Review responses:

Only reviewer: The casting for Amelia in my head went to Melody Perkins and you'll be seeing a lot of her in the next few chapters. And I'm glad you liked the idea of Sarah and Rose already knowing one another. I always thought it was odd that Lexi knew her and yet Stefan didn't, so it made since in my head at least to face one of the Salvatores already know her.

Guest: I know, I do like my OCs and I will be doing more as this story goes on. Hopefully you are enjoying them.

Sorry for being a day late guys! I really thought I would have it done in time but then this blasted heatwave like thing hit and now I'm melting. Hope you're all doing okay however hot or cold it is where you are. Anyway, this chapter is one of the few that will actually encompass an entire episode, 'Katerina.' But since said character will have nothing to do with this chapter – sorry, just the way things planned out – I've renamed it.

As always thanks for the favourites, follows and reviews, on this story, you guys are just the best! Sorry for being late again and please do enjoy the update!

Chapter 18: Search for Klaus

When the knock at the door came, Damon got to it first, having been waiting in the living room. Sarah and Stefan had been in the study with Rose, so by the time they'd left the room to answer the door, Damon had already done it for them. "Hello, Elena," Damon greeted from the front hall, as Sarah and Stefan made their way towards it, Rose behind them, keeping out of sight for obvious reasons.

"Is Stefan here? He called. Said it was important," Elena said, voice strained as she stood on the front porch, waiting to be invited in. So polite.

"Right this way," Damon said, stepping aside and gesturing for Elena to come in. Sarah, could see her, but she imagined Elena was rolling her eyes right now. Even so, she stepped in slowly, almost tiredly, like it was a chore just coming by. Things must have not improved as much as Sarah thought after they saved her the other day. She must still be unsure about being with Stefan because of the potential danger it put her family and friends in. That might change though, once they told her the latest news, that she was possibly the one putting everyone she cared about in danger.

Once she came into view, Stefan spoke up. "Hey," he said, Elena turning to find him and Sarah stood down the hallway. Stefan's hands in his pockets while Sarah had her arms folded. Both with greeting smiles. Elena didn't look as happy, probably woke up on the wrong side of the bed, either that or she just wanted a normal day after yesterday. One without vampires. Sucks to be her then.

"What's this about?" Elena asked, playing with her bag strap as she waited for the reason she'd been summoned at this time in the morning, before school as well. Her answer was a visual one, as Stefan stepped aside to reveal Rose behind him and his sister. "You," Elena said slowly as she stared at Rose in confusion. Sheepishly the oldest vampire smiled back, waving uneasily back at Elena.

"What is she–?" Elena began, eyes going between Stefan and Sarah.

"Don't worry, she's alright. Yesterday was just a bit of a misunderstanding. Rose is an old friend of mine and Lexi's," Sarah explained, though Elena didn't seem too convinced. In fairness, they'd seen this coming and had all agreed they were better off pushing through straight to their point, which was what Rose had told them about last night. "She's here to help us, after what happened with Trevor," Sarah continued.

Elena looked like she was about to object but Stefan spoke up first before she could. "We can explain in the study," Stefan said as he indicated for Elena to head towards the study. Elena stared at him, before then looking over to Rose, taking a slow breath as she sized up the woman who'd recently kidnapped her. Seeing that her presence was currently making Elena uncomfortable, Rose proceeded along the hallway and into the study, trying to make things easier for her. Even then Elena still stood, brow lowered in deep thought.

"It's safe Elena, I promise, but you really need to hear what we have to say," Stefan pressed, trying to let her know how serious this information was. With another sigh, Elena proceeded on to the study, followed by the three Salvatores. From there Elena sat down on the couch facing the fire place with Rose before her while Stefan sat against the arm of the armchair on Elena's left and Damon behind the one to her right. As for Sarah she was leaning back against the fire place, arms folded as they all explained to Elena in detail how they knew Rose and how they could trust her not to hurt them now. It didn't take much convincing which was surprising considering Elena's initial reaction to Rose being in the house, but they told her everything she needed to know until she stopped them. After that Rose proceeded to pace back and forth before Elena, telling her the Klaus.

"Okay, you have to understand I only know what I've picked up over the years, and I don't know what's true and what's not true. That's the problem with all this vampire crap, but Klaus, I know he's real."

"Who is he?" Elena asked as Rose came to a stop next to Sarah.

"One of the Originals, guy's a legend," Damon answered, almost sounding impressed.

"From the first generation of vampires," Stefan added from across the room.

"Like Elijah?" Elena asked nervously, remembering how it'd felt just to be in his presence.

"No. Elijah was the Easter bunny compared to Klaus. He's a good soldier, Klaus is the real deal," Rose argued, stressing how much more dangerous this guy was compared to Elijah. Though that wasn't saying much, considering Elijah was supposed to be an original too and they'd managed to kill him easily enough, even if he was one of the oldest vampires around. But like the other vampires, Sarah had heard the stories, some even from Lexi, about what Klaus had done. Stuff that made her sick just hearing about. It was still nothing compared to Katherine though, at least to Sarah, but that was personal. The stuff Klaus did was just stories, Sarah had lived through the experience that was Katherine Pierce.

"Klaus is know to be the oldest," Stefan added.

"And the meanest," Rose added, hands going to her hips.

"Imagine Katherine, but a man," Sarah said, trying to paint a better picture for Elena in her head. Apparently it worked, judging by the lump the human girl then swallowed. They'd just dealt with one monster, now they were dealing with another that was rumoured to be even worse than Katherine. If that was even possible.

"Okay, so you're saying the oldest, most evil vampire in the history of time is coming after me?" Elena asked as she looked at the four vampires.

"Yes," Rose and Sarah answered at the same time Stefan said, "No."

"What they're saying is, I mean if what she's saying is true–" Damon said with a skeptical look to Rose as he moved over to his sister's side.

"Which it is," Rose cut in.

"And she's not just saying this so we don't kill her–" Damon said with another look to Rose.

