It was only natural that Stefan gravitated towards the new house on the block. The manor had been sitting in disuse and disrepair for a long time and now it was inhabited with people. The whole town was buzzing with the news of new people, it was the most exciting thing to happy in their sleepy little town. Stefan thought that they had to bring a gift and Damon said that he would handle that.

"Really? Brandy?" Stefan asked as he looked over the bottle.

Damon never took his eyes off the road. "Not, any brandy, expensive brandy."

Stefan raised a brow at that. "That is very magnanimous of you."

"Don't get ahead of yourself. I'm not turning a new leaf. The brandy was made like a year ago," Damon snorted as he turned into the drive. The house was large and imposing, white grecian columns and heavy door knocker on the door.

"That seems more your speed," Stefan said. Damon parked the car and they both got out. Stefan could hear then voices and the heart beats of the people inside. A small part of him, the part that he could never quiet, reveled in their heartbeats. It wanted to savor them and then hunt, hunt, hunt. But Stefan was able to hide that part of himself deep inside. And it was quieter than it was yesterday and the day before that.

Stefan rang the doorbell and the two brother waited. In a matter of moments, a blonde girl opened the door and she paused when she took in the both of them her eyes widening a little bit. But as quick as the surprise rose in her features, they fell into a school mask of hostess.

"Welcome! I'm Caroline," she said with a toss of her hair. She ran a hand through the Botton edges of her hair and her eyes landed on the brandy. "Is that Remy Martin? Yum!" She reached forward and grabbed the brandy out of Damon's hand and she cradled the bottle.

Stefan leaned closer, but heard nothing from the girl. Her heart wasn't beating. What came from her was nothing, but silence, nothing but an empty void of nothing. Stefan shared a look with his brother and his blue eyes darkening. He knew also.

"I'm Stefan," he went on to stay. He gave a vague gesture to his brother. "This is my brother Damon." Caroline smiles and spun a lapis lazuli ring on her finger. So she knew a witch.

"It's a pleasure to met you Stefan, Damon," she said. Caroline flung the door open wider and gestured for them to follow her inside. She lead them into an immaculate kitchen that even with his enhanced vision could find no faults. Sitting there among all the older women was Elena.

She had a wan smile on her face and her eyes screamed at him to get her out of there. Stefan was quick by her side.

"Hey," she muttered in that small voice of her's. Stefan couldn't help the grim that stretched across his face.

"Hey," he said back. Elena leaned in and their lips connected. The world melted away around them and the two of them and all he could feel was Elena moving against him. When they pulled away, Stefan felt something warm in his belly. Elena's smile grew brighter. Stefan grabbed her hand, rubbing his thumb over the back of her hand.

"Let's get out of here," Stefan suggested. Elena got up and the two of them holding hands went outside.

When they were outside, Elena let go of his hand to spin around and suck in some of the air. Her shoulders rose and fell with each breath and Stefan could hear the rapid staccato beat of her heart slow with every breath that she took.

"You needed to get out of there," Stefan said. Elena stopped spinning around and sent him a look over her shoulder.

"The girl, Caroline, is nice enough and she is taking the journalism track like I am, but being inside there for so long. It gets… stifling." Elena said with a shrug of her shoulders.

"Yeah…" Stefan scuffed his shoe on the ground and dared to look back at Elena. "Elena, about Caroline."

"What about her?"

Stefan grabbed one of her arms and pulled her right into his chest. Elena slammed into his chest with a breathless laugh. When she looked up at him, her hair mussed and with that sparkle in her eyes. He reached down and brushed some hair away from her face. She was so innocent in moments like this.

With her frail body and that sparkle in her eyes. Stefan just wanted to protect Elena and all that she was. She was nothing like Katherine who always had a knowing look on her face. Elena was innocent in a way that Stefan had never seen before.

"Yeah, Caroline is a vampire," Stefan said there words on the tiniest breath possible, not knowing how far that Caroline could heard. Elena's eyes widened and she clutched the vervain necklace that hung around her throat. Stefan nodded his head. It was a better reaction to have. Who knew what Caroline could have compelled her to do. "Be cautious around her we have no idea what she wants or why she is here."

"I thought the only vampires in town other than you two were the ones in the tomb." Elena said. Stefan felt one of the sides of his mouth tick up. She spoke as if the only vampires in the world were Stefan, Damon, and those in the tomb. Stefan was struck again with how small her world was. To her Mystic Falls was the end all, be all. There was nothing more that lingered outside her world. Stefan let a thumb brush her cheek.

"There are other vampires Elena and they aren't as nice as me and Damon. You should start drinking the vervain tea that I gave you."

"Okay." Elena said with a nod of her head. Stefan smiled and brought her closer until she was flush against him.

