Ellie squeezed my shoulders to get me to relax. And it was true, I would fight any vampire that tried to take my sister from me.

"I'm not buying any of this," Elena spoke up, before looking at Isobel. "The last time that you were here, you made it quite clear that you didn't give a damn about either of us. Now all of a sudden, I'm supposed to believe that you want to help?"

John quickly spoke up in defence of his former lover, "Isobel's been helping all along."

"I call bullshit to that," I snorted, shaking my head.

"I agree," Jenna added her voice to the conversation. "Nothing that she has done has been even a little bit helpful."

But John was not to be deterred, "Klaus has been obsessed with finding Katherine for centuries. All it would take was any one of those 1864 tomb vampires to spread the word around that Katherine was still alive and it would bring him straight here to Mystic Falls, where you were bound to be discovered, so we killed them."

"And almost killed Stefan and Damon in the process," Ellie countered with a snap.

"Besides, how do you know that he would come here? Anyone who knew Katherine would be bound to realise that she wouldn't be hanging around Mystic Falls and none of the tomb vampires would know her location. So why would he come all the way to Mystic Falls for a wasted journey?" I said, looking for any holes in their stupid logic that almost got our Salvatore's killed.

But my amazing point was ignored.

Instead, Isobel stood up from her seat at the dining table and stepped closer to me and my twin. I couldn't stop myself from moving away from her, closer to my twin. The glare that she sent Isobel was pure venom, causing the vampire to stop. Ellie's arms wrapped around me in a hug and I rested my head against her chin.

"I have a safe house that I can take you to, Elena," our birth mom said, before glancing down at me. "Alexa can go too. The deed is in your name. No vampires can get in without your permission, not even me. Let me help you."

But my sister refused to accept it, "You wanna help? Then get the hell out of my house and away from my family."

XXX

The conversation soon turned unproductive, with Elena continuing to insist that John and Isobel get the hell out. When they failed to heed her wishes, my lovely twin flounced from the room, giving them dirty looks as she went. Stefan quickly followed and I was left with my birth parents, Jenna, Ric, Jeremy and Damon.

Jenna looked like she was getting ready to kill John. Him inviting Isobel in, who was, in her eyes, a threat, was probably the last straw for her. Not matter how much he claimed that he and Isobel were here to help, previous experience caused us to doubt that.

As I waited for the inevitable explosion, warm hands landed on my hips as I felt a body against my back. I knew exactly who it was and I was barely able to hide the smile that formed on my lips.

"Jeremy and I are meeting Bonnie at the Martin residence," Damon whispered in my ear, his breath sending tingles across my skin. "Want to come with?"

"Hell yes," I immediately responded, eager to get away from the situation. The fact that I would be escaping with Damon would just the icing on the cake. I had been quite ruthless in my attempts to kill my crush on him recently. After my recent performances, I was legitimately worried that he would never feel the same way about me. I had shown how weak and pathetic I was, and that definitely wasn't a turn on. Especially to someone like Damon.

At my immediate agreement, Damon chuckled in my ear, making me want to swoon, before stepping back to speak to the room, "We're going with Jeremy to see Bonnie. Jenna, if you need any hiding John's body, just give me a call."

He flashed John some fang before wrapping his arm around my shoulders and leading me from the room. I could hear Jeremy laugh quietly before following us out. I hadn't yet had a chance to tease the kid about his new relationship. Or give either of them the shovel talk. And that was disappointing. But there was one thing that I wanted to do before I left the house…

I told the others that I just needed to grab my phone, which was actually upstairs in my room, and dashed up the stairs. I knew that I would need a little something to get me through the day. I could feel the memories wanting to take hold still. The only thing numbing them was the slight buzz from the booze. And I needed them to stay numb. Now that Isobel and John were lurking around and plotting, I needed to be on top of my game. And I couldn't do that if I was fighting back my trauma. Luckily, back in the day, Jazz had gifted me a lovely little flask with my initials on it. I quickly filled it up with some whiskey, downing some straight from the bottle as I did so, before packing it in a small handbag along with my phone and purse.

I made sure not the take too long as I knew that one of them would come looking for me soon enough. And I couldn't let on that I was still drinking. If they found out, then they would try and stop me. Which would be the last thing that I needed.

So I quickly dashed back downstairs and out the door, yelling out a "Kill him painfully, Jenna!" as I did so. My two companions were already outside by Damon's car. Luckily, they didn't say anything about how long I took.

"I call shotgun!" I called out, bumping Jeremy out of the way as he tried to get to the passenger door.

"Hey, not fair," the kid pouted, bumping me back.

"Thems the rules, kiddo," I shrugged, opening the door and flopping into the seat. "You snooze, you lose."

"You didn't even give me a chance," Jeremy protested as he climbed into the backseat.

"Not my fault that you're too distracted by your new girlfriend," I turned around and wiggled my eyebrows at him.

"Ugh, Alexa, shut up!" I could see a faint blush form on my brother's cheeks and grinned evilly.

"Awww, what's the matter, kiddo?" I cooed mockingly as Damon drove us to the Martin residence. "You embarrassed? Maybe I should tell Bonnie that her new beau is embarrassed of her."

"I'm embarrassed of you, you shithead," Jer quickly shot back.

"Lol," I prodded Damon with a grin. "He's throwing out insults now. That's how you know when the kid is embarrassed. Isn't it cute?"

