Caroline sat in silence in the backroom of Sheila's herb-store and studied the book, the grimoire, that held the information about her entire ancestry and so much more.

The witch had stepped out of the room after Caroline had pointed out the similarities between the girl from the photo and the girls who'd been killed in town, and she'd done so without a word. She knew Sheila had come to some sort of realization, but she hadn't pried and besides, whatever it was probably wasn't Caroline's biggest problem at that moment.

She knew there was only a matter of time before Elijah and the rest of them no doubt, would show up and drag her back to her "gilded cage". In the meantime, she was determined to learn as much about her would-be-killer/mate, whatever that really meant, and his families history.

Most of the pages were filled with latin words that she didn't understand anything from, but a few pages were filled with words she could actually read, and they were written almost as if someone had used the book as a diary. It was fascinating reading, but the book was so thick and there was no chance in hell she'd have the time to go through it all before she was whisked away again "for her own protection" and she wanted to read it all. Maybe Sheila would let her keep it for a few days, she was tired of being kept in the dark, and maybe somewhere in the book there was a page that described why this Klaus-character was so determined to kill her and wipe out her entire bloodline.

It's not like she was exactly jumping in joy to know she was destined to be the hybrid's mate, as a matter of fact she wanted nothing to do with him, but she still wanted a better explanation than being a "weakness" he couldn't afford. That was pure bullshit anyway, he was a thousand year old vampire/werewolf-after all, and she was a twenty-three year old mortal who couldn't in any way affect him as far as she was aware.

She flipped through a couple more pages and stopped on one that was dated january 2nd 1502.

I can see it happening, what the witch who performed the ritual warned us off. Niklaus is losing parts of himself to the beast within, the beast released by the ritual. His humanity has always been more fragile than the rest of our families since the day of our transition, but there is hardly anything human left in him. He was furious once he learned I had gone behind his back and had the witch perform the spell that would ensure Katerina's life would not be lost in the ritual. However, he got what he always wanted, so his fury did not last long, but for a point it was so bad that even Rebekah could not stand to be in his presence.

I have taken action to ensure the bloodline in which my brother is tied too shall be protected as best as possible, but I know my brother and he always gets his way whatever means required.

Andrea informed me of a powerful line of witches who might be able to help me. As I write this, I have sent a trusted ally to find them and seek their advice on the matter. She warned me, Andrea did, that this line of witches were not particularly fond of my kind, but I will do whatever must be done to ensure my brother retains his humanity, even if it takes another thousand years to do it.

The only thing keeping my brother even slightly human at the moment, is his undying loyalty and love for this family. One day that will no longer be enough, and I only hope the woman destined to be his other half, the keeper of his humanity, resurfaces before that time or I fear for the future of this world.

- Elijah Mikaelson

Caroline stroked her fingers gently over the page before sitting back in the chair she was occupying and turned her head to look out the small window by her head. She couldn't even begin to imagine what it had to be like, spending all those years quite litterally being his brother's keeper. Still, she had the sudden thought that the only person who could give her the answers she needed, was the very person who might seek to end her life.

"Caroline," she turned her head towards the door and saw Elijah standing in it, his eyes on the book on the table in front of her, before they lifted to meet her own.

"I met your brother," she told him and watched him nod as he stepped further into the room.
"Yes, Sheila informed me off that." This time it was Caroline's turn to nod, but she did it distractedly, her mind full of a thousand jumbled thoughts.

"He's not hunting the girl," they both turned their eyes to the door at the same time and watched Sheila enter with a tight face that spoke of bigger worries, "he's hunting the doppleganger." Caroline stared at the witch, not understanding what that meant or why that would matter, but at the shift in the room and Elijah's sudden rigid posture she knew this was somehow important.

"There hasn't been another doppleganger for five hundred years," Elijah said in a calm that contradicted his posture, "not since Katerina."

"Her name is Elena Gilbert," Sheila answered immediately and Caroline noticed she was carrying a picture that she brought over and turned Elijah's way, "she's my granddaughter's best friend and she lives right here, in Mystic Falls."

Elena was as usual curled up on her windowseat that night, her knees up and her diary resting in her lap. Lately she'd felt like something big was about to happen, she couldn't explain it, and maybe she was just being crazy, but she just knew that something really bad was going to happen soon.

