"What do you mean 'I'm not in Mystic Falls'?"
"What do you mean by it?"
"I'm on the road."
"So am I!"
This conversation was going nowhere.
"Well, where are you heading?" I questioned as I rested my head in my hand, my elbow leaning against the side of the car door.
"North Carolina. To check through Isobel's old research about werewolves at Duke University."
I furrowed my brows. "Werewolves?"
Jack turned his head away from the road for a moment to throw a questioning look my way, but I waved him off with a scowl.
"Yeah. Seems we might have one in Mystic Falls. At least according to Damon…" Elena sighed.
"You're on a roadtrip with Damon?" I double-checked, suppressing a chuckle.
"Tell Parker that she's welcome to join!" Damon's distinctive voice called over Elena's attempts to explain the situation.
"Shush! Yeah, Alaric's here too. Stefan had to stay behind to take care of Caroline," Elena added, grumpily.
"Take care of Care," I chuckled. Jack rolled his eyes. With a hand placed over my phone, I focused my gaze on him. "Come on! It wasn't that bad."
"Yeah, it was."
"You drop worse," I scoffed, attempting to tune back in on Elena's chattering.
"I have a natural talent. It's just not for everyone," Jack claimed with a shrug.
"Okay! Time to get of that high horse of yours. Hmm?" I cocked my head to the side, eyes narrowed.
Jack only laughed as I glaringly returned to my conversation with Elena.
"…Yeah, thanks to a ring that you didn't know he was wearing," Elena scoffed, clearly in the middle of a conversation in her car.
"What ring?" I interjected.
"It's… I might have left out a piece of information last night. We'll talk about it later," Elena sighed. Okay, weird.
"Did something happen?" I questioned.
"Later," my sister insisted.
"Fine. I'll meet you guys at Duke. Text me the exact address." Pushing the call away, I stared at the road ahead while pressing the cold metal forming my phone against my lips. What was going on? What had I missed that Elena didn't share with me last night? I was beginning to grow a little worried, mostly because whatever it was about, it was clearly connected to Damon somehow; who would she otherwise have been snapping at in the car? Alaric? The odds said otherwise.
"Trouble in Mystic Falls?" Jack asked, breaking me out of my thoughts.
"Vampire trouble," I sighed and rearranged my legs to sit cross-legged in my seat; my shoes had been thrown off a long time ago, making this readjustment possible.
"Ah! I remember the last time we encountered a vampire," Jack smirked. "Didn't end so well."
"Ugh! Don't remind me," I huffed and rolled my neck to relieve some tension in it, a pleasant cracking sound telling me the action had been needed.
"Have you been to New Orleans since?" he checked.
"Nope! And I don't intend on returning there anytime soon."
"Marcel would probably snap your neck the second he saw you," Jack muttered, a hint of a grin playing with his voice.
Turning in my seat, I focused my narrowed stare on him. "Is my ability to piss people off amusing to you?"
"It's entertaining, yes," Jack admitted with a nod. "But you still have a long way to go until you reach the expert level," he added, wiggling his eyebrows to clarify that he was referring to himself. Proudly.
"You shouldn't be proud of that," I pointed out.
"You're just jealous," he claimed, grinning. With a scoff, I turned back to stare at the empty road. "So! Vampire trouble?" I swiveled my head to glare at Jack. "Are you dating one?"
"Oh, shut up! You banged an old waitress!" I accused with my finger waving right under his nose.
"And I regret nothing," Jack retorted and pushed my annoying finger aside. "But is that what it's about? The sex?" he checked.
"Not sure yet…" I admitted with a tilt of my head.
"Well, good luck with the werewolf research anyway. Sorry you can't flip through the Agency's old files," Jack chuckled, looking so pleased with himself for pointing that out to me. Again, I narrowed my eyes.
"Easy on the gloating there, sweetie."
"STOP HERE!" I yelled out.
Jack stepped on the break, which would have made me fly out through the windshield hadn't it been for the trustworthy seat belt keeping me in place.