"Adorable," Damon rolled his eyes but I could see a smile tugging at his lips.

"It totally is, isn't it?" I turned back around to look at my glaring baby bro. "Seriously though, I'm glad that you and Bonnie are happy. I'm even more happy that it gives me more ammunition to tease you both with."

"I hate you," my brother pouted, crossing his arms and looking away.

"Awww, love you too," I reached over to pat his knee. "Besides, its about time you found some happiness. Especially since your team is lame." I turned to Damon to add, "He supports Washington. Who are awful compared to the Carolina Panthers."

"You only like them because they are called the Panthers," Jeremy protested behind me. He had always been very sensitive when it came to football. Which meant that it was the perfect thing for me to tease him about. He got so grumpy about it, especially when his team lost. And I loved it.

"And here we are," Damon sighed, stopping us from falling into a full-on fight about football. Well, I say that. It would be Jer getting all pissy and me doing my upmost to wind him up.

Jeremy opened his mouth to say something but caught sight of something through the window. I followed his gaze to see Bonnie standing by the entrance to the apartment building. Before I could do more than coo, Jeremy was bolting from the car.

"Having fun there?" my vampire asked, amusement clear in his voice.

"Damn straight," I laughed, getting out the car. "It's been a while since I was able to tease the kid."

"Well, the whiskey that you had before leaving must have helped," there was a knowing look in Damon's eyes which had me freezing for a moment.

"Oh shit, what gave it away?" I was tempted to lie for a moment but sighed and gave in. Lying to Damon wasn't something that I liked to do.

"The fact that I could smell it," the vampire rolled his eyes as we followed Jeremy and Bonnie into the apartment building. "Can't fool a vampire like that, Alexa."

"Well shit, that means that as soon as Stefan or Caroline realise, they'll snitch on me," I wrinkled my nose in annoyance.

"Yep, they will," Damon agreed without any sympathy.

"You won't snitch on me, will you?" I implored, giving a pitiful pout and widening my eyes.

My vampire rolled his eyes with a smirk, "I'm not a buzzkill, Alexa."

"And that's why you're my favourite vampire," I smiled, wrapping my arm around his. Of course, as soon as I realised what I had said, I died inside in embarrassment. But luckily Damon didn't say anything so I didn't try and defend what I said. Because I would just make it worse.

Bonnie led us to the right apartment before stepping to the side. Our resident vampire used his strength to open the door. The smell of burnt flesh wafter from the apartment, causing me to gag. It was horrible and enough to make you feel sick. How the others didn't react to it, I'll never know. But I had to cover my nose with the sleeve of my cardigan.

We watched as Damon moved his hand forward, finding no resistance. With a shrug, he stepped forward, over the threshold.

"Yep, everybody's dead," he sounded far too pleased when he said that. We were quickly beckoned into the apartment and closed the door behind us. The room was a mess. Old books were scatted all around the room with several of them on the floor. And right in the middle of the room was Luka's body. His skin was all burnt and charred. A blanket lay next to him and I just knew that it was what Dr Martin used to try and save his son. I couldn't help but feel bad. Despite the fact that they were working with Elijah, they didn't deserve to die. And Luka definitely didn't deserve to die like that. To be burnt alive like that must have been horrific. Even though I had barely spoken to him, I knew that he didn't deserve that.

Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Bonnie glance down at the body sadly before refocussing her gaze on the books scattered around the room. I knew that she had felt something for Luka. Whether it was a proper crush or just relief that there was another magical being around that could help her, I would never know. But it must have been hard on her for him to die.

"W should pack up the grimoires," our witch said, crossing her arms. "They spent years collecting them. I wanna make sure they're safe."

"Do you have room in your house?" I asked, keeping my gaze away from the body. "Because if not, you're more than welcome to store them at ours."

"Thanks Alexa," Bonnie smiled over at me, while Damon studied Luka's body.

"You know, we could just get another match and cremate him," he said before glancing up at Bonnie as she stepped closer.

"Don't be disrespectful," she said quietly, her gaze imploring. "Not to him."

Something in Bonnie's eyes must have persuaded him as the vampire shrugged, pretending that he didn't care but you could see it in his face, "Fine. I'll bury him."

Bonnie smiled her thanks at him while Jeremy spoke up, "What exactly are we looking for?"

"Good question, Jer, what are we looking for?" I looked around the room, catching sight of a picture of my sister.

"According to Luka's dad," Bonnie answered as Damon covered the body with a blanket. "One of these contains a spell that'll let me harness the energy that's left behind when a ditch dies violently."

I looked around at all of the books in the room and there were a lot, "Oh great, that's today wasted then."

"I didn't know that you and father witch were so close," Damon piped up sarcastically as he wrapped an arm around my waist.

"We weren't," Bon shrugged, glancing back at us. "But when he gave me my powers back, he gave me a message. If I can find the spot in town, where the old Salem witches were burned, I can harness their energy to use when I need it."

"Great," my vampire rolled his eyes as I rested my head against his shoulder. "We'll have to put that on our list of things to do today. Harness ancient dead-witch power."

I frowned at his words, realising the hidden meaning, as did the witch, "You know where the witches were burned?"

The smirk on Damon's face had my insides melting happily, "Did I forget to mention that?"

"Of course you know where they were burned," I rolled my eyes but I couldn't hide my smile. "Why aren't I surprised?"

