Sorry it's late :P Merry belated Christmas and a Happy New Year to you all! (and if you celebrate something else or nothing at all, hope you've had a good couple of weeks or a nice holiday!)

Disclaimer: I don't own The Vampire Diaries


No missed calls.

No new messages.

Nothing.

I sighed and put my phone back in my pocket after checking it for what seemed like the hundredth time today. Neither Elena nor Stefan had called me up and it was starting to drive me crazy. I didn't have any work today either, which made the waiting all the more excruciating.

From time to time, on the rare occasions when I had a day off, I realised the extent of which my life was made up of me working. All I did was work.

Lately I'd been hanging out with Sarah more and more though, and that was nice. But she had other things to do today, so I was left at home with my books being my only company. I'd already spent a fair amount on Google today and only the thought of pressing down one more key on the keyboard had me cringing.

My mum was away at work, leaving me alone in the house. So far, I hadn't really had the opportunity to talk to my mother after coming home that night, because when she wasn't working, I was, and vice versa. I knew she was still upset with me. She wouldn't let it go that easy though, I knew she would bring it up again.

I was right in the middle of reading The Old Man and the Sea when I felt the soft and even vibrations of my phone ringing. I quickly got it out and looked at the screen. Unknown caller.

Holding my phone up to my ear, I answered. ''Hello?''

''Well, hello,'' a familiar voice said.

''Damon?''

''The one and only. Listen, you wanted a chance to talk, right?''

I nodded before I realised I was on the phone and he couldn't see me. I mentally slapped myself in the face. ''Yeah.''

''I have a proposition for you.''

''And...?''

''Well, it's more like I need a favour. I need you to go to Elena's house and hang with her and little miss witchy for a while.''

I frowned. ''Why do you make it sound like you want me to babysit them?''

''Not them. Her. Elena.''

''Okay... um... why?'' I quizzed.

''They'll probably let you all in on it when you get there.''

''Okay, but-''

''Bye now!'' he said quickly and hung up.

Beeeeeeep.

I sighed. Well, at least I finally got a call.


I hadn't been to Elena's before. The Gilbert family home was a really pretty house in one of Mystic Falls nicer neighbourhoods. It was bigger than mine, white, with a large porch and lawn.

Walking up the steps to the porch, I raised my hand hesitantly to knock on the door. Seconds later, it opened.

''Hi,'' I raised my hand in an awkward greeting.

I'd only met Bonnie, properly, in school before, so this felt really weird. But I'd gotten through this with almost everyone else in their group, so this shouldn't be any different, hopefully.

''Hi,'' she smiled at me and then looked over her shoulder. ''Um, Elena's a little sour, but come on in.''

''I told you guys I don't need a babysitter, and especially not two-'' an angry voice protested from the living room. Elena stopped talking when she came into the hallway and saw me. ''Oh. Sorry.''

''I'm not here to babysit you...'' I assured. That might've been why Damon wanted me to come, but that wasn't why I was there. ''Damon called and said that this was a good time to come by and talk. I can leave if you want.''

Elena shook her head. ''No, no. It's fine. Let's go to the living room.''

''Hope you don't mind me asking, but why would you need a babysitter?'' I asked as we sat down on the couch.

Elena crossed her arms, visibly annoyed. Not at me, though. ''It's a long story,'' she muttered. ''To make it short... I'm kinda stuck here.''

My eyes fluttered towards Bonnie without me meaning to.

''It's for her own good.''

I had no clue as to what was going on, and Elena sitting there with her arms crossed and an irritated frown on her forehead only told me that she was in a really bad mood.

''I'm lost here, you guys,'' I hinted at them.

''Right,'' Elena sighed. ''Sorry. You wanted to talk?''

''Well...'' Suddenly I didn't quite know what to say.

''Why don't we start from the beginning?'' Bonnie suggested.

So the following hour I learned all about how Elena had gotten dragged into all of this in the first place: how she met Stefan and learned about him and Damon being son's of one of the town's founders; how Bonnie learned from her grandmother that she was a witch; how Tyler Lockwood was a werewolf and then how there could be two ''Elena's'' running around at the same time.

''So I haven't been seeing two of you? I thought I was going mad!''

''Nope,'' Elena grimaced. ''That's Katherine.''

''And she's... stuck under that old church?''

''Mhm,'' she hummed. ''And then there's Alaric.''

I frowned. ''Mr. Saltzman?''

''He's our... what would you call him?'' Elena looked to Bonnie for help.

''Vampire hunter?''

''I'm sorry, what?'' I coughed. As much as that probably was one of the biggest surprises so far, it did explain why he'd been so lenient with Stefan at school. ''Let me just see if I got this right...'' I continued. ''There's witches and vampires, and now there's werewolves and hunters too? What is this, the Hellmouth? How do you guys keep track of all of this?'' I felt myself growing more confused by the second.