She could hear Jeremy playing his music down the hall, her mom and dad talking downstairs, and she knew they were just as worried as everyone else in town. She didn't get it, why a serial killer, if that's what this even was, would decide to hit a smalltown like Mystic Falls and go after high school-girls. It didn't make any sense, but then what did she know? She wasn't a cop or an FBI-agent, didn't have the first clue about how the mind of a serial killer worked. All she knew was that for a while now she'd felt like she was being watched, like she was the next person on this psycho's list, but she hadn't told anyone that, not even Bonnie, and she was her best friend.

No, she thought and closed her diary, climbed off the window seat and went to get ready for bed, you're just being paranoid, knock it off.

When she climbed in bed that night, turned out the lights and drew the covers up to her chin before she closed her eyes, she had no idea just how right she was. And she had no idea there was a monster roaming the outskirts of her life, anticipating the precise right moment to strike.

Katherine slammed the cardoor to the passenger seat, her eyes moving across the hood of the car to Lexi who looked calm as always, but they both knew Elijah wouldn't have called them there if something big wasn't about to go down.

God, Katherine still remembered the last time she'd been in Mystic Falls, and they were not happy memories. She waited until the blonde vampire reached her side and together they walked down the street towards the herb shop owned by Sheila Bennet, a witch Katherine knew who's look and aged deceived her. Sheila Bennet was one of the most powerful witches around, but the Bennet-witches had always been a force to be reckoned with and Katherine knew that from personal experience.

"We're being watched," Lexi said calmly, but she didn't need to, Katherine already knew he was out there, waiting for the right opportunity, but she also knew in his eyes the two of them were just small fish in a big pond and he had bigger fish to catch.

It was Katherine who stepped up on the stoop outside the quaint little herb shop and knocked on the door, Lexi providing the look-out in-case decided he wanted a piece of them anyway. Half a minute passed before Elijah himself appeared and opened the door for them. He said not a word as they entered, he closed the door behind them and turned the lock. He continued his silence as he passed them, moved further into the store with Katherine and Lexi following behind him and headed into a lit room where the first person Katherine noticed was the young blonde mortal leaning over a book Katherine recognized from long ago.

The blonde's eyes flickered in their direction for a second, she caught a spark of recognition before they moved back to the book and the girl didn't speak a word. Rude, she thought but didn't say, considering the heavy mood in the room.

"Caroline, this is my wife Katerina, although she prefers Katherine these days, and our friend and ally Lexi." The blonde, Caroline, turned her eyes back to the two of them and rose from her seat. She was pretty, long golden hair and even Katherine had to admit she had great style, but it was the pendant hanging around her neck that caught her attention for the most part.

"Nice to meet you," Caroline said quietly and without enthusiasm. Katherine couldn't help but feel sorry for the girl, she could still remember the day she discovered her own twisted destiny, and how had it not been for Elijah, she would have been dead five hundred years ago.

"You too," Lexi said with a smile before she turned her sharp eyes on Elijah who was standing beside Sheila, and the vampires eyes flickered between the two of them.
"Care to fill us in?"

"As of now," Elijah spoke up and Katherine tensed at the firm note to his voice, "Lexi, you and Katherine, as well as Kol when he gets here, and I for as much as it can be done, will not leave Caroline's side. Stefan, Damon and Rebekah as well as Sheila and her granddaughter Bonnie, will be in charge of keeping the doppleganger safe until Freya has everything she need to perform the mating-spell and the ritual has taken affect."

Katherine stood frozen to the spot and stared at her husband, it was Lexi who voiced Katherines thoughts.

"What do you mean the doppleganger?" Elijah ran a hand down his tie, something Katherine knew he did whenever he was attempting to compose himself, and she had a feeling things just went from bad to hell on earth.

"Four young brunettes slightly resembling the dopplegangers have become the victims of my brother in the last few weeks. Sheila has just informed me that there is a girl in Mystic Falls by the name of Elena Gilbert who is in fact truly a doppleganger, and we believe Niklaus is more cunning then we first estimated. Our conviction has been that he is determined to end Caroline's life so that she will not weaken him, however his plan is much more elaborate than that if we are correct. He does not seek to kill her, but to turn her. He wants to make her into a hybrid like himself before we can perform the ceremony, and in order to do that he needs the blood of a doppleganger as you well know."