"Well, I am a font of all knowledge," Damon's fingers dug into my sides for a moment before stroking it. I bit my lip to stop a giggle but I couldn't bring myself to move away, even when he was tickling me.

Meanwhile, my brother was embracing his inner geek and was reading one of the grimoires. I could see from my position in Damon's arms that it was filled with various scribbles, probably all of the spells that generations of witches had noted down.

"Are we gonna have to read through every one of these books till we find the right spell?" he asked, trying not to groan as he realised the scale of the task that he had volunteered for.

"Guess so," I teased him. "Have fun kiddo, let me know if you find it."

Jeremy rolled his eyes at me as Bonnie said, "Not exactly."

The witch stepped forward, closer to the shelf, and raised her hands. We watched in intrigue as she closed her eyes and started muttering. I assumed it was one of her witchy spells, like find me what I want. But it didn't take long for all of the books to fall to the floor. One remained open, falling right at Bonnie's feet. I'm not ashamed to admit that I jumped when all of the books fell with a loud thud. Luckily, only Damon noticed and he just tightened his grip on me. While he didn't tease me just yet, I knew that he would at some point. He was a little shit like that.

Bonnie knelt down and picked up the book, reading the spell that had been revealed, "It's this one."

"Great," Damon announced, his arms still around me. "Grab the rest. Let's go."

XXX

After we dropped off Bonnie, Jeremy and the grimoires at home, Damon took me to the Boarding House. The drive was quiet but Damon let me hold his hand. Now that I didn't have anything to distract me, my mind drifted back to last time. Seeing Dr Martin die like was just horrible. And it unleashed everything. I knew that I was holding on by a fine line, but I didn't realise that I was that close to snapping. But I did snap. And by doing so, I failed in my promise to not drink. And I was continuing to break that promise. But now that I had started again, I knew that I wouldn't be able to stop. Not while all of this sacrifice drama was still happening. So until we stopped that, and until I had found a way to kill Klaus that wouldn't endanger my friends, I would need that crutch. I would need the peace that drinking gave me.

When we got to the Boarding House, Damon led us into the study. Elena and Stefan were already there, talking quietly. I left Damon's side and walked over to the sofa, where my sister sat, and slumped down. My head was resting on her thigh and I made myself comfortable. I heard my sister sigh but she quickly started running her fingers through my hair, teasing out the tangles.

"I'm so tired," I muttered into my twin's leg as Damon joined us, sitting down on the nearby chair.

"That's what you get for spending half the night out drinking," my evil sister immediately responded, giving me a stern look.

"I came over here looking for sympathy," I whined pitifully, giving my sister a sad look.

"Well, you're looking in the wrong place," Elena declared, but her gentle fingers, conscious of the nasty hangover headache that still lingered, betrayed her words.

"Well, then, you're just evil," I wrinkled my nose at her before switching my gaze to Stefan. "Will you give me sympathy?"

The younger vampire definitely looked amused but he gave me what I wanted, "I'm sorry to hear that you're tired, Alexa. Do you want some coffee?"

Before I could answer with a "hell yes", my evil sister said, "She's cut off in the afternoons."

"That rule sucks and I hate it," I pouted before turning imploring eyes back to Stefan. "Stef, my favourite bunny eater, you won't let her deny my coffee, would you?"

"Sorry, Alexa," Stefan laughed, shaking his head. "I can't get you coffee but we do have some soda if you would prefer that?"

I paused to consider the offer. It was still caffeinated and I did love some soda. I mean, it wasn't coffee but it was something. So I politely accepted the offer. Sweet Stefan even got me a straw so that I wouldn't have to sit up to drink it.

So while I happily sipped on my soda, the rest of the group continued the conversation that Damon and I had interrupted earlier.

"Do you really think that Isobel's telling the truth that word's gotten out about the doppelganger?" Elena asked, looking slightly worried.

"Well, after your little stunt with Cody, it's possible," I pointed out, ignoring the look my twin gave me. "We don't actually know who he or his cronies told before Elijah killed them."

My words made the worried look on my sister's face deepen, so Stefan quickly jumped in, "Look, I don't trust a word that she says, but I think that we'd be stupid to ignore the warning."

"You know," Damon spoke up from his seat on the other chair. "You should just stay here. it's better for us to keep an eye on you."

"What, in the house that any vampire can enter?" Stefan immediately scoffed, shaking his head. "No. Their house is safer."

"Well, then we'll stay there," Damon shrugged casually. Well, I definitely wasn't going to argue with that. Damon staying at my house permanently? Yeah, I definitely wasn't going to protest against that. Even if I couldn't tell him how I really felt, I sure as hell wasn't going to deny myself of him. I could still enjoy his friendship and just having him around.

"So is that the plan?" my sister looked between the two, looking less than impressed. "Neither of you will let me out of your sight again?"

"Let me know when you come up with a better one," my vampire retorted, giving her a stern look.

"It's not just those two," I pointed out, rolling my eyes at Elena's look. "I won't let you out of my sight either. You do stupid things when left on your own."

"Says you," Ellie immediately shot back.

"But I'm not in as much danger as you," I countered, winning that point.

"Fine, then one of you two bodyguards is gonna have to come with me and my other keeper to the Lockwood luncheon," Elena declared, looking between the brothers. Well, at least she didn't argue against me going. Which, now that I think about it, isn't a good thing. I didn't want to go to the luncheon later. I didn't care about it and it would just be boring. But it didn't seem like I had a choice now. Which just massively sucked.