Elena smiled, but it looked strained. ''I'm not sure that I am.''

''But this curse... the sun and moon curse?'' Bonnie nodded to confirm that I got it right. There was so much going on in my head right now that I was afraid to mess up or forget something important. It was just so much to take in. ''I just don't get it...'' Feeling my forehead crease, I looked at the two of them in confusion.

''What?'' Bonnie asked.

''What breaks it?

They looked at each other. Bonnie's face had suddenly grown a whole lot more serious than before, but Elena was still as sullen.

''Sacrifice,'' Elena replied shortly. ''Me. The Petrova Doppelgänger.''

''The curse was bound by the sacrifice of Petrova blood,'' Bonnie added. ''There's always got to be balance between things, and the Doppelgänger was created so that the curse could be broken.''

''But Katherine's still...''

''Alive?'' Elena stopped me. I shrugged. In a way, she was. Elena shook her head. ''It has to be a human.''

''And then you need a witch, a werewolf and a vampire. Oh, and the moonstone.''

Suddenly, Elena looked really sad. ''Katherine turned Caroline. She compelled a girl to get Tyler to trigger his werewolf curse. She made all of my friends a part of this. All of this is because of me.''

''It's not your fault,'' Bonnie reminded her, but I could tell that Elena wouldn't hear any of it. She'd made up her mind already, and the determination in her wouldn't let anyone change it.

Bonnie looked to have figured this out as well, so she dropped it, and I didn't mention it again. Instead, we sat in silence for a while, and I used the time to try and process everything.

''But what about you?'' Bonnie said after a couple of minutes.

''What about me?'' I asked.

''We only know the teacher-you,'' she chuckled.

''Yeah,'' Elena piped up. I think she was trying to get her mind of off things, which was good. ''What about your family? Your mum works at the hospital, right?''

I nodded. ''Yeah, I live with her over by Willow Lane.''

''Is she... like you?'' I noticed that everyone – including myself – kept on having trouble defining what I actually was. God, it would feel so good if I could just get a word to use!

''Not exactly...'' I began. ''I mean, she is over-sensitive, so to speak. She feels most things to the extreme.''

''But she can't do all the stuff you can?''

''Pretty sure she can't.''

''What about your dad?''

''He died when I was young,'' I said quietly. ''I never really knew him.''

''I'm sorry,'' Elena looked sad again. She'd lost both of her parent's when she was much older than me, and I couldn't possibly know what she must've felt. I never even knew my dad, I had no memories of him whatsoever.

''And your mum never remarried?'' Bonnie wondered with a frown on her face.

''No... I don't think she could.''

Elena tilted her head. ''How come?''

''She always said he was her soulmate.''

''That's sweet,'' Bonnie smiled. Elena smiled too, but it didn't quite reach her eyes.

''Bonnie,'' I began, looking down nervously since I was planning on changing the subject. ''Have you... have you ever heard about anything like me?''

''Well, I'm still kinda new myself,'' she said, ''but I did do some reading.''

''What was it called...'' I tried to remember the word. ''Grimoire?''

''Yup,'' she confirmed. ''Usually there's only spells in them, but I figured I'd look through it anyways.''

''And?''

''The closest I got was manipulative magic,'' she answered, frowning. ''But you're not a witch, so... I don't know.''

''Oh.'' I felt my mouth starting to go dry. I had hoped that I would've found something out, but if even the person who everyone thought of to ask first didn't know anything?

''I'm sorry,'' she apologised.

''It's fine,'' I waved it off. ''Thanks' for looking.''

''Evangeline,'' she paused, pondering if it was okay to call me by my first name or not. ''Can I call you-''

''Yeah.''

She looked relieved and offered me a small smile. ''I'll keep looking.''

''Really?'' I was a little surprised, but in a good way.

Bonnie smiled and nodded. ''Absolutely.'' Then she turned to the clock on the wall and gasped. ''Oh, guys, I've got to go.'' She turned to me first. ''It was nice talking to you, and I'll see if I can find anything.'' Then she turned to Elena. ''Don't go anywhere.''

''It's not like I can,'' Elena sighed heavily and fell back against the couch with a thud and almost dramatically rolled her eyes.

Bonnie said goodbye and then hurried of quickly to god-knows-where, leaving me and Elena in somewhat of an uncomfortable silence at first, until I decided to say something.

''Caroline came up to me at school,'' I said tentatively. ''Does she mean it when she says she's sorry?''

Elena sat up a little straighter and turned her dark eyes toward me. ''You're still scared,'' she stated.

''Wouldn't you be?''

''Fair point,'' she agreed. ''She is sorry though, and she is in control.''

''Really?''