"Which she isn't," Sarah cut in in defence of her friend.

"Then we're looking at a solid maybe," Damon concluded as he looked back to Elena.

"Look, Elijah's dead, right?" Stefan said as he made his way over to join Elena on the couch, sitting down next to her. "So no one else even knows that you exist," he pointed out optimistically.

"Not that you know of anyway," Rose pointed out.

"That's not helping," Damon said with a glare at Rose who shrugged in response.

"Look, I've never even met anyone who's laid eyes on him. I mean, we're talking about centuries of truth mixed in with fiction. We don't know if he's real. For all we know he could just be some sort of stupid bed time story," Stefan argued, trying to down play the situation for Elena's sake. Sarah could understand that but disagreed with it, Elena needed to know whatever she was involved in, even if it wasn't by choice.

"He's real!" Rose exclaimed. "And he doesn't give up. If he wants something, he gets it."

"Anyone getting a sense of déjà vu," Sarah asked, sharing a smirk with Damon as Rose stared at them in mild disbelief, unable to contemplate why all these people weren't taking this serious. Stefan trying to down play everything for Elena, while Damon and Sarah made jokes. Then again, they hadn't gone through the past five-hundred years that she had. Always on the run, always looking over her shoulder, even this Klaus and his minions weren't coming after her.

"Look, if you're not afraid of Klaus, then you're idiots," Rose stressed.

"Alright, we're shaking. You made your point," Damon groaned, sick of Rose's tone by this point.

Then suddenly Elena was up on her feet, pulling her bag over her shoulder as she headed for the door. "Where are you going?" Stefan asked, not having moved for the couch.

"School. I'm late," Elena answered as she turned around, pulling at her bag strap again.

"Let me grab my stuff, I'll go with you," Stefan said as he stood up, stepping towards her until Elena stopped him.

"It's okay, I know where it is," Elena said with a tight smile before leaving the room.

"She's in denial," Damon muttered to Sarah and Rose, both of which glared back at him.

"Shut up, Damon," Sarah said, her brother mocking offence as he walked off into the house leaving the others along in the study.

"You coming?" Stefan asked Sarah as he too headed for the door.

"Nah, think I'll stick around here today. Spend some time with Rose," Sarah said with a smile to her old friend.

"You don't have to–" Rose began, not wanting to get in the way of Sarah's day to day life. At least anymore than she already had.

"It's fine. Besides, I've got a Biology test I really can't be bothered with," Sarah said with a careless shrug and a grin as Rose chuckled.

"Alright, I'll see you later then," Stefan said with wave as he left the room.

Since Rose didn't have a daylight ring like the Salvatores, they were confined to the house. Which was fine. It wasn't exactly something knew for Sarah. She'd happily spent weeks in the past, hunkered down in some grotty house with Lexi and Stefan, only going out at night and hiding from the light during the day. Only difference was now they had more to entertain themselves with.

For a good couple of hours though, Sarah and Rose just sat in the living room, talking and drinking. Catching up on what they'd been up to recently. The sort of thing she'd done with Lexi. There were a few moments when Rose seemed to drift off into her head, but Sarah brought her back, recalling colourful anecdotes from the past. They laughed for a bit, recalling fond memories and experiences. Some they'd shared, some they hadn't. Sarah did her best to keep it all light hearted for Rose's sake, but she could see she was fighting an up hill battle. She needed to be active, needed to be doing something to keep her mind of Trevor, but whatever Sarah suggested Rose turned down. She was quite content reminiscing, even if it was stirring the boiling pot that was her emotions, threatening to spill over the side.

"So basically he turned out to be a double-crossing snake who was only ever with me so that he could spy on me for Katherine," Sarah finished explaining, voice light to hide her true pain as she finished informing Rose on how things with her and Ronnie had ended. Permanently.

"I never would have guessed," Rose said in astonishment. "Mind you, it's hardly the first time that bitch twisted a man into doing what she wanted. I've told you about Trevor, right?" Rose asked, gesturing with her glass of blood. There was surprisingly a lot of this when they met up, trying to remember what they'd told each other and what they hadn't. Constantly thinking they'd told the other something only to find out they'd never mentioned it before or to tell something for the third time thinking it was the first. They'd always laughed about it and it had seemed to drive Lexi insane, who apparently had an excellent memory.

"About how she tricked him into saving her and then turned her?" Sarah said, clarifying to make sure she'd heard the main details correctly. Rose nodded, sipping on her blood. "Yeah. The thing is though, Ronnie didn't even love her, not romantically at least. He loved me, but from the way he spoke about her it was like…idealised her, or something. Just because she saved his life."

"She was just manipulative like that. I understand it a little now, but back when Trevor first turned her. I was just so mad at him I wanted to…" Rose trailed off, horror flashing through her eyes at what she'd been about to say. Previously she wouldn't have thought anything off it. They were just words. Words she said a lot when he'd gotten on her nerves, but she never meant it. Now she'd give anything to have him back. Sarah could see that.

She tried to keep Rose's mind occupied but this time the emotions won out and Rose started to cry. "I'm sorry," Rose apologised as she set her drink down, covering her face with both hands as she wept. Setting down her own glass, Sarah walked around the coffee table, sitting down next to Rose as she wrapped her arms around her friend.

"It's okay. I understand," Sarah said sympathetically as she rubbed Rose's back.

"It's just… I haven't had a chance to breath since…" That was what life on the run was like. Always running, never stopping for anything, even when you needed to. Even when all you needed was a few seconds to cry. She'd been running since Trevor's death. Running from them when they killed Elijah and then running back to them but always on edge. Rose might have trusted Sarah, but she was still weary of her two brothers. More so Damon who had been threatening her since he first lay eyes on her this morning.

"You've got time now, Rose. Just breath. Don't worry, I'm not going to judge you," Sarah promised as she continued to hold Rose. Over the next few minutes, the woman managed to pull herself back together. Remarkably well considering. Like Lexi though, Rose had been around long enough to learn how to control her emotions without flipping the switch. It was something that came better with age apparently, or so Sarah was told. No vampire got used to the heightened emotions after a year or two. It was normally a century or two at the earliest.

