Jacqueline's fingers drummed