''Yes,'' Elena promised and pulled a stray strand of hair away from her face. ''You should talk to her, if you feel like it.''

I had felt that Caroline was sincere, but it felt better hearing it from Elena too. Maybe I might just muster some courage and talk it through sometime. In the midst of thinking about things that spooked me, another thing quickly came to mind.

''Elena,'' I paused. ''There's something else.''

''What is it?''

Going through way too many ways of putting it, I decided to go with the simplest one. I just wanted to get it out.

''I think someone's been watching me.''

''What?'' she breathed, her eyes widening.

''I mean, it could be the stress,'' I rambled, ''but... I don't think it is.''

''Tell me.''

I told her about going to the Lockwood's and then how someone had been standing outside of our house. ''My instincts are never wrong.''

Her dark eyes filled with worry. ''I believe you.''

''You do?''

She nodded. ''I meant to tell you. Elijah... he's alive.''

I froze. ''W-what?''

''He's not dead. Elijah's not dead.''

I just stared at her because I couldn't form anything else than single syllable words and even those were difficult to get out.

''Rose and I went to follow up a lead, this guy: Slater,'' she began to explain. ''He's the only link we know of to Klaus. But he was dead. And while we were there... I sent a message to tell Klaus I wanted to surrender.''

''You did what?'' I gasped.

''Like I said, it's all because of me.''

I frowned. ''But...'' Now I knew that she felt responsible for everything, but I had no idea that she would be prepared to take it that far.

She didn't listen to me, and kept going. ''And when they came to get me, Elijah came too. He's not dead, Evangeline. And he didn't want them to take me, either.''

''But he was dead,'' I stammered. ''I saw him. He was dead. Like, dead-dead.''

''Obviously Originals can't die if you just stake them,'' Elena grumbled. I was bewildered at the thought, she was just annoyed.

''Well, what does that mean? Why would he just let you go? Didn't Rose say that he was Klaus'... what was it? Foot soldier?''

''I have no idea,'' she confessed. ''You should be careful.''

I gulped. Elijah wasn't dead. He wasn't after me, so I didn't know why was was so freaking scared, but I was. ''Do you think he's been following me?''

''Maybe,'' she pondered and bit her bottom lip. ''He's here for me, I think, but you should still watch yourself. Okay?''

''Mhm,'' my voice turned squeaky and my heart was beating faster than what could possibly be healthy. And after just hearing that, it almost jumped up my throat when I heard the front door open.

''You should really lock your door,'' Damon sauntered into the living room and smiled at us. ''Oh, come on, pouty,'' he drawled at Elena, who sighed and crossed her arms over her chest. ''Least give me two points for ingenuity.''

''Do you think this is funny?'' she said through gritted teeth.

''Yes, Elena,'' his tone was more sarcastic than usual. ''I find hilarity in the lengths that I have to go to to repeatedly save your life.''

''What did Stefan say about this?''

Damon smiled slyly. ''We had a good laugh.''

Elena looked anything but humoured. ''And what did he say about Elijah still being alive?''

Damon sat down next to her and placed his arm behind her. ''Yeah, that. I didn't tell him.''

''Why not?''

''Well, A, he can't do anything about it, and B...'' he tried to come up with something but didn't really succeed, ''what I just said.''

I hadn't even realised that Jeremy was home until he came into the living room and Damon asked him where Bonnie was.

''I thought she was meeting you,'' Jeremy replied. ''Hey, Miss Moreau!''

I cringed. ''Call me Evangeline, please.'' Jeremy laughed.

''Bonnie's on moonstone duty,'' Damon claimed and then clicked his tongue with a little nod towards Elena, ''and I'm on Elena patrol.''

''Then who's on Tyler Lockwood and the full moon?''

Damon looked pleased. ''Vampire Barbie asked me if she could handle it, and I said, 'why not'? Because if she screwed up, he'd bite her and then I'll be rid of two of my problems.''

Elena's sullen face suddenly broke into a worried one. ''Hold on a second... tonight's the full moon?''

Riiiing.

''Yup,'' Damon fished his phone out of his pocket. Riiiing. ''But you're too absorbed with all your suicidal tendencies to notice.'' Riiiing. He stood up and walked into the hallway to take the call. ''What?''

The rest of us waited in silence. Jeremy probably didn't know what to say since I was there, and Elena was deeply engrossed in her own thoughts. When Damon came back, he pointed his finger at Jeremy. ''Change of plans. You babysit.''

Elena glared at the two of them, but Jeremy just shrugged. ''Sure.''

''Hey, you know, you should get out, enjoy the sun,'' Damon suggested. ''Oh, wait,'' he added in a whisper and sneered, ''you can't.''