"Jeez, woman!" Jack placed a hand over his heart, as I quickly opened the door and jumped out of the car. "You scared the bejesus outta me!" he called through the open window.
"Yeah, sorry," I replied, a bit absentmindedly, as I checked the courtyard behind me over my shoulder for any of the three familiar figures I was awaiting.
A large, old building made up of grey stones could be spotted in the distance, trees with pink flowers aligning the paved road where the car currently stood stopped. The same routh circled around a patch of green grass, before turning and leading back out from the campus area.
"You need to go," I urged Jack, hitting the car repeatedly. "Like, right now."
"What?! Don't you want me to meet your friends?" he gasped with fake shock, putting a hand over his heart. "I'm hurt–"
"And I'm serious, Jack. Go."
He only stared at me, not moving the car one inch.
"I haven't really told anyone about this." I made a vague, waving gesture between us. "So, please, spare me the complicated explanation and just GO!"
"Okay!" Jack sighed, turning on the engine. "I'm going, I'm going!"
"Thank you." I gave the car a final clap, before turning to leave.
"But!" At the sound of his voice, I twirled back to face him. "You're gonna have to tell them sometime."
"I know, I know," I groaned, waving him off. "Take care, Jackie."
Making a face, he drove off. His blue car had barely even left my sight and the area before a silver SUV drove in. Now that was a close one!
"You guys are late," I stated, crossing my arms as the car came to a stop.
Elena only rolled her eyes as she jumped out from the backseat. Alaric greeted me with a warm smile, before a glance Damon's way as the vampire walked around the car made his face stiffen a bit.
"I gotta go make sure I can park here…" the history teacher trailed off, and bolted the scene.
"What was that about?" I asked Elena, who was busy glaring at Damon.
"I'm gonna call Stefan and check up on Caroline," she excused and walked away while pulling her phone up.
"Ooookay!" I swiveled back on my work boot heel – since I hadn't brought any other shoes with me to change into after my visit in the desert, they were still going strong. "Am I missing something here?"
Damon's turn to glare, apparently.
I frowned. "What?"
"You could have left a message, you know," he spoke, through gritted teeth.
"I was gone for two days! Really?" I couldn't help the scoff that escaped me. "Okay, so that's why you're pissed. Doesn't explain her reason." I gestured with my thumb over my shoulder, towards my sister tapping her foot against the lawn with her phone pressed tightly to her ear.
"A lot happened."
"Clearly!"
Damon kept staring, but in a less threatening way. More of an 'I'm undressing you with my eyes' sort of style.
"Stop that," I demanded.
"Why?" He tilted his head to the side and continued eyeing me up and down thoroughly.
"Pedophile eyes!"
"What?" Damon's brows furrowed in confusion.
"Never mind." I shook my head, before moving to close the space between us, standing only inches away from his face. "When I want you to undress me, I'll let you."
A content smirk spread on his handsomely defined face. "Why, Parker! There are children present," Damon tsked with a nod over my head.
Peering back, I caught Elena standing a few feet closer than before in an awkward, stiff position, with her phone grasped tightly in her hand. "Whoops."
Forcing a polite smile, my sister nodded at my clothing. "Nice outfit. Very… sandy."
"Um, yeah." I looked down at my dark blue jeans, now more of a beige shade thanks to all the dust that had stuck to them. Wonder what the inside of Jack's car looked like… All the while, I was extremely aware of Elena's piercing gaze, only focused on me and completely ignoring the gorgeous vampire behind me.
"So where'd you go?" Elena inquired.
"Can we talk about something else? Like how," I stepped out of the way so that I was no longer blocking Elena's view of Damon, "the air is extra chilly in-between here." I gestured at the area stretching out from my sister to my… vampire? It was too early for that kind of labeling. "Something happened and not telling me isn't helping anyone."
"Like I said before: later," Elena stated firmly.
Dropping it, I instead went for, "How's Stefan?" Bad move, apparently, since Elena's face turned even more grumpy.
"He's probably busy since he's not answering…" She stared at the phone in her hand with a defeated expression.