"That'd be me," Stef immediately said.

As we looked at Damon, he shrugged, "Not me. I have witch stuff to attend to with Bonnie."

This caught my sister's attention, "Does that mean that you're taking her to the-"

Damon immediately cut her off with a "shh", holding his finger to his lips. Of course, that drew my attention to his lips and I just dreamt of kissing them. But I would never be able to. And wasn't that a sad thought.

The reason why my vampire hushed my sister immediately became obvious as evil incarnate walked in. Katherine strutted over, looking between us all with an unimpressed look, "Don't get quiet on my account. If you have a plan to combat the impending vampire doom, please do tell."

"Well, my plan is to lob you at Klaus before running in the opposite direction with my sister," I spoke up, the boozy buzz giving me the courage that I normally lacked. "Hope that helps.

The look Katherine gave me was pure venom, causing my sister to protectively place her hand on my stomach and glare up at her doppelganger.

Damon looked at Stefan while Katherine continued, "Seriously, what is the plan to get us out of this mess, hmm? I delivered you a moonstone, a werewolf, and the dagger to lure and kill Klaus, and right now, all you have is a moonstone. Or so you tell me."

"No, we have it," Damon confirmed, clearly enjoying the opportunity to wind up Katherine.

"Where is it?" she countered, crossing her arms in annoyance.

"It's in a very safe place," was all my vampire would say.

Bitcherine rolled her eyes, "I've been honest with you. Time to return the favour."

"Let me be honest with you," Damon said, a smirk tugging at his delectable lips. "Don't mistake the fact that we haven't set you in fire in your sleep for trust."

"Burn," I whispered savagely as my sister turned her head to smile viciously up at her doppelganger.

This just pissed off Katherine, who sneered, "Fine, be that way," before leaving the room.

"Don't let the door hit you on your way out!" I yelled after her, enjoying the sound of my twin's laughter.

XXX

Elena had insisted that we get ready for the luncheon at the Salvatore Boarding House in an attempt to avoid John. We both knew that he would try the ambush the second we went home. Especially with the way that we both left that morning.

Luckily, she had had the foresight to pack our dresses and makeup before coming here. I appreciated it even more as it meant that I didn't need to try and find something to wear. Which would have taken forever. Especially since I was convinced that the Historical Society events were cursed. So I never wanted to wear something nice to them now. I was still gutted that my cute little dress from the last one could never be worn again.

We took over Stefan's room to get ready. Although I did sneak a quick shower in Damon's room before heading up. I would never give up an opportunity to use his shower. It was so amazing and I honestly wanted one for myself.

By the time I had made it up to Stefan's room, Ellie had already changed into her dress and was sorting out her makeup. She had picked out a cute little purple dress which wrapped around her body before being tied up at the side. I could see my dress hanging on the dresser behind her. It was a dark blue one, similar to my sister's. The fabric looked light and flowy while also being conservative enough for the Ladies of Mystic Falls.

I quickly got changed and sorted out my makeup before letting Elena sort out my hair. There was a silence in the room, but it wasn't an uncomfortable one. For the first time in a while, we were at peace. Of course, the fact that I had snuck a good amount of whiskey from my flask before coming up here probably helped. The buzz settled the itch under my skin and just helped me calm down. And with Ellie agreeing to fight the sacrifice, I was more willing to play nice.

Besides, I had missed being at peace with my sister. I loved her so much and not being around her was hard. Even when we lived our own lives, we still hung out. But with the recent tensions, it had been hard. And I missed how easy things used to be.

Stefan drove us to the luncheon, which meant that I was relegated to the backseat. That was the annoying thing with Stefan taking us places, I wasn't able to call shotgun. So I sulked on the journey there. But I did amuse myself by sending sisterly 'warning' texts to Jeremy. It had been a while since I was able to tease him like this. And I was not going to miss the opportunity. I also sent a text to Tyler. He hadn't answered any of the previous ones, but I liked to keep him up to date on what was happening. One day he would message me back. But in the meantime, I just told him that I loved him and that I hoped he was okay.

As Stefan pulled up outside the Lockwood home, I looked out the window and wrinkled my nose, "On a scale of one to ten, how pissed would Jenna be if we just turned around and left?"

Ellie rolled her eyes at me, but I could see the amusement in those beautiful depths, "Alexa, we're not going to run away. Jenna wants us here to accept the cheque for mom's foundation."

"Yeah, cos she doesn't want all of their attention on her," I countered, still plotting how I could escape the upcoming boredom.

"How about this: as soon as we accept the cheque, we'll leave. How does that sound?"

I paused to consider Elena's offer, "Ugh, fine, I guess that's acceptable."

My sister then pulled out her biggest weapon, her sweet, sweet smile, "Thank you, Lexa."

"Yeah, yeah," I rolled my eyes, ignoring the pleased blush at her smile. "Let's just get this over with."

At my words, my sister quickly exited the car before moving the seat so that I could climb out too. I wobbled slightly on my heels as I stepped out but I quickly caught my balance again. Out of the corner of my eye, I could see Stefan giving me a knowing look. But I shrugged it off. I knew that he could probably smell the whiskey that I had downed before we left. But until he said something, I would keep silent on the topic.