Rose was just wiping away her tears with her hands as Damon entered the living room, matching over towards them without even noticing Rose's emotional state. "Alright Rosebud. I need some answers," Damon declared, stopping in front of Rose only to be met with her tear stained eyes. "Oh, please don't tell me you're crying 'cause your buddy Trevor lost his head."

"Would it kill you to be nice for once?" Sarah asked, looking up to her brother while Rose reached for a tissue, wiping away the last of the tears.

"Vampire switch is for this very reason," Damon said, clicking his tongue as he mimed flicking a switch. "Takes the emotion out of it," Damon said smugly to his sister who glared back in response. Because that was just what they needed right now, an older stronger vampire running around with her emotions switched off. Nothing wrong with that plan whatsoever. And all just so Damon didn't have to watch Rose cry.

"Yeah, you switch yours, I'll switch mine," Rose said pointedly as she looked up at Damon from next to Sarah.

"Is that a dig?" Damon asked, glaring down at the older vampire.

"It's an observation. Being in love with your brother's girlfriend must be difficult," Rose said with a smug little grin. Sarah however was a little more alarmed. It wasn't like it was a big secret or anything, that's why she'd told Rose, although the woman had already figured it out for herself. But it was a touchy subject, for Damon in particular, and one that Sarah wanted to avoid until he got over her. Which he would do. Eventually.

"I'm not in love with anyone," Damon scoffed defensively.

"That's not what Sarah tells me," Rose said teasingly as she looked to her friend who was slowly shrinking in on the couch. Even more so when Damon turned her way, blue eyes blazing with fury. Not that he'd admit it and risk showing his bleeding heart. However, it wasn't exactly helping to improve his relationship with Rose by bringing it up.

"Well, you know how sister's are," Damon said forcefully, trying to smile his way through the conversation. "They're always making things up."

"Maybe, but not this," Rose said knowingly as she eyed Damon up.

"Don't get on my bad side," Damon snarled down at the older vampire.

"Then show me your good side," Rose said, up on her feet in the blink of an eye, facing off against Damon.

"Alright," Damon said, backing off a little, sounding more relaxed now as he tried to turn on the charm. "Just tell me how to find Klaus."

"You don't find Klaus, he finds you."

"Come on," Damon groaned as he began to pace back and forth in front of Rose and Sarah. "Somebody's got to know somebody who knows where he is, right?"

"Add another two hundred somebodies to that and you're still not even close," Rose argued as Damon rolled his eyes in frustration at the brick wall that was Rose.

"Just humour him please, Rose," Sarah sighed from the couch, hand going to her forehead. "Otherwise he's never going to shut up."

"You got in touch with Elijah, how'd you do that?" Damon inquired, eyeing Rose carefully for any sign that she was lying or keeping something from him.

"Through a very low somebody on the totem pole," Rose answered, only for Damon to shrug, wanting more. She rolled her eyes, looking to Sarah who motioned for her to continue as well, just to keep her brother from annoying them any further. "A guy named Slater in Richmond," Rose fessed up.

"Perfect. I'll drive," Damon said in mocking delight as he broke out into one of his charming smiles.

"Great, enjoy yourself, me and Rose will be fine on our own," Sarah said with a smug smile, breaking Damon's as he sent a glare her way.

"Come on. This is the best way to protect Elena," Damon argued.

"What, by pocking the bear with your tiny ass stick?" Sarah asked skeptically, failing to see her brother's logic in this situation.

"No, by getting information. I want to know where Klaus is, that way, we know if we need to move Elena, or if we're safe here," Damon explained, and as much as it irritated Sarah, it was actually a half decent plan, provided they took it slowly. Something Damon wasn't exactly known for, which meant she'd better get involved before he found Klaus and then decided to try and kill him.

With a sigh, Sarah looked to Rose, slight plea in her eyes as older vampire folded her arms. "It would be helpful if you come with us."

"Well I can't leave while the sun's up. We'll have to wait until dark," Rose pointed out.

"Nah uh, we're going now. We've got blackout windowed car out in the garage. I'll bring it round the front. Be ready in five minutes or I'm dragging you out, daylight ring or not," Damon said as he headed towards the front door.

Sarah frowned, standing up as she watched her brother go. "Since when do we have a blackout windowed car?" she called after him.

"Ever since Stefan took my ring and I had to go a day without being able to drive," Damon called back as he opens the front door, stepping out and closing it behind him.

Once he had, Sarah turned back to Rose. "You okay with this?"

"If it will get your brother off my back, then sure," Rose sighed as she let her arms fall to her side.

"We need to take anything, or will your wit and charm be enough?" Sarah teased, grinning as Rose smiled back.

"We'll be fine, but maybe bring a few blood bags for the road," Rose suggested before the car horn sounded form outside. The impatient Damon beeping over and over until Sarah and Rose climbed into the car, Rose using a blanket to protect herself from the sun.

After that was a relatively short drive compared to their other travels out of Mystic Falls as they headed for Richmond. Damon drove, taking his directions from Rose who was in the passenger seat while Sarah sat behind, rolling her eyes every time Damon asked for Rose to repeat the destination and the directions. He really did have trust issues when it came to everyone, even people who his family vouch for. Rose grew a little irritated but managed to keep her cool as Damon tried to provoke her on the drive. Finally it ended when Rose told him to turn left off the streets of Richmond and into an underground parking lot. Damon did as told with a grumble, like he'd done whenever Rose had given him a direction.

Once inside he found an isolated area of the parking structure and pulled into a spot. The three doors them opened together, Damon climbing out the driver's side on his own while Sarah and Rose took the passenger side. While waiting for the ladies to make their way around to the front, Damon looked around the dark gloomy underground. "Back entrance. How convenient," he said, spotting the door that lead to the coffee shop they'd passed out front while coming in.