Something within me just said snap, and suddenly I couldn't help but want to gag all over Stelena's cuteness. Maybe it was because I hadn't eaten a good meal during the past day, or maybe there was only so much lovey-dovey crap one can take before they lost it. Either way, I just couldn't hold back the desire to taunt my sister.
The brilliant idea hit me like a cement block over the head, and the lightbulb shining up was a fact. I turned to Damon with a mischievous smile.
"Just go with it," I mumbled for only his vamp-hearing to catch, before wrapping my arms around his neck and pulling his face closer to mine. Damon's eyes widened slightly, but he was instantly onboard with my unspoken plan.
After all, pissing off one's siblings never fails to amuse.
Beginning with placing a light kiss on his lips, I drew my head back a little to smile smugly at Damon. He returned the expression as we rubbed our noses together affectionately. Catching Elena's gaping mouth out in the corner of my eye, I turned my head to fully meet her blazing gaze. Damon's lips remained against my cheek, softly brushing past as he turned to watch Elena as well, our cheeks now connecting.
"Annoying?" I asked my sister. "That's how you and Stefan look around each other." I moved my head, my nose traveling over Damon's soft skin, before placing my lips next to his ear. "Thanks," I whispered, placing another kiss there.
"Anytime," came the response, a light breeze from his exhale hitting my ear before it was rewarded with a kiss as well. Attempting to ignore the pleasant shivers it sent down my spine, I instead took a step back to clear my throat.
"We're good!" Alaric declared. "Parking here is fine." When close enough to notice the feel of the scene in front of him, he stopped with a frown. "What did I miss?"
"Nothing," Elena grumbled, stomping away with storm clouds hovering over her head. Damon and I only exchanged a look. As he didn't do much to repress his smirk, I turned to to answer Ric with a shrug.
"Teenagers! Am I right?"
If the building had looked fancy and old from the outside, it was nothing compared to the interior. The rooms had high ceilings, with walls clad in dark wood panel about halfway up, to then have a beige yellow – matching my dusty pants – taking place. With windows that seemed to belong in the 1800s, a chandelier hanging from the vaulted ceiling and scary old decorations – like a photograph of an old statue forming the head of a man with a large nose, and a little skeleton the size of a child standing in a weird position on a dresser – the ancient place sure radiated a side of creepy. What a place to work in.
"So Isobel was officially employed by the anthropology department, given that most paranormal phenomenon is rooted in folklore," Alaric spoke over his shoulder.
"Nice place," I whispered to Damon, scrunching my nose as we passed the child skeleton.
Turning a corner, Alaric lead our little dysfunctional group into a small office area where a young woman was flipping through some papers in a big file cabinet.
"Excuse me, hi. I'm Alaric Saltzman, I called earlier."
"Yes, of course." The woman closed a drawer with the files and reached out her hand. "I'm Vanessa Monroe, research assistant, comparative folklore." Her gaze stopped at Elena for a moment, a wrinkle forming between her brows. My sister only smiled back politely. Vanessa shrugged, snapping out of whatever daze she'd been in. "Uh, let me just grab Isobel's keys."
"I'm sorry." Alaric, interpreted Vanessa's weird behavior as confusion over who the rest of us were, went on to make quick but polite institutions. "These are my friends Elena, Parker and Damon." He gestured at us each in turn, I being the only one to note it with a small wave with my hand. "I hope this isn't too much of an imposition."
"Oh please, Isobel's office is right through there," Vanessa reassured, moving to retrieve a pair of keys from her desk's drawer. "Isobel was one of my first professors. I'm a grad student. She was brilliant, and one of the reasons I went into folklore." She paused for a moment and sat down on her desk. "Uh, I have to ask… has there been any news?"
"No. No, I'm afraid not," Alaric spoke, suddenly his voice much lower. I looked away from the woman's shoulders slouching, before she just nodded, as if accepting the information.
"It's right this way," Vanessa said, nodding at a door to the right.
The room we entered was dark, dusty and seemed to match the interior of the previous rooms quite well. Except for the bookshelves here, stocked with old books and artifacts, aligning the walls.
"I'll grab the light," Vanessa declared. "Feel free to look around. It's fascinating isn't it?"