I followed Ellie and Stef into the huge house, feeling a wave of nostalgia hit me as I did so. Just by being here, I missed Tyler even more than I did before. It felt so weird not having him around. And I hated it. I just wished that he could come home. But I knew that he couldn't. Not until he had learnt to accept his new identity.

One of the formal rooms had been set up for the day, with chairs on either side of the room and a carpeted aisle down the middle. Fortunately for me, waiters walked around with champagne glasses for the guests. Apparently Mrs Lockwood had gone down the route of getting the society members drunk. Not that I was complaining, as I quickly grabbed one off of the tray and downed some of it. I then snuck up behind my sister and her boyfriend, keeping my glass hidden.

It was then that someone unexpected approached us.

Caroline certainly wasn't dressed for the event. Which meant that she wasn't going to be here for long. I eyed her up as I sipped on my champagne.

"Hey," Stefan greeted the blonde as she approached. "Any luck finding Matt?"

Ah yes, it was the Matt situation. Elena and Stefan had updated me on that during the drive. I felt bad for Caroline, even if I did understand Matt's reaction. Learning that the supernatural existed was hard to hear. Especially after what happened to Vicki. But Caroline had been so hesitant in telling him in the first place. And Matt's reaction had only proved her right.

"None," Caroline shook her head, looking upset. "What if he tells somebody? What if he tells everybody?"

"No, we just gotta find him and make sure that doesn't happen," the bunny eater tried to console her before looking at my sister. "Do you have any idea where he would be?"

Ellie winced as she answered, "I wish I did, but he wasn't really one to run."

I had always admired Matt for that. He always had your back and never backed down from a tough situation. He was a good friend. And it was such a shame that all of this supernatural bullshit meant that he was excluded from a lot of things.

"You know, this wasn't how it was supposed to happen," poor Caroline looked like she was on the verge of tears. "You know, I was supposed to tell him at the right moment in the right way, and he was supposed to be okay with it because he loves me."

"We'll help you find him," my twin was quick to offer, unable to see our friend upset. "We just have to accept this thing for our mom."

Caroline nodded, "Alright. Well, call me when you're done, and I'll be out looking for him."

We watched her leave before Stefan sighed and wrapped an arm around my sister, pulling her close, "Maybe he'll come around. You did."

XXX

Jenna joined us not long later, a glass of champagne in hand.

I had previously finished my own but wasn't able to grab another one. But now that I think about it, that probably wasn't a bad thing. With my aunt now around, I was more likely to be caught. And I couldn't take that risk. If I was caught now, then they would definitely know that there was an issue. And I couldn't risk the attention being taken away from my sister. Yeah, I know that she said that she was fighting, but we still needed to save her. I still needed to save her. And I couldn't let the focus be taken off that goal.

"John's here, by the way," Jenna rolled her eyes as she sipped her champagne. "The weasel followed me in his car, even after I told him that he wasn't welcome here. Or anywhere, really."

"Ugh, you mean that you didn't kill him?" I wrinkled my nose as Mrs Lockwood announced that it was time to gather in the main room.

"Ric stopped me," my aunt looked put out that her boyfriend wouldn't let her get rid of John. Which was something that I agreed with. You would have thought that Ric would agree that John should go. Especially since he did deck him this morning.

"For real? Damn, I thought Ric was a good guy," I fidgeted in my heels as I realised that I wouldn't get a seat. Which sucked. As I had forgotten how much just standing still in heels hurt. I wouldn't have worn them at all but Ellie insisted that we needed to look smart.

"He said that John wasn't worth it," Jenna rolled her eyes and downed the rest of her drink.

"Guess that means that I have to sic Damon on him," I mused, considering how much Damon would love the opportunity to get rid of my uncle. The only reason that he hadn't permanently killed him was out of respect for me and Elena. Despite the fact that she loathed John and I was pretty pissed at him, neither of us wanted him dead. We had lost enough family that we didn't want John to die. Especially for Jeremy's sake too.

"Well, he would do anything for you," my aunt's smile was teasing and I hated it. Despite all of the drama going on in our lives, my aunt still took the time to tease me about my crush on the older Salvatore brother. And it was uber annoying.

What was even more was that I was prevented from trying to argue it against by Mrs Lockwood's announcement that the luncheon was now officially starting. So I just stood there with my arms crossed, trying not to pout, while Jenna radiated smugness.

I tuned out what was being said, unable to focus on the words. I knew that it would all be boring and I wasn't at all interested in it. I couldn't stop myself from thinking on Jenna's words. I knew that Damon would do anything for me. I couldn't deny that, like at all. But was that because we were such good friends? Or did it mean something more? I never let myself hope that Damon felt the same way about me as I did him. It was a dangerous thought. And I would never want to lose my friendship with the vampire if he didn't return my feelings. His friendship was far too important to me. Not to be dramatic, but I honestly didn't know what I would do without my vampire. He had become so important to me that losing him wasn't an option.

I was interrupted from my thoughts by the sound of my mom's name.

"And here to accept the donation to the Miranda Sommers-Gilbert scholarship fund is Elena and Alexandria Gilbert."

Why it took two of us to accept the cheque, I would never know. Maybe it was because we were both her children? But that would mean that Jeremy should have attended too. Or they just couldn't decide which one of us should do it? Either way, I was forced to follow my sister to the front of the room and smile politely, despite the fact that Mrs Lockwood used my full name. Meanwhile, Jenna smiled smugly as she escaped the duty to accept the cheque and make a speech. I shot her a look with my eyes, sending daggers her way.