"Other than that. How have you been?" Stefan asked in a softer voice.

It was like watching a flame dim. The light inside of her eyes, the light that she only. Brought out when she was with him, seemed to flicker and waver inside of her. Her eyes no longer held the flame of innocence, but the withered age of someone much older than her nineteen years. That light inside of her, seem to be smothered under the weight of her grief. Stefan regretted asking her the moment her saw her wilting.

"I'm okay," Elena said, putting on a brace face. "I'm getting through everything. You know taking it one day at a time. Some days are harder than others, but I'm making it through."

"Some days will be harder than others, but I know that your parents would be proud of you. You're making it through. You're going to college and making them proud."

"Yeah. Yeah," Elena said the words like she didn't believe them. But Stefan still saw the light in her flickering and dimming. Her chucked up her chin with a finger and pressed a kiss to her lips.

"Hey. You still with me?" Stefan looked into her eyes, they weren't as bright as they were when they first came out, but they still had some light in them. Elena nodded her head and tried to smile.

"Yeah. I'm still with you."

It was hard getting everyone to leave. They all loved the house and wanted a tour, but Caroline knew that Klaus would never stand for humans to be tromping around his house unless they were food. So, ever the good hostess, she politely declined the needs of the welcoming committee and dismissed them in such a way that they thought that it was their own idea to leave.

The women left their plates with casseroles and cookies and made their way to their cars. Carol was the last to leave, giving the house one more once over before she turned to Caroline with a smile that screamed how displeased she was.

"I do hope that when the other rooms are done you will share them with us, Caroline," Carol said. Caroline gave the woman her best hostess smile, one that screamed that it was her house and she would reveal what she wanted when she wanted to.

"If everything happens according to plan," Caroline stated coolly. Carol turned her head and walked down the pathway to her car. And then just like the rest of the flies, Carol was gone from the house. Caroline sagged and closed the door.

"You did amazing, sweetheart," Klaus said, appearing before her. He came to the door and grabbed her, pecking her on the cheek. She slapped his chest.

"And where the hell were you? You left me to those vultures!" Caroline said.

"And you handled them so perfectly. You know me, I would have slaughtered them the moment that I became bored," Klaus said with a smile on his face as Caroline smacked him.

"It wasn't all bad," Kol pitched in from somewhere behind Klaus. Caroline stopped hitting Klaus and brought her eyes to meet the brown ones of Kol. He was lounging on the stairs, his hair tousled perfectly and looking like he was posing for a picture. "I got to meet a saucy little minx."

"You mean the Bennett witch," Elijah said coming from the office. Caroline was getting annoyed that all of Klaus' siblings got into the house somehow without her knowing. Well, she knew Elijah was somewhere in the house.

"I prefer saucy minx," Kol said with a nod to his brother.

"Can we finally get to why we we're all called here?" Rebekah asked, coming down from the top of the stairs. Caroline rolled her neck and looked to Klaus. He clapped his hands. With a purposeful nod of his head, Klaus guided them all into the office.

The office was something that Caroline was proud of. It was the first room done in the house. The walls were painted the color of rusted blood and a huge bay window lay just behind the ornate desk of snarling dogs. Klaus threw himself into the seat behind the desk and propped his feet on the desk.

Caroline leaned against the desk. Kol was propped up against the wall and she wanted to stay as far away from him as possible. Klaus smiled as he tented his fingers.

"As you all know we have the doppelgänger here in this town," Klaus said. "I want this to go off without a hitch. Rebekah, Caroline, I want you to watch over the doppelgänger and make sure that she doesn't get into any shenanigans. I don't want her doing what Katerina did last time and making herself a vampire." Caroline twitched as she thought of watching over the doppelgänger. She did not know how long she could over look someone who shared the same face as her old friend. Elena seemed like a nice enough girl, but when Caroline looked at her face she could not help but wish that it was Katerina.

"Elijah, secure the other materials and prepare for the ceremony," Klaus said with a nod to his brother. Elijah nodded his head and adjusted the cuffs of his suit. Caroline wondered how Elijah was going to handle everything when last she checked no one knew where the moonstone was. Well, Elijah had his ways of finding things on his own.

"Kol you work on the witches," Klaus said with a toss of his hand. Kol let a grin stretch across his face at that.

"Leave the Bennett witches to me, brother," Kol said with a bow. Caroline felt the corners of her mouth tick upwards, but she stopped herself before it could morph into a full smile. With hat everyone in the house knew that they were dismissed and they all walked out of the office. Klaus made no move to rise from the chair so Caroline stayed in the room with him. She looked over Klaus once and twice and then opened her mouth to speak.