Picking up a skeleton head of a bird and turning it in my hand, I thought over her words; fascinating wasn't perhaps the word that I'd use… The rest of the desk before me was stocked with other similar skeleton heads from different types of animals. Maybe I'd check through the books instead.
Moving to the other side of the room, I joined Elena as she tiptoed to see the content of the top shelf.
"Need a helping, reaching hand?" I offered.
Elena looked down at my shoes. "Without your heels you're in as much need of help as I am."
"Who are you calling short, hobbit?"
"Hey. Where'd she go?" Damon asked, from the desk full of the skeleton heads I had just left behind.
On cue, Vanessa re-entered the room. But now with a crossbow in her hands, aiming a loaded arrow right at my sister. Elena gasped as Vanessa's shot the arrow at her chest, but my hand reacted, reaching out and catching it before anyone could blink; just as I felt another, stronger hand try to pull me out of the crossfire.
My sister could only stare, whilst hyperventilating, at the sharp tip of the arrow, inches away from piercing her chest. Directing my gaze over my shoulder, I found Damon, whose hand still remained firmly wrapped around my upper arm. A grunt from Vanessa told me Alaric had her covered.
"I'm good now," I told Damon, nodding at his grip. After a too-long second, he released it and took a step back.
"Fast reflexes," Damon noted with a nod, observing me with a new suspicion in his blue eyes.
"Thank you." Brushing his gaze off easily, I focused my attention on Elena. "You okay?" She only shook her head as she made constant, small turning motions, not sure what to do or how to act after being so close to death. "Hey." I gripped her shoulders and pressed them down firmly. "You're okay. It didn't hit you. Deep breaths." Elena obeyed, slowing her breathing down successively. "Good girl." A glance over my shoulder showed an empty spot where Vanessa and her crossbow had been moments ago.
"Alaric took care of her," Damon responded to my questioning gaze thrown his way. I observed my still freaking out sister as she ran a hand through her perfectly straight hair, her eyes and mouth wide open as the panic from earlier began to settle.
"Okay, that bitch is dead," I declared. Only, Elena's hand shot out to stop me before I could as much as make a move.
"You're not gonna kill her!" my sister exclaimed.
"She hurt you," I argued.
"Well–" Damon intervened.
"Tried to," I corrected myself with a roll of my eyes
"Parker, please," Elena pleaded. Her sad, puppy dog eyes were a fact. Still, I only stared back at her blankly. As I had shot a man not even 24 hours ago, with the numbness of it still present in my body, I had no problem doing the same. And this time the reasons were even better: she had tried to hurt Elena. My sister. That was off-limits. "You touch her and I swear I will never speak to you again," Elena threatened, crossing her arms as if to mark the finality to her statement.
"UGH!" I grunted out. "You're no fun!"
Elena shook her head in pure astonishment. "I can't believe this… Does human life mean nothing to you?"
"I just saved yours!" I exclaimed, my hand wildly gesturing at her ungrateful face. "Which, by the way, you're welcome."
"Unbelievable. You're no better than him!" Elena snapped, pointing at Damon. He stood a few feet away, shamelessly observing the fight as he made well sure to keep his distance, should things go bad.
"Hey–"
"Thought you said you wouldn't act this way anymore," I pointed out, vividly remembering Elena's supporting words from only last night. She seemed to be ready to boil over, her face turning red, as Damon moved in the outskirts of my vision
"He killed Jeremy!" Elena suddenly yelled out. Immediately, her hand shot up to cover her mouth, as if in shock of what had just jumped out of her. She soon lowered it, glaring at Damon. "Sorry, I was gonna give you the chance to tell her…" But I had tuned out from my sister's chattering to stare at Damon. A cold, blinding rage was building up inside of me.
"You did what?"
"You failed to mention that he was wearing a ring that brought him back to life," Damon directed towards Elena, with a scoff. "Parks…" he began as I moved towards him. Suddenly, I was very keen on hurting someone else. "Hey!" Damon used his vamp-strength to grab my arms, stopping to hold them in mid-air. "Jeremy's fine now. We actually had a nice little moment last night."