"That's the point," Rose explained as she and Sarah came around to join him. "We can't all have fancy little daylight rings."

"Jealously's not your colour, Rose," Sarah teased, the older vampire rolling her eyes at the youths before leading them towards the door joining the parking lot to the coffee shop.

"How do you this Slater guy is even here?" Damon asked as he followed form behind Rose, sister at his side.

"I called him. He's here. He's always here," Rose said with a smile over her shoulder.

"Good," Damon replied simply before he rushed forward, turning Rose around and then shoving her against a supporting pillar, pinning her by the throat.

"Damon," Sarah warned, about to advance when Damon held a finger up to her, eyes remaining on Rose who just grinned back at him. Almost as if it was all a game, a little boy trying to prove how tough he was by getting the jump on the bigger kid.

"Just one thing," Damon said, forcing a smile as his eyes narrowed on Rose. "If you're setting me and my sister up in any way, I will rip your heart out and shove it down your throat. It's something I'm very good at. Just ask Sarah's ex." His eye brows began to jump and down for a moment, until Sarah shoved him aside, his grip sliding from Rose's throat as he stumbled.

"That's enough Damon," Sarah said sternly, standing along side Rose who was leaning back against the pillar she'd been shoved agains moments ago.

"Are you seriously telling me that after everything that just went down with Ronnie, you're really going to just blindly trust her?" Damon asked, straightening up as he gestured with his thumb to Rose. The older vampire's brow lifting but Damon just ignored her as he did with most people when he was talking. He really only had the patience to put up with one person at a time.

"I'm not blindingly trusting her. We have a history that's why I trust her," Sarah argued back, arms folding as she leaned over towards her brother.

"Yeah, you had a history with Ronnie too, remember?" Damon pointed out rehotorically.

"Look, this isn't a case of Lexi vouched for her so I'll happily trust her no questions asked. She's my friend Damon. Alright a friend I haven't seen in a good few decades but I'm still giving her the benefit, because she deserves it," Sarah explained firmly to which Damon rolled his eyes as he turned away briefly, fists clenching and unclenching at his naive little sister. She and Stefan were just as bad as each other at times, at least in Damon's mind.

"Fine, whatever. But when this blows up in your face, don't come crying to me about it," Damon snarled, trying to be the big bad vampire he loved to be. The one who apparently didn't care, even though his whole family knew he did.

"Don't worry," Sarah continued, forcing a smile to combat her brother's glare. "I'll just get you to rip out someone's heart. You're very good at it," she said, echoing Damon's words from earlier as he growled back at her before storming off towards the door at the end of the parking structure.

"Hey," Sarah called after him, nodding to Rose once his blue eyes met her green. "Apologise." He muttered something that was nothing like an apology, but Sarah grinned all the same as she and Rose watched Damon march off a head, following shortly after.

"You know, I'm pretty sure you've gotten more badass since we last met," Rose said with a proud smile towards Sarah as the younger vampire chuckled sheepishly to herself. "And I see you also finally managed to get both your brothers under control. Even Lexi couldn't do that as I recall."

Sarah began nodding along. "Well it hasn't been easy," Sarah admitted before lifting her gaze and smiling to Rose. "But it's been so worth it."

"Hey, you two, enough frolicking over there. Let's go, chop, chop," Damon called from the door, holding it open as he waited for the two to catch up.

Sarah sighed. "Then, of course, one of them says something stupid like that." Rose laughed, following the irritated Sarah as she led the way through, followed after by Damon who brought up the rear as he closed the door behind them. Instantly the sound of live radio and the smell of brewing coffee hit them all. Typical stuff for a coffee shop, everything about it basic but somehow made nicer and more modern by the light wooden colours and big bold windows that should have sent any sane vampire running. Rose however continued on without a care.

"Hey, what about the sun?" Sarah asked, grabbing Rose's arm and indicating to the large windows with her unsure green eyes.

"Double paned and tempered. UV rays can't penetrate. You see the appeal now?" Rose asked with a grin, to which Sarah replied with a look of awe. It was fairly ingenious, Sarah had to admit, so much so that she wondered why more vampires hadn't been going around, compelling builders to put these windows in everything. Sure would make those that didn't have daylight rings seem more normal in the day time.

"That and the free Wi-Fi." Sarah turned along with Damon, both frowning as the hipster like man who was approaching them. His blue eyes lighting up as grin turned into a smile at the sight of Rose. Slater, Sarah presumed.

"Hey, how are you?" Rose asked, quickly going in for a hug as the Slater hugged her back.

"Good," he answered before they parted and he continued in a little more concern. "I saw you coming, what are you doing here?"

"It's a long story, but I want you to meet…" Rose trialed off, gesturing to Sarah and Damon who were stood next to her. She left room for the two to introduce themselves but Slater answered first, hand slapping the counter before he pointed to them both with a knowing grin.

"Damon and Sarah Salvatore." As he said it both Sarah and Damon frowned, confused as to how this man new them both. Even more so by what he said next. "Turned eighteen-sixty-four in Mystic Falls by Katherine Pierce aka Katerina Petrova." Damon forced himself to grin, as if basking in limelight, but the truth was he was just as confused as Sarah looked, who was wondering how the hell this guy knew their story. He obviously didn't know that much judging by what he said to Rose next though.

"So I take it I was right, what I told you about the tomb under the church was true?" Sarah could only assume he was talking about the tomb Katherine had originally supposed to be in. Of course that was were she was now, but she hadn't been there at all until she and her brothers locked her away. Word must have been passed around though, probably by Damon during a few of his drunken nights as he waited for Katherine. That had been before realisation hit him like a loaded truck, realising the woman was an evil manipulative bitch.

"Yes, it was right, thank you for the tip," Rose said with a grateful smile, though neither she nor Trevor had actually set foot inside Mystic Falls, only the guy Trevor had compelled did. Rose only knew it was true now because Sarah had told her, but considering Rose's history with the bitch, she was hardly about to go spreading it around so that her allies could rush in and rescue her. Assuming she had any that is, probably more like people who owed her favours.