Katherine swallowed and turned her eyes to Caroline who remained silent through all this, a contemplative look on her face.

"For reasons obvious to us all, we cannot allow that to happen." It was at that moment Caroline spoke up, and she did so to say, "Excuse me, but those reasons aren't obvious to me. Why would him turning me into a hybrid be worse than all you guys performing this binding ceremony, or whatever?"

"If my brother is successfull and manages to turn you into a hybrid before the binding ceremony has been done, you will be sired to him. You're free will as you know it will be stripped away and you'll be nothing more than a stringpuppet following the orders of your master." Elijah explained, and Caroline stared at him.

"Alright, but how is that any different than what you want to do? Won't I be connected to him anyway?"

"Yes, but a part of you already is." Elijah stated and Katherine watched the blonde jerk in her spot, her brows furrowing into a frown as if she didn't understand.

"The day you were born, my brother felt you enter this world. From that day on, your connection has always been a fact, your soul calling out to his and vice versa. The binding ceremony will not make you a hybrid like him, it will tie your lives essence to his, so you will not die until the day he dies. For you that is a benefit of your connection, for him it is a weakness, and the reason it is a weakness is because the same replies to him. There are only one thing on this earth that can kill an original, a stake made out of White Oak tree, but as you already know my brother is not like the rest of my family. He is a vampire and a werewolf, therefore he possesses qualities the rest of my family do not and you were my mothers way to even the odds. Once you are bound to my brother the way mates are bound to each other, your traits and humanity will become a part of who he is, the two of you are destined to even each other. That will not happen should Niklaus succeed in turning you into a hybrid before the bonding ceremony has been completed."

"So what you're saying is," Caroline's voice vibrated with what everyone in the room recognized as barely contained anger and frustration, "no matter what, I'm screwed."

"Caroline-" Elijah began, but the blonde lifted a hand to cut him off, making Katherine's lips twitch in humor as she saw her husbands mouth close and she saw the blonde take a deep breath.

"I can't handle much more right now, so whatever you were about to say, save it. Right now I just want to pretend all of this is some crazy dream and I'm going to wake up and everything will be normal and my life will be completely free of the supernatural and the drama that comes with it. Seeing as that's not the case, right now I want to be alone, but seeing as that is also and impossibility, can someone please just take me back to the boardinghouse so I can get some sleep and try not to lose my mind." She looked around the room, then she added, "Please." as an afterthought.

"I'll take you," Lexi spoke up and Caroline's eyes shot to her fellow blonde, she smiled a half-smile and Lexi looked to Elijah.

"You should probably, at least walk us to the car, he's out there somewhere and unlike you I die from a hybrid bite, so you know..." Lexi trailed off, Katherine couldn't help but smile then and she saw her husband sigh before he gave a curt nod.

"I will be in touch," Elijah told Sheila, the witch barely looked at him before she rounded him and headed straight for Caroline, where she handed her a bracelet with a blue diamond charm.

"Wear that, always, don't take it off. As long as you keep it on you, it will keep you safe child, now you take care and don't do anything stupid until all this is over, you hear?"

Caroline accepted the bracelet, wrapped it around her wrist and gave the witch a brief hug.

"Thank you, and," she hesitated, her eyes moving to the book, "would you mind if I borrow it for a few days?" Sheila shook her head, walked over to the table and grabbed the book, then she walked back to Caroline and handed it to her.

"Not at all, sweetie. Take it, you might need it sometime in the near future."

"Thanks," Caroline whispered, clutched the book to her chest and turned her eyes to the vampires surrounding her.

"I'm ready, can we go now?" And no one objected her request, all of them sensing the girl was pushed too far already and they needed her cooperation for the plan to go smoothly from there on out.

Katherine just hoped Freya hurried it up with that spell, time was running out and she knew better than to underestimate Klaus when he was in "evil-mood".

This was just the calm before the storm, she only hoped when it all blew over that they were all still breathing.