"After this, let's go somewhere to celebrate," Caroline said. Klaus looked at her with a raised brow, but Caroline said nothing. "You'll be a hybrid and I want to go somewhere nice."

"Darling, I have taken you to Paris several times already," Klaus said with a wince. Caroline rolled her eyes and slid closer to Klaus.

"I don't want to go to Paris again. Let's go somewhere new this time. I've never been to Tokyo before," Caroline said. She ran a hand down his chest and Klaus shivered at the touch. He grabbed her hand and laid a kiss on it.

"Tokyo it is then," Klaus said with a grin on his face.

Smoking was a bad habit. One that for the most part Grams was able to kick, but when the going got tough sometimes all she needed was a good smoke. Sitting on her porch in the dead of night with smoke rolling off her lips made the night more bearable. Bonnie was asleep in the house and nothing but the streetlights were on in the cold of the night.

She knew when the brothers had entered her property. Vampires were like a living void, they held nothing inside and they moved. Everything in her being was screaming at her to exterminate the wrongness that had entered her property, but she knew that right now, she needed them in order to keep the town safe.

She saw Damon first. He was the bold one who appeared right before her like a specter. His black clothing blended into the night. His pale skin catching the scant light of the street lamps. Stefan was a lot more cautious than his brother, walking up the steps of the porch slowly and approaching like a cautious predator.

Grams took another puff of her cigarette and let the smoke roll off her tongue. She looked at the two brothers and then nodded her head. "So you got my message," Grams said.

"It is hard to ignore when a paper magically appears in your hands," Stefan said. Out of the both of them it was Stefan who really sent Grams senses into over drive. Something about the man trying so hard to not act like the predator that she knew he was… It was unsettling to say the least. She sighed out and dropped the cigarette, stomping out the embers.

"There are new vampires in town," Grams said with a frown on her face. "Strong new vampires."

"Nothing that can't be handled," Damon said with a scoff. "If they get on our nerves we'll just throw them into the tomb."

"These vampires are no joke," Grams said with a quick cut of her eyes. "You obviously don't know who you are dealing with if you think that vampires like these will be easily thrown into the tomb."

"Then tell us who we are dealing with. I doubt you called us all this way without meaning to explain anything," Stefan said. Grams nodded her head and rocked back in her chair. She stayed silent for a moment mulling over her words before she nodded again.

"These vampires are the beginnings of all vampires," Grams said.

"The beginning? You mean to tell me that these vampires are the original vampires?" Damon said with a scoff.

Grams shook her head. "Don't you think that it all had to start somewhere. You think vampires just conjured themselves into being?" Grams gripped the chair that she was sitting on tighter. "These vampires are the start of all vampires on the face of the earth. You could all trace your starts back to them.

"These vampires are stronger and faster than other vampires not only because of their age but because the magic in them is purer, stronger. The fact that the whole family of them have gathered here is a sign that they have something planned for this town. And their plans usually end in bloodshed."

"Who are these vampires?" Stefan asked. Grams nodded he was properly in awe of their power and strength. That was good. They needed to fear these vampires, understand that they were something that you could not run from.

"They are called the Originals and they aren't a mismatch of vampires. They are a family of vampires. A long time ago, a witch wanted to make her family immortal and created vampires. She used the spell on her family and turned them into the first vampires that the world had ever known."

"So what. Just because they are older doesn't mean we can't handle them," Damon scoffed again.

"Oh au contraire," a voice said from the darkness. Grams gripped the arms of her chair tighter as the person revealed themselves from the darkness. She looked just like Elena, chestnut brown hair and big doe eyes, but everything was wrong. Instead of Elena's straight hair she had ringlets and those doe eyes were sharp with mischief. "You need all the help that you can get when it comes to the Originals."

"Katherine," both Stefan and Damon breathed. Katherine sauntered over to where the three of them were gathered and settled herself in between the two boys. They both look struck as if a ghost had risen up from the grave and decided to haunt them.

"I'm here to help you deal with the Originals," Katherine said with her hands on her hips.

"Oh?" Grams said with a raised brow. Katherine leaned back on the heels of her boots. "And what do you know about the Originals."

"I know why they are in town," Katherine said with a grin and a slight tilt to her head.

"What do they want?" Stefan snapped out of his surprise at the fact that Katherine was in front of them. Old vampires never meant good news. They always had plan, some maneuvering that they were going to execute that made the world run red. Stefan shifted in his jacket. All this information all at once, Originals, Katherine not being in the tomb, it was all so much.

Katherine smiled at Stefan the way that someone who smile at a small dog or something equally as little. "Elena."

Author's Note: Another chapter down! I hope you are all enjoying the story! Tell me what you want to see in the next chapter Remember to review to let me know what you think!