As Slater then turned back to face her, Sarah plastered on a friendly smile for negotiating reasons and shook his hand when he extended it. "Nice to meet you," he said with a friendly smile, weakening however when he then went to shake Damon's hand, only for Sarah's older brother to hesitate as he eyed the hipster up and down. He did however, eventually, shake his hand, suspicious eyes still watching him carefully, in case this really was a trap. He was paranoid like that.

"Maybe," Slater added a little more nervously before then looking back to Rose. "So, eh, what's going on Rose? Where's Trevor?" Obviously Slater new Rose well enough to know she rarely went anywhere without Trevor, unfortunately, to answer that meant reminding Rose what had happened to her best friend. Damon looked away, not caring to see the woman cry or to having to deal with it, pretending to admire the rest of the coffee shop. Rose tried to put on a brave smile, her green eyes wavering beneath the tears that formed at her friend's name. It broke down though, and at her trembling lip Slater realised what had happened. His own eyes filling with sadness and apology.

Before it could turn into a sob fest though, Sarah cut in, more compassionately than Damon might have. "How about we sit down and get some coffee?" she suggested, looking to Rose who nodded in agreement as she sniffed, brushing away the tears. "Right, Damon's buying."

"No I'm not," Damon argued, shutting up after receiving an elbow to the rib. "Right, yeah. What are you having?" They got their orders in, standing by the counter until the barista brought them their drinks, each taking their coffee cups while Damon paid.

"And you're sure Elijah's dead?" Slater asked as Sarah finished explaining what had happened to Slater, taking over when it was obvious Rose couldn't continue. She mentioned how Trevor had died, but didn't go into detail for Rose's sake, though she was pretty sure Rose tuned out on purpose for that, distracting herself with something else before coming back when she sipped her coffee.

"Beyond dead," Damon said confidently, since he'd been the one to drive the stake through the Original vampire's heart.

Slater merely nodded, sipping on his coffee before leading the group over to the table he'd been using by the window before they came in, his laptop still set up, facing the seat he took as the others took the rest. "Trevor was a good man. He helped me with my dissertation on sexual deviance in the Baroque period. I was schooling for my Psych PhD," he explained as they sat down.

"Slater's been in college since seventy-four," Rose explained before sipping on her coffee.

"When I was turned," Slater said with a grin. "I have eighteen degrees, three masters and four PhDs."

"The point?" Damon groaned with a roll of the eyes, finding it laughable that a guy would become a vampire just to spend eternity in school.

"Exactly, I mean, what is the point?" Slater said with a hint of irritation as he shrugged, prompting Damon to once again roll his eyes. "What should I be doming with my eternity? If you haven answer, please enlighten me." As he continued on Sarah snuck a look to a sheepishly grinning Rose while Sarah hid behind her coffee cup.

"Oh, great, he's philosophical," Sarah said with a smirk to Rose before sipping at her coffee cup.

"Look, we need your help," Rose cut in, before a fight could break out, particularly between the two blue eyes vampires that were glaring off against each other, all while Sarah smirked against her coffee cup, clearly enjoying the show. "If someone wanted to get in touch with Klaus, how would you hook him up?"

"Craigslist," Slater said, gesturing to his laptop with his coffee cup.

"Really?" Damon said with a skeptical look that his sister backed him up on as she lowered her coffee cup.

"Seriously," Slater said as he turned his attention back to the two Salvatores who stared back at him. "I reposed to a personal ad to get sent to somebody who knows somebody who knows Elijah…who's dead, and that's where my connection ends," explained Slater, as Damon and Sarah shared an irritated look, not liking where this was going.

Walking down the street, Amelia smiled at the guitarist playing at the side of the road. She'd always been a fan of street artists and had always donated when she could, hoping to give them a chance to survive and play again. If she really liked them she'd go out of her way to pass by them each day, just so she could listen and throw them some loose change. Today however, it was Elijah who donated, bending down before carelessly throwing in a one-hundred dollar note. As change, he took a handful of silver coins, standing back up as he and his sister walked down the street.

"That was offaly generous of you," Amelia said observantly, ever so slightly lifting her brow when her brother looked her way, a ghost of a smile on his lips.

"Yes, well. It's important to give back to the arts," Elijah said with a careless shrug, dropping the coins into one hand before then doing it once more with the other. The two Originals then turned, looking across the street where they saw Rose, Slater, Damon and Sarah all sat around a coffee table chatting, having no idea they were being watched from across the street. Elijah no longer dead and having changed suits while Amelia was still wearing the same black rain coat as before – despite the nice weather – hands shoved in her pockets. She was old enough to know by now to never trust the weather. It could change its mind at any moment, just like mankind.

Along with her brother, the two began to listen, hearing focusing on the conversation the four were having. "Here's what I don't get," the one Amelia presumed to be Damon said from his side of the table. To his right with their backs to Amelia was Sarah and Rose. She new the latter from long ago and the other from Elijah's description of the vampires he ran into when going to get the doppelgänger. She'd told him to wait for her, but she'd known then that was never going to happen. At least he wasn't going to be making that mistake again, not as long as she was sticking to his side, like the good sister she was.

"Elijah moved around during the day, which means the originals knew the secret of the daylight rings. Now why would Klaus want to lift the curse of the sun and the moon?" Damon continued, leaning over the table as he spoke to the man across from him. A vampire Amelia was sure, true she wasn't certain, and there were many other things he could be, but vampire just made the most sense of the establishment they were in and considering three out of the four were already vampires to begin with. Still, she'd find out soon enough.

"To keep the werewolves from lifting it. If a vampire breaks the sun curse then the werewolves are stuck with the curse of the moon forever and vice versa," the vampire who Elijah hadn't encountered explained.

"But werewolves are extinct," Rose pointed out.