Luckily, my twin knew me well enough to know that I wouldn't give a speech. So she took over speaking duties for us both, "The Historical Society was our mom's baby. She considered all of you family and would be honoured and touched by this gift."

Before my twin could say anything, there was a loud thud in the hallway. Elena looked puzzled while Mrs Lockwood annoyed that something had interrupted her event. Naturally, because everyone in this society was nosey, the room quickly cleared as they went to investigate the noise. Mrs Lockwood followed them, muttering something unflattering under her breath. It was always amusing when Tyler's mom got annoyed. Because she never properly showed it. She was too much of a 'Lady' to do something like that. So instead, she would give a fake smile and mutter something under her breath once out of earshot. It was passive aggressiveness at its finest.

"Wonder what that was," I mused, taking a step forward to go have a look myself. But I was prevented from moving further away by a sudden grip on my arm. There was only one person behind me and I knew exactly who that was. The fact that Ellie didn't use her words was worrying. I swung around to see Elena being held hostage by her bitch of a doppelganger.

Katherine had a vicious smirk on her face as she said, "Sweet dreams."

Before I could work out what that meant, the world went black.

XXX

For the second time that day, I woke up to a pounding head.

But I knew that this one wasn't caused by over-indulging in the whiskey. My cheek throbbed from where Katherine hit me. From the sounds around me and the movement I felt, it became clear that I was in a car. The more worrying thing was the warm body that I felt in front of me. I recognised the familiar scent of my sister's perfume and felt my heart sink. Clearly, Katherine had taken my sister too. And had apparently switched clothes with her too, as my twin was no longer wearing her lovely purple dress.

It was uber important that I found out where we were and who was with us. If I didn't get that information, then I wouldn't be able to properly protect my sister. So I forced my eyes open, wincing at the blinding light. I shifted slightly so that the sun wasn't shining directly into my eyes.

I recognised the voice of the woman in front of us as I reached forward to grab my sister's hand. She was laying in front of me, her back to me. But from the return squeeze, I knew that she was also awake.

"I had to do what I was told," Isobel's emotionless voice spoke from the front seat. "He wanted the moonstone and he wanted you."

He… Klaus? Was Isobel working with Klaus? Did Isobel just betray Katherine for Klaus? What the hell did I miss?

Dark eyes glanced into the wingmirror and I was too slow in closing my own.

"I know that the two of you are awake," our birth mom spoke calmly, not sounding at all bothered by the fact that she just betrayed Katherine.

This was just the excuse that my sister needed, "Where are you taking us?"

We both sat up, although we didn't move far from each other. I remained in the middle seat, still holding onto my twin's hand. Ellie scooted closer, so that we were pressed against each other, shoulders to knees.

"That's not important," the vampire brushed off, her eyes still studying us in the mirror. "You just need to stay calm."

"Stay calm?" I repeated with a snort, squeezing my twin's hand. "You've abducted us and now you're telling us to stay calm? No way in hell."

"I know that you both drink vervain, so I can't compel you to relax," Isobel sighed, sounding tired for the first time. "But trust me when I tell you that you aren't in danger."

I mean, I didn't trust her, like at all. She hadn't given us a reason to and the fact that she had just betrayed Katherine to Klaus was a huge red flag. I mean, yeah, I had no proof that it was Klaus, but who else could it have been?

"How could we possibly trust you?" my sister immediately shot back, frowning fiercely.

Isobel sighed and told us what she did to Katherine. I could see my twin's mind whirring with all of the possibilities. I let her and instead focussed on the fact that our little gang had been infiltrated by Klaus. And we didn't even know until it was too late.

The rest of the drive was silent. I glanced out the window to see the sign for Grove Hill Cemetery and wondered where Isobel was taking us. It wasn't long after that that the car came to a stop. Ellie and I exchanged worried looks as Isobel's latest boy toy got out of the car. He opened the door for Isobel first before opening the one next to Ellie.

I was tempted to dig my heels in and refuse to leave the car. But I knew that it would be pointless. Isobel's words only proved that, "Just because you can't be compelled doesn't mean that I can't force you to come with me."

"Well, shit," I sighed before nudging my sister out of the car. I figured that if we went willingly, then Isobel might not be as watchful. And that meant that I could cause a distraction to get my sister away from her and to safety.

"So is that what happened?" my sister asked once we were both out of the car. "You were compelled to betray Katherine?"

"If I was, then I couldn't tell you," Isobel replied as she walked amongst the graves, looking for something in particular.

"So you lied," my twin shook her head in disgust and disappointment. "You did find Klaus, didn't you? He knows where I am now. Are you taking us to him?"

That question reignited my fear. Because if that was Isobel's plan, then I was powerless to stop it. I had no way of killing Klaus or saving my sister. If we were on our way to Klaus, then we were doomed. My only hope would be that I could use myself as a distraction to get my sister to safety. And I would gladly give my life to save hers.

Isobel didn't answer my sister's questions, instead, she found what she was looking for. The vampire approached a tombstone and crouched down in front of it.

"What is this?" Elena asked, exchanging a look with me as Isobel cleared some leave from the tombstone. The inscription took my breath away.

"In Loving Memory

Isobel Flemming

January 18th, 1978 – may 4th, 2007"

This was her tombstone.