"Does it look like I care!" I spat and tried to shove him back, but instead a quick, whooshing movement readjusted my position so that Damon was now holding both my arms pinned together behind my back, which was also pressed against his chest.
"Calm down–"
"I am calm!" I shouted, trying to stomp on his foot.
"Guys–" Elena tried to chisel in. "Don't do anything either of you will regret."
Damon's grip grew harder for a moment as I continued to struggle, until I was released with a shove. Spinning towards him, my eyes shot daggers to match the contained fury in his own gaze.
"This isn't over," I told him sternly, with my forefinger pointing at him accusingly. For now disregarding the male and blinding anger he brought, I turned around to face my sister, arms folded over my chest. "What else did you decide not to tell me in those one hundred voicemails?"
"Later," Elena insisted, avoiding my blazing gaze. Even as I kept staring at her, she showed no sigh of budging. That did it.
"I'm taking a walk," I declared. And so, I left the two standing there in the middle of the murky room, staring after me whilst probably wondering how the hell that could have escalated so quickly. As did I.
The sky had gone completely dark when I finally managed to pull myself together and put a lid on my raging temper. Wandering around the old campus and watch the impressive architecture had somewhat soothed me, at last making my return to the building where Isobel's old office laid possible.
"I don't know what that means or if we should even believe it, but it's a full moon, Stefan." Elena's voice traveled through the balmy night to reach my ears. "After what you saw Mason Lockwood do…" she went on, and I stopped dead.
Mason!
Gathering myself, I cautiously moved closer to stand hidden behind one of the many trees. Hidden by the pink flowers, I listened intently.
"There's one more thing," Elena sighed. "According to the legend, a werewolf bite can kill a vampire."
The piece of information tickled something at the back of my mind, a tale I had once read in the old records the Agency kept. The same records Jack had so charmingly teased me about earlier. They covered almost anything involving the supernatural. Getting access to them hadn't been easy, but with a contact like Hunter and a charmer like Jack no task was impossible. All those many files and documents had given me more intel on the supernatural world than any of the old diaries written by Johnathan Gilbert could ever have provided me with.
Which was why I recognized the dooming fact of what the bite from a werewolf could do to a vampire. As well as how a werewolf came to be; what needed to be done for a person to activate the gene passed on from parent to child. A dormant gene that the Lockwood family – according to those same records – carried. A Lockwood.
Like Mason.
Oh no.
Gazing up at the moon, I imagined what the glowing shape must do to him every single full moon. The pain. And the horror.
"Okay." Elena finished the call with another sigh. But as she turned to return into the old building, I stepped out from my hidden place amongst the trees to stand in her way. Instantly, her feet halted, her gaze hesitant as it landed on me. As it saw my tight expression. "Parks…"
"So Mason Lockwood is back in town, huh?"
Remaining silent, Elena stared into the paved ground. "I wanted to tell you, but I thought…"
"That I couldn't handle it?" I filled in, scoffing as I threw my arms out. "Really? Or what other explanation do you have prepared? Am I too unstable to be told of my ex's return? Huh?"
"I didn't want you to leave again," Elena said and raised her warm, brown gaze to meet mine. The overwhelming sadness in her orbs made me stumble back a bit. Swiftly, I snapped my mouth shut to prevent any other accusations from flooding out. Instead, I silently waited for her to go on. "You bailed, disappeared completely without as much as a call, a text, or even an explanatory note! I got scared and I didn't want to give you any reasons to not come back. I need you, Parks. I thought Mason returning…" Elena bit into her lip and ran a hand through her hair with a shaky sigh. "I'm sorry. Okay?"
I only stared at my sister. Her compassion and caring always bothered me, but here, right now, some selfish tendencies were showing. And I actually liked it.
"You know what?" I said, feeling a small smile tug. "It's fine." When I pulled her into a tight hug, I quickly felt her body relax in my arms.
"You sure? I mean–" Elena began.
"Sch!" I interrupted my sister, patting her back lovingly in the process. "Don't ruin the moment."