Amelia's eyes then narrowed. Not at Rose for her inaccurate information. It was well known those like herself and her brother that werewolves had been forced into hiding across the world. There were few places where they still walked about openly in Supernatural communities. Most had gone into wide mountain ranges or into swamps and deeps forests. Some had even moved across the world, just to escape the slaughter that had started in Europe and the New World.

What had her attention was Sarah and Damon, the two Salvatore vampires who were making faces at each other as Rose and the other vampire talked. They obviously knew about one, maybe more. Definitely an interesting lot these Salvatores, Amelia decided, smirking as the conversation continued.

"Sure. I've never seen one but rumour has it–" the vampire said, looking to the two Salvatores before Sarah cut in.

"Not a rumour for us," Sarah said with a smirk. "We've run into three by last count."

"Now that's interesting," Amelia murmured, eyes remaining on the group of four while Elijah glanced her way. Having spent over a thousand years with the man, Amelia could tell he agreed with her, even if he didn't say anything aloud or even make a simple head nod. He just continued dropping coins from one hand into the other, head turning back to the conversation he'd never stopped listening to.

"God, I've got to visit this place. It sounds awesome," the vampire said giddily.

"Yeah, it's really not," Sarah deflated, leaning on the table as she continued. "Place is crawling with vampire hunters so unless you've got yourself a daylight ring, I'd stay clear for the foreseeable future." Another interesting tidbit of information. Of course it was of no concern to Amelia and her brother, they both had daylight rings of their own. Elijah wearing his on his left hand's middle finger, Amelia the same hand, but instead on her index finger.

"Can we get back to the curse, please," Damon said, leaning over the table as he glared at the vampire opposite him, wanting to get back to the reason they'd come through apparently. "Like, how we stop the curse from being broken at all?"

"What do you mean?" the vampire asked uneasily, not surprisingly against this idea.

"Well, if we make the moonstone useless, would it stop the curse from being broken?" Damon spelt out for him.

"Well, yeah, probably, but why would you want to do that?" the vampire said with a sheepishly smile.

"Tell us how," Damon snarled, brow lowering as he glared at the vampire.

"You think I'm gonna help you figure out how to do something that will piss off an Original?" the vampire scoffed before taking a sip of his coffee.

"If it helps, imagine him asking nicely for a change," Sarah suggested, leaning down next to her brother. Her tone friendlier than his, but her body language equally as threatening as his, implying neither was backing down until they got some answers.

"I am afraid to say, Brother, that I think our lie worked a little too well," Amelia sighed, watching as the conversation continued. From next to her, she heard Elijah stop passing the coins for one hand to the other, now holding them firmly in both hands.

"That was, of course, the point, my dear Amelia," Elijah said politely, eyes focused as he lifted his arm back, before then throwing it forward, flicking his wrist at the last minute and sending the coins in his hand scattering across the air before colliding with the windows of the coffee shop. All at once the glass shattered, rays of harmful sunlight bursting in and attacking the unsuspecting vampires. Of which included Rose and the other vampire with her. Damon and Sarah however, just went down like the rest of the crowd, protected by their rings. How fortunate.

"I see your flare for the dramatic hasn't faded in our time apart," Amelia said, rolling her head towards her brother who greeted her with a smirk. Both then vanishing from the scene as a crowd began to form, no one even aware that they'd been there. Or that Elijah was alive and that Amelia was also an Original. Just the way they wanted to keep it, for now.

One minute they'd been having a pleasant enough conversation about how to destroy the moon stone, the next, all the windows were exploding, sending them all to the ground. It had been insane, each and every window breaking at once and with enough force to send everyone near them flying, including Sarah, her brother and friends. At first Sarah thought it might have been a bomb, but when she sat up she only saw the broken windows. Nothing else had been damaged. More to the point, everyone outside looked just as confused as they did, no clue as to how all the windows had been destroyed at once.

But any thought of investigating and finding out what had happened quickly vanished when Sarah's hearing returned after being caught off guard. At first it was just mindless screaming, panicking over the sudden broken windows. For humans it would have been dramatic, but the vampires in the room were already healing. At least Sarah and Damon were, it was only when she heard the sizzling of burning skin that she realised what was going on. The windows protecting the none daylight ring wearing vampires were gone, meaning the sun was now burning them.

She caught sight of Slater first, as he ran for the back exit along with the vampires strong enough to pull themselves out of the sunlight. When Sarah then spotted Rose, she found her to be not so lucky. She was on the floor, rolling back and forth, sun light shining directly on her. Where as everyone else had been blown back, Rose had fallen the other way, towards the window, with no knocked over table or chairs to cover behind, she was in the open.

Moving as quickly as she could without drawing more attention, Sarah grabbed the jacket Slater had left behind and threw it over Rose, doing her best to cover her skin from the sunlight. Glancing back, she saw her brother was on his feet, scanning the crowd outside for what or who had destroyed the window. While he searched, Sarah hauled Rose up to her feet, dragging her into the shade as several others did with the remaining vampires. Most likely they knew what they were, but Sarah didn't care for anyone but Rose, who clung to the jacket shielding her skin as Sarah got her into the shadows where Damon was waiting for them.

"We're leaving, now," Sarah declared, giving Damon a firm look as he met her gaze. It was obvious he wanted to stay and find out what had happened, but when his eyes moved to Rose, they softened ever so slightly. She was a mess, skin horribly blister from the burns, healing at a snails pace, shaking uncontrollably as her fingers tightened around the jacket, despite now being safe from the sun.

Damon nodded, leading the charge out with Sarah holding Rose close as they followed. Everyone else who hadn't gotten out by then, was now charging towards the door. Those who were bleeding or burnt where being dragged out by the panicked people that held them close. Damon shoved as many aside as he could before Sarah and Rose found themselves surrounded by bodies. The sound of the back door being kicked open filled the air, despite the screams and cries that threatened to drown it out. The mob of people shrugged forwards and suddenly Sarah found herself in the parking lot once more. But she was too slow in getting out of the mob's way and found herself stumbling forward, losing her grip on Rose. She managed to find her footing but Rose wasn't as lucky. She hit the ground with a terrified scream, curling up as she yanked on the jacket, like a child trying to hid beneath their bedsheets.