"My parents, your grandparents, they put it here when it became clear that the police weren't going to find my body," our birth mom spoke softly, sounding emotional for the first time. "They visit every week, and they bring flowers, even though there's no one buried here. The Isobel they knew is dead. So maybe there's a part of me that's buried here, the… the human part, the part that I abandoned when I… when I chose to become a vampire, the part that used to dream about the day that she'd know her daughters."

I could feel the tears threatening to build up and from the way my sister grabbed my hand, she felt the same way.

"What?" Ellie whispered softly, pulling my closer.

Isobel shrugged as she stood up, "And instead, you got to meet the other part… the part that would betray her own flesh and blood."

The sound of a phone ringing gave me the opportunity to pull myself together. The vampire pulled it from her pocket and answered the call.

We couldn't hear what was being said but Isobel glanced over at us as she said, "Yes."

I squeezed my sister's hand and moved so that I was standing in front of her slightly. It wasn't much, but it made me feel slightly better.

Whatever it was that the caller said must have surprised Isobel as she repeated, "Let them go?"

I glanced back at my sister, looking surprised. We were being let go? Then what was the point of bringing us here? I just didn't understand it. But a small part of me was feeling hopeful. We were free to go. And that mean that I would have more time to find a way to kill Klaus and save my sister.

"I'm done?" Isobel asked, looking relieved. She hung up the call and dropped her phone to the side. It hit the ground with a thud. It drew my attention for a moment before my sister spoke.

"Who was that?"

Isobel looked at us, looking so sad and full of regret. And for the first time, I could see the person that she used to be, "I'm so sorry, Elena, Alexa. I was such a disappointment to you both."

And before we could say anything, Isobel ripped off her necklace, her magical necklace that protected her from the sun, and threw it to the side. I barely had time to gasp before our birth mom started to smoke. I threw my arms around my sister and pulled her close as Isobel caught on fire, screaming loudly. We squeezed each other tightly, as the vampire fell the ground in front of her grave. I could feel a tear trickling down my face as we stared down at her body in shock.

"Ellie, what just happened?" I whispered into the silence, unwilling to release my grip on my sister. I was feeling numb but I knew that wouldn't last. Despite the hatred that I felt for Isobel, she was still our mom. She gave birth to us and she was our blood. And now she was dead. In such a violent way.

I knew that it would only be a matter of time until it properly hit me. And then I would break. Whether I hated her or not, I would still breakdown over her death. But right now, I just needed to focus on my sister.

I carefully pulled Elena away from our birth mom's body. Her minion had disappeared with the car, but I didn't worry about that. Once I had settled my sister on a bench facing away from the body, I reluctantly returned. The smell of burning flesh turned my stomach but I needed the phone that Isobel had thrown to the side. It was the only way of getting our Salvatore's to come and find us.

I grabbed the phone before pausing. Lying on the ground near it, was Isobel's necklace. After everything, this would be the only thing that remained of her. So I grabbed it.

I quickly returned to my sister and dialled a familiar number. It didn't take long for him to pick up, even if it was with a snarled, "Isobel."

"Nope, better," I returned, feeling my body relax with relief at the sound of his voice. I settled down next to my sister and passed her the necklace before wrapping my arm around her shoulders. Ellie's head settled against my shoulder as she fiddled with the necklace.

"Alexa? Are you okay? Where are you? Is Elena with you?" I had never heard Damon sound so frantic.

"We're fine, just a bit shaken up. We're somewhere in the Grove Hill Cemetery and Elena is right next to me," I answered, sounding a lot calmer than I felt.

"Don't move, we're on our way," my Damon said before hanging up the call. I placed the cell onto the bench next to me, just in case they called back.

"Our boys are on their way," I told my sister, running my hand down her hair. I knew that as soon as the brothers were here, I would probably break. But until then, while my sister needed me to look after her, I would somehow remain a lot calmer than I thought I would.

"Is Stefan okay?" my sweet sister asked, glancing up at me. "I'm guessing that after Katherine pretended to me, she would have done something to him in order to get away."

"Damon didn't say," I winced apologetically. "You know how he gets when worried. But I'm going to take that as a good sign. Right?"

"Right," my twin agreed, looking back down at the necklace in her hand. I sighed and pulled her closer, resting my cheek against the top of her head. I knew that my sister was feeling guilty over the way that she treated Isobel. Deep down, I did too. But it was wrong to feel like that. Isobel hadn't done anything to earn our respect, even if she was our birth mom. But I knew that no matter what I said, my sister wouldn't believe it. She was unbelievably stubborn at times.

We sat in silence until the Salvatore's arrived, which didn't take as long as it probably should have. I was definitely willing to bet that Damon had broken a few driving laws to get here. Not that I was complaining. I needed him and I needed him now.

The moment our Salvatore's arrived; they were at our side. Stefan gently eased Elena away and into a hug while Damon took her seat next to me.

"What happened?" he asked as I took the opportunity to wrap myself around him, resting my head against his shoulder.

"Isobel's dead," I mumbled, waving my hand in the direction that her body was in. "She was compelled by Klaus and betrayed Katherine. He has the moonstone too. For some reason, he told her to let us go."

I could feel the brother's exchanging a look over my head but I didn't care too much. With Damon there, I could finally relax. And come to terms with the fact that I had just lost another parent.