"You can't stay mad at me forever."
"Watch me," I said as I shoved yet another book back into the old bookshelf, the rack shaking slightly due to my rough motion.
"Come on!" Damon coaxed with his signature wry smirk. I only turned my head to glare at him.
"You killed my brother."
"He came back to life!" Damon defended, with a flare of his arms.
"Doesn't make it justified," I replied tightly.
When I tried to storm off, setting my path towards my sister discussing something with Vanessa by Isobel's desk, Alaric listening as well, Damon's arm shot out to stop me. Shoving it aside, I threw daggers at him with my eyes. Making a firm exhale through my nose, I laced my words with as much of my fury as I dared, without it consuming me.
"Look. I don't think it's a secret that I don't care that much about people. Or human life in general. But, what I am never, under any circumstances, okay with, is someone hurting those I love. So to spell it out for you: you blew it, pal." This time, slamming away Damon's hand trying to grab onto my arm again was easy, abling me to make my escape.
"Well, the word means a lot of different things to different cultures. But typically a doppelgänger is a living, breathing double of oneself," Vanessa, at a seated desk covered in documents informed. Elena, who stood on the other side of the desk, looking through drawings and photographs, frowned deeply.
"Did Isobel have anything that explained the link between me and Katherine?" Elena inquired, her brows furrowed in thought.
"That's all she had on Katherine, unfortunately," Vanessa deplored, nodding towards a box before my sister. Elena suddenly turned her head in my direction, and it took me a moment to realize that it wasn't me her piercing gaze was watching, as I followed it to see Damon slam a book in his hands shut rapidly. Okayyyy… Weird.
"But!" Vanessa leaned forward to rest her elbows against the desk's smooth surface. "I can tell you that doppelgängers usually torment the people they look like, trying to undo their lives. It's not exactly uplifting…" Peering over my sister's shoulder, I spotted a picture of Katherine in her hand.
"And more things we already know," Elena sighed as she handed me the picture.
"It's uncanny," I commented as I turned it to check for any more information on the back, only to be faced with the date 1864.
"Just… I want to know why we look alike." Elena accepted the picture with a troubled face as I handed it back to her.
"Head scratcher, isn't it?" Damon spoke up. Elena immediately tensed up, but I placed my hand over hers to stop her from responding with anything stupid.
"You wanna contribute with some info?" I asked as I turned around to face the approaching vampire, leaning the small of my back against the desk with my arms folded. "Or are you sticking with the 'I do no wrong actions' thing?"
"Well, if I know anything, I'm not gonna tell you. Not with that attitude." Damon stopped before my narrowed gaze, a tad too close for my liking at the moment. My suppressed anger was waiting just beneath the surface, threatening to come gushing up at any moment. And I wasn't entirely sure I wanted to stop it.
"Right." I nodded. "So you're not gonna help and try to make up for any past mistakes, not even when I ask you to? Good plan," I huffed.
Damon studied my face as I retained it closed off from any emotions to be displayed. A slight wrinkle had formed between his brows, and it only deepened as I bumped into his shoulder on my way past him, mumbling, "Unbelievable," with a shake of my head. A calming walk had worked for me last time, might as well try it again.
"We better be leaving soon," I called over my shoulder, just before I slammed the door to the office shut behind me.
Only to be waiting by another completely different door for half an hour; a car door. That being added on top of the time it took for me to hike around the campus.
Finally, after ages of waiting, I saw my sister approach, Damon not far behind her with Alaric and Vanessa slowly trailing after. Elena's face cracked and showed off a tiny smile when we made eye contact, but she was soon cornered by Damon. From my place leaning against the car, I couldn't hear a word from their conversation, but I did see Damon hand over a thick, old-looking book to my sister. She accepted it, seeming a little surprised by the gesture, her brows furrowed as she turned the brown binder in her hand.
When she reached the vehicle, I raised a questioning eyebrow. A shake of her head gave me the same answer I had received all night long; later. With a double beep, the car unlocked for Elena to instantly enter the backseat. Sighing, I huffed out that she better tell me later this time, under my breath.