Elena grabbed a pillow and threw it at him as he left. She'd gone between irritated, angry and sad fifty times over in the short time I'd been there, and I was starting to feel more and more sorry for her. Like me, it was obvious that she cared for everyone around her; all of her friends and Jeremy, and I knew firsthand how hard that could be. Caring too much.

''I should probably get going too,'' I said when the door slammed shut behind Damon.

''Evangeline, I know we're just starting to get to know each other, but... stay inside tonight, okay? It's a full moon. And... be careful,'' Elena reminded me. I knew she wasn't only referring to crazed wolves when she said that, and it sent a chill down my spine.

I nodded. ''I will. Thanks' for everything.''

''We'll talk later?''

''Yeah,'' I smiled. ''Take care?'' The question mark at the end made her get my point, that she shouldn't do anything drastic. I knew that we were just in the beginning of what might become a friendship, but that didn't mean that I didn't care.

I noted the hint of a smile on her lips, but she still looked about as irritated as she had when I got there. What I'd learned from these last couple of days was how determined Elena was, so her being stuck and not able to do anything must be torture.


My mum wasn't there when I got home. It seemed we would never get that proper talk that was needed... not that I was looking forward to it. She would probably ask me all about said 'guy' I'd met – and I couldn't exactly tell her the truth. Like always, I couldn't tell her the truth, and it sucked. The truth sucked. I almost laughed at myself for that one.

I went to my room and left my phone on my desk before throwing myself on the bed. The only positive thing right now was that I felt like I, maybe, had some people to talk to, if they would let me in. The thing was, I didn't know if they let me in their circle because they wanted to know if I was a threat or if they actually wanted to help. I only hoped it was the latter. Feelings and knowing if what someone said was true or not were much easier to interpret – intentions were a whole different thing.

Sitting down in the armchair by my window, I spent the following three hours reading. When the clock got to a couple of minutes past seven, I was just about to get in the shower when I saw the screen on my phone light up.

Unknown caller.

Frowning, I answered.

''Evangeline?''

''Elena? What's wrong?''

''Look, you need to watch out,'' she whispered frantically. ''Elijah was just in my house, and he asked about you.''

It was like my blood froze to ice. ''What?'' I breathed.

''He compelled Jenna to let him in, and he said that he didn't want to break the curse. I don't think he's on Klaus' side.''

''Huh?''

''He offered me a deal. He wanted me to just... to do nothing. He promised that he would protect everyone that matters to me. Including you.''

''Wait, just rewind a sec?'' I said flustered. ''Why would he ask about me?''

''Because he doesn't know what you are either...'' she paused. ''He seemed like he was sincere, but how could I know? That's why I'm telling you to stay inside and keep tabs on your mum. If you don't invite him in, he can't come in. I asked him to get Stefan out, if he comes through with that, then...''

''Get Stefan out?''

''He's stuck in the tomb with Katherine,'' her voice cracked when she answered. Before I had the chance to ask why, she continued: ''Jeremy went in to get the moonstone and Stefan got him out, but then he got stuck in there himself. If Elijah gets him out, then maybe he isn't what we thought,'' she finished.

''Then, what, you trust him?'' I almost spat. If I had felt confused earlier, this took the price.

''No, I don't trust him. But we could learn more about his motives. I haven't forgotten what happened to us.''

''Good,'' I said. She might not be too shaken up about it, but I wasn't used to all of this.

''Look, I have to go,'' she said quickly. ''Call me if anything happens, okay?''

I nodded. This habit was getting really annoying. ''Yeah,'' I replied. ''I will.''

''Night.''

''Goodnight.''

When we hung up I immediately went to the window and drew the curtains. And turned of the lamp in the ceiling, leaving only the small lamp on the nightstand lit.

I was overcome by fear again. I didn't care if I trusted what Elena said or not, that only meant that she was convicted of something – not that what she thought actually was how it was.

I was scared of Elijah and what he was capable of. I wasn't as an important part in all of this as Elena, but just getting his attention was too much for me. I'd seen him punch someone's head off, for goodness sake.

And I thought that I was just beginning to get over the whole Caroline-ordeal. The problems just seemed to keep on stacking up, didn't they? Was this it, was I going to have to be afraid to leave my house every day from now on? And it wasn't just that, I was afraid of simply being in my house, after Elena telling me about how vampires could simply compel someone to get in. That meant that my mother would be in danger too.

I groaned and pulled at my hair in frustration. Maybe I was overreacting. Maybe he wasn't interested in my powers. Maybe... oh god. This thinking was driving me crazy.

All I wanted was not to be scared, and I thought that I finally had that going for me again. But no, because here cometh the Original vampire to mess everything up!

I changed into my pyjamas and buried myself under the covers. It was too early for me to sleep, so I figured that maybe, if I started now, I could read myself tired. I'd read a lot today. Books always made everything better, and I only hoped they would pull through this night too.