XXX

We took up residence in the Boarding House parlour when we arrived. I sat next to my sister on the sofa, keeping an arm wrapped around her while Stefan sat on the arm next to her. John was laying dead near the entrance. Apparently, Isobel had killed him to create a distraction at the Historical Society luncheon.

Ellie was once again fiddling with Isobel's necklace. A part of me regretted grabbing it, since my twin seemed to be obsessed with it. But I knew why she was. It was the only thing that we really had of our birth mom's and it was her magical vampire necklace. So I would let Elena play with it as I knew that it would help her move on from this.

"Is that Isobel's?" Stefan asked, finally breaking the silence that had fallen between us since we had gotten home.

"I never thought that I would feel bad about her being dead, and yet…" my twin sighed, glancing up at her boyfriend with a desperate look on her face. It was a look that broke my heart.

"She was your mother," Stef gently pointed out, taking my sister's hand and giving it a gentle squeeze.

"Why did they let us go?" Elena asked, frowning in confusion as she tried to work it out.

"Well, anything John told Isobel, we have to assume that Klaus knows, right?" the vampire sighed, sounding slightly frustrated by what he was saying. "So he knows that you're not gonna turn yourself into a vampire. He knows that you have us keeping you safe."

"He knows that I'm not gonna run," Ellie finished, realising what that meant. Klaus now knew that my sister would be ready for the sacrifice whenever he made his move.

Damon chose that moment to walk in, a stack of papers in his hand.

"Which is why we need to take some precautions," my vampire announced, walking over to us, stepping over John's body. "Cos we got played, all of us."

He placed the papers on the coffee table in front of us. I exchanged a look with my sister before we leant forward to have a look.

"What's this?" Ellie asked, as I wrinkled my nose at all the writing. It looked boring and I had absolutely no interest in reading it. Which meant that I would let my sister do all the hard work and find out what it was all about in the end.

"It's the deed to our house," Stefan answered and my eyes widened in shock. "It's in Zach's name. As soon as you sign it, it'll be in your name."

"You're giving us your house?" Ellie asked as I just sat there in shocked silence. "Both of us?"

"With one comes the other," Damon shrugged, rolling his eyes at my indignant look. But there were giving us their house. I mean, their house! It was unreal. We were going to legally own this huge, giant building. And the Salvatore brothers would be our house guests.

"Look, Isobel had the right idea with the safe house," Stefan added while I wrinkled my nose at the older vampire. "You'll just stay here till it's all over. That way, you can control who gets invited in and who doesn't."

"Although I'll be super pissed if you lock me out," Damon smirked in my direction, giving me one of his special smiles. It was one that made me feel all warm and tingly inside.

I smiled cheekily, "Well damn, there goes my plan."

Damon was stopped from replying by John gasping awake. I jolted slightly in my sleep at the sudden noise. Stefan and Ellie stared over at the weasel while Damon sped over. He grabbed my uncle by the collar and lifted him up so that his toes barely touched the ground.

"I swear I had no idea what she was gonna do," John immediately started to babble, sounding genuinely upset. "I'm sorry. I'm so, so sorry."

I felt my twin stand up, a determined look on her face. She reached down to grab my arm, gently pulling me to my feet. As I wondered what she was up to, Elena said, "Damon, let him go. I think it's about time that he, Alexa and I talked."

XXX

Stefan and Damon had retreated to the library, to give us some privacy. Even though we knew that they would be able to hear every word that we said. But it was the gesture that counted.

Ellie and I sat on one sofa while John took the one opposite us. He looked genuinely regretful for his part in Isobel's plan, even if it was unwilling. I relaxed against my sister as she wrapped her arm around my shoulder's. Watching Isobel die had only served to remind us how short and fragile life was.

"I always knew that she and Katherine were close," John said, shaking his head. "But I never realised that Isobel and her were working against me. Two of the world's most uncaring and selfish vampires, and yet they were genuinely friends."

"If that's what you thought of her, when did you ever put your trust in her at all?" Ellie asked with a frown.

"Because I was there when she gave birth to you two, Elena," John replied with a soft look, remembering what happened. "I saw how heartbroken she was to give you two up. And because she was the first girl I ever loved, and when she said that she'd help to keep you safe and look after Alexa… I believed her. At this point, I will do whatever you want me to do. If you feel safer with me not around, then I'll go."

I knew what my answer would be. Despite everything, I didn't want John to go. He was family and he did have his uses, even if he was being a giant prick. But this was Elena's call. I would follow her lead in this as it was her life at risk. And if she felt like John was increasing that risk, then I would let her send him away.

John must have taken Ellie's silence as a cue to leave, as he stood up with a sad look. My heart reached out for him but I didn't speak up.

Before he could go more than a few steps, Elena spoke up, choosing her words carefully, "You screw up everything, John. Everything you touch just falls apart. But you're the only parent that we have left… so maybe I can learn not to hate you."

A small smile formed on John's face, "Okay."

I glanced between the two before standing up, pulling my sister with me, "Group hug."

I pulled her forward, quickly closing the distance between us and our birth father, before wrapping him up in a hug, my sister alongside me. I could hear Ellie grumble in my ear but she joined in the hug. Despite her reluctance, I knew that she was enjoying the hug. He was family and at the end of the day, that was all that mattered.

XXX

A/N: After getting some really shitty news yesterday, your reviews really made me feel better, so thank you so much! Please keep them coming :) hope you all enjoyed the chapter :) until next time xoxo