But just as I was about to follow, a hand placed itself on the car's mirroring window, preventing me from budging it an inch.
"What?" I bit off and swiveled on my heel to face Damon, with my absolute coldest glare prepared.
"What will it take for you stop this?" Damon sighed, gesturing with his hand up and down my body, most probably referring to my pissed demeanor.
"Hmm, oh I don't know…" I pretended to think long and hard about his question, tapping my finger against my chin. "Here's an idea: don't kill those I love! It's not a good start to a relationship." As I tried to rip the door open again, Damon's hand again firmly pressed it close. He kept watching my face intently, the previous wrinkle still between his brows. But soon my gaze drifted to notice Damon's eyes lingering over my lips, and I tried to ignore the shivering memories that brought back. Stand your ground, woman.
"I get it. You have every right to hate me. But if you want to know the truth, I snapped Jeremy's neck because I couldn't find you. And Elena wouldn't tell me where you were," Damon explained, slowly, still observing my face closely. Huh? "You want me to apologize? Fine, I did a bad thing. I'm sorry." Feeling my eyes widen, I made sure to snap my chin shut firmly.
Did I… Did I just get an apology? From Damon?! Was I dreaming?
"Is that all?" I checked, sensing something else hiding under his words as well. Why would he have been so upset about not finding me? This was Damon, yes, but he hadn't freaked out and killed anyone when I snuck out after we had sex.
"No…" Damon's jaws clenched as his hand placed on the car curled into a ball. "Katherine came back, which I'm sure you heard."
"One of the things my sister did tell me, yes," I confirmed with a nod.
"She stopped by before leaving town and it…brought back some unwanted emotions," Damon reluctantly said.
"Are we talking unwanted emotions as in the last post-Katherine heartbreak?" I checked with a tilt of my head, trying to meet Damon's gaze directed into the paved ground.
"Yeah, something like that…"
With a sigh, I chewed on my lip as my eyes roamed the surrounding area. "Look… I get it. I've had my fair share of heartbreaks in the past as well. I know what they can do to your judgement. But!" The expression I had met on Damon's face was to smug for my liking; and I hadn't forgiven him just yet. "I'm still not okay with you killing my brother." Damon parted his lips, but I cut off his attempt to butt in with something. "That was crossing a line," I said firmly. Sadly, the parted emotions within me made it impossible to not leave Damon with a last string of hope. "So I'm gonna need some time. And a little proof that you're not a complete psycho. My family needs to remains safe, that's really all I care about." With that, I moved my hand to lay over the one Damon had placed on the car's window. As he attempted to entwine our fingers, I removed his hold of the door. "Just give me that," I said and slipped my hand out of his grip. Before he could utter any other words, I got into the car and shut the door firmly after me.
Barely even getting the time to take a breath, my head slumped back against the seat, I felt eyes study me.
"You okay?" a concerned Elena inquired from my left.
"We'll see…" I mumbled. Then remembered. "Hey!" My hand found my sister's to grab it. "What was that book Damon gave you?"
"He said to thank you for that action." Elena handed me the brown, heavy binder from earlier. With featherlight touch, I stroked my fingers over the uneven surface. My furrowed brows urged her to go on. "Apparently Katherine was originally named Katerina Petrova," Elena explained as I turned the book to see just that last name engraved into the back with bold, golden letters. "I guess she changed it. Damon saw the name on an old family heirloom of hers once."
"Hm." I returned the book to my sister, who with one look at my closed face decided to flip through the old binder's yellow, crumbling pages, leaving me be. Thankful for the moment to myself, I placed my elbow against the car door and rested my chin in my palm.
Damon was still standing just outside, staring right back at me; he could probably sense my gaze coming through the car's dark window with his heightened vamp-senses.
When, suddenly, the crazy impulse of wanting to forget about everything and just jump out of the car and grab onto those tuft of hair of his took me over, I dug my nails into my jean clad thigh without mercy. He killed my baby bro, I reminded myself. Even if it hadn't been permanently, he'd still done it. Just because I hadn't been there.
I had to draw the line somewhere.