Sarah went to pull her back up, but Damon got to her first. She was half ready to snap at him for yanking her up to her feet and shoving her on, but instead watched in surprise as he lifted her up bridal style, cradling her in his arms as she held onto him desperately. It was only when Damon looked to his sister, that Sarah finally snapped and elbowed the next guy that threatened to push her aside. "This way," she called out to Damon who followed her out of the mob and back over to their car.

Reaching it first, Sarah quickly pulled open the back seat, moving aside as Damon sat Rose down. "You're gonna be okay," Damon said as he pulled the jacket off of Rose, throwing it aside as Sarah got a good look at Rose. She was healing now, still shaking and panicking, but her burnt skin was beginning to fade at last. The crusty patches looking more fleshy again as they shrunk in on themselves.

"I know," Rose breathed out, in between her heavy panicked breaths.

"Who's behind that?" Damon demanded.

"I don't know. Where's Slater?" Rose asked quickly, brain obviously racing.

"He ran off," Sarah answered, watching Rose in concern.

"He's not behind this, he's a good guy, he wouldn't betray me," Rose began to ramble off, head lowering as she started to hug herself.

"Well then who the hell did it?" Damon snapped.

"It's Klaus, don't you understand?" Rose cried out, head flipping back up to reveal the panic in her eyes and the terrified tears that were flying form them. "You don't know this man, we're dead! We're all dead."

"It's okay, it's okay," Sarah promised as she wrapped Rose in her arms, letting the woman cry into her jacket as she shared a look with Damon. He had an odd mixture of sympathy, confusion and mild alarm. Something had happened, they knew that, those windows hadn't just smashed on their own. Whether it was Klaus or not remained to be seen, but Rose thought it was and she was clearly terrified. "We need to get her home," Sarah said to Damon, still holding Rose as she whimpered away. He nodded back, taking the keys before climbing into the drivers side. Sarah joined Rose in the back, holding her tightly as Damon raced them out of the parking lot and back to Mystic Falls. He did a few detours, just to be sure no one was following them. He even pulled over at a gas station for a few minutes, watching the passing cars and those that pulled into the rest area. There was no sigh that they were being followed.

Once they then got home, Rose finally started to calm down. The whole experience must have severely tired her out because she was passed out on the couch within seconds of sitting down. Covering Rose with a blanket, Sarah fetched herself a blood bag before she set up a fire and sat down to relax after the days events. Damon came in to check on her a few times but didn't say anything, just hummed in a yes and no manor whenever Sarah asked him a question. Sarah remained on the couch opposite Rose, reading once she finished her blood bag. Stefan did send her an updated text later, about what Elena had been up to that day. Talking to Katherine. Sarah's blood pressure had shot up at that, furiously typing back and demanding more information. The short version was that she went to speak to Katherine to learn more about Klaus, the curse and so on. And as such Sarah wasn't surprised to hear it hadn't gone well. Stefan promised to fill her in in more detail later, once he got home.

Shortly after, Rose awoke, looking a whole lot better, embarrassed if anything else, over her dramatic reaction. She was still convinced it was Klaus that had come after them though, but felt a lot more secure in the Salvatore house. For maybe an hour or so she and Sarah just chatted, Sarah doing her best to keep Rose's mind on other things. It did her good. Sarah then decided to get her some blood, realising her friend hadn't had anything in a while. However when she came back to the living room, Rose was gone. She walked further into the house until she caught the sound of Rose's voice.

"You're right to fight it," came Rose's voice from the study. There was a pause and Sarah had been about to enter when Rose continued. "The way you feel about her." That prompted Sarah to stop, the noise little sister in her focusing her hearing as she stood out in the hallway.

"And why's that?" Damon asked from inside the study, sat near the fireplace with Rose stood in front of him. neither able to see Sarah from her position in the hallway, and since she wasn't making any noise, they couldn't hear her either. Although both seemed a little wrapped up in what they were doing, neither looking out for her.

"Because if you want to survive, you need to not care about anyone," Rose declared. Sarah didn't believe she meant it, she was just hurting and scared. A natural defence to that was to lash out, and that was what she was doing to an extent. She'd loved Trevor, and he'd been her best friend and no matter what she'd never have cut him out of her life just to survive. It's just if she had, she wouldn't be suffering from his absence now.

"Caring gets you dead, huh?" Damon replied.

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

Alarm bells started to ring in Sarah's head, eyes widening as she thought about rushing in and putting an end to the conversation. Even more so when Damon said, "I will if you will." She took a step, ready to knock some sense into the pair of them. She peered in around the corner and then quickly retreated, only just managing to find her feet and stop herself from creating a ruckus. In that brief moment she'd seen both her brother and Rose, standing right up against each other, staring deeply into each others' eyes.

And no sooner had Sarah found her feet, one hand landing on the wall to balance herself, did she hear the sound of them making out. Sarah might have laughed if she didn't fear ruining the moment. She'd always thought she was good at spotting things like this, signs of flirting, sexual tension. Apparently not though, judging by what was going on in the next room. She'd never even considered it.

She couldn't help but grin, looking over her shoulder to make sure they hadn't notice her and were playing some kind of trick on her. If they were, it'd gone beyond a joke now, seeing as they were clawing at each others cloths in between make outs, pushing towards the obvious source of stress relief.

That was Sarah's cue to leave, but she did so with a smile on her face. Maybe it was just them both relieving stress, maybe it was something more. At the very least, it was a distraction, and that was something Damon needed if he was going to get over Elena. Sarah hoped it was something serious and that it would last, at least until everything going on with Elena settled down. Then Damon would see that he didn't really love her, at least not in a romantic sense.

Her mind drifted back to the car ride from before, when they'd been heading to rescue Elena, or more precisely the plan they had made during that car ride. Save Elena, Stefan's girlfriend. Check. Find Damon a slutty girlfriend. While Rose might not appreciate being called a slut, it was still a check for now. That left…

Sarah groaned as she reached the stairs, heading for her room. Now she had to get her love life in order. Something she wasn't particularly fond of dealing with right now. She could practically hear both her brothers laughing at her now, even if one was out the house and the other was…busy.

She'd deal with it in her own time, Sarah decided as she climbed the stairs, drinking blood as she went.

As they waited for the home owner to answer, Amelia turned to Elijah, asking, "Do you want deal with the compulsion, or shall I?"

"I'll deal with it," Elijah answered as he turned to face his sister, lips turning up ever so slightly as he did. "Your feelings on compulsion are no secret to me, dear sister." It was true, Amelia had never been a fan of compulsion. It was a very useful tool for sure, but she just felt so vial when using it, especial when forcing people to do things that they wouldn't otherwise. For her, it was intended to keep a vampire's victims still while they fed and then to erase said victim's memories. Of course, it did have its other uses, which even if she didn't like, she had to admit it was useful. As Elijah was about to demonstrate.

The door then opened and the vampire from the coffee shop stepped into view. The one called Slater as the two Originals had found out. "Can I help you?" Slater asked looking between the two as they smiled pleasantly back.

"Why, yes you can," Elijah said as his brown eyes locked with Slater's. "You can let us come in, and close the door behind you." A puzzled look then crossed Slater's face, only for it to then double down as he stepped aside for the two Originals. Elijah gestured for Amelia to go in first and she nodded to her bother in thanks. With her hands still resting in her raincoat pockets, she nodded in thanks to Slater also before stepping into the rather nice modern apartment with Elijah behind her. The two stood side by side in the hallway, taking in the place, before turning back around at the sound of the door closing.

He was still just as confused, mouth opening and closing as he looked between the door and the two Original Siblings. Obviously a newbie vampire, especially if he didn't know about the Originals' ability to compel even vampires. "How did you…?" Slater began.

"Be silent," Elijah ordered with his compulsion, adding a held up finger for effect. Slater then fell silent, eyes widening in disbelief. "Stay still," Elijah then added before the young vampire got any ideas. He then advanced, closing in on the confused and silent vampire. "Now. We're going to need you to do something for us."

Elijah then gave Slater very detailed and precise orders as to what he was to do. Once he was done, Elijah then stood back along with Amelia and watched as Slater put on a show for them both. As told he took out his phone, calling the vampires he'd met with today. "Rose?" Slater said when the line opened up.

"Slater? Are you okay?" Rose asked once she realised who was calling her.

"Yes, I took off, I'm sorry, I was frigging freaked," Slater explained – convincingly it might be added, but then again, he'd been compelled to make it sound believable. Another advantage of compulsion that Amelia had noticed was its ability to improve anyone's acting. Give them right motivation, the right background, the right instructions, and you could find any compelled person with an Oscar in their hand.

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

"Look, I want no part in any of this but I did some digging," Slater continued, just like he was supposed to.

"Okay, what did you find?" Rose asked slowly, after a moments pause.

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

"How? What do you mean? I don't follow," Rose replied, trying to get more information out of Slater. There was no need of course, he was going to hand it all over, whether he wanted to or not.

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

Another pause. "Yes, they can get it. What next?" Another useful piece of information. The moonstone, another key piece to their grand scheme – not that Amelia felt the word was appropriate – but it was essential to have it in order to proceed. And having a general idea of where it was really did help. Before it could have been anywhere in the world, now they'd narrowed it down to the area of Mystic Falls.

"You need a witch. Get the moonstone, a witch should be able to figure out the rest." And of course, the Originals had just the witch in mind, one that had already agreed to work with them. One they could use to keep an eye on everything, and who just so happened to be already based in Mystic Falls.

Slater then concluded the call with, "Good luck, Rose," before hanging up, only to then stare down at his phone in disbelief.

"Very nicely done," Elijah applauded.

"Thanks, I have a degree in theatre," Slater admitted as he put his phone away, turning around to face the two Originals. Then, finally, he got to ask the question he'd been wanting to since they first arrived. "How can you compel me? A vampire can't compel another vampire."

"We're special vampires," Elijah said with a smirk and a nonchalant shrug.

"What, because you're an Original?" Slater asked, confusion still all over his face. So many questions, so little time. Amelia almost felt sorry for him. Of course she could humour him, let him ask all his questions then deal with him. But neither herself, nor her brother had the time.

"Yes," Amelia answered with a pleasant smile.

"Now, I want you to take this and drive it through your heart," Elijah instructed, smile never wavering as he held out a wood stake.

"But that would kill me forever," Slater said nervously as he took the stake from Elijah.

"We know," Amelia said with her own smile still in place. She may not be the biggest fan of what they were doing, but after all this time, she knew sometimes things just had to be done, and sometimes the best way to get through it, was with a smile. Even if it did make her seem a little sinister.

"But it's necessary," Elijah said, using his compulsion to make Slater believe it really was, even if he didn't want to. The young vampire held his gaze for as long as he could, fighting the compulsion. In his last moments he looked to Amelia, as if she'd save him. When she offered him nothing but a smile and cold eyes, he looked down to the stake and his trembling hands. Some could fight the compulsion for a little while, it wasn't the exact same as it was on humans. There was a more conscious element to compelling a vampire. Still, the result was always the same, and finally, Slater thrusted the stake into his own heart. One last final breath, then he hit the floor, skin turning grey and still veins appearing across his skin.

"I'll call, Jonas, let him know we're on our way," Amelia said as she pulled her phone from her pocket, bringing up his contact information as if nothing out of the ordinary had just happened. But that was the thing, this was her normal. Elijah hummed in agreement staring down at the deceased vampire that was sprawled out on the floor, stake stood firmly up from inside his chest.

The phone rang once, then Jonas picked up. "How can I help you, Amelia?"

"Hello, Jonas, I'm going to need you to do a little something for me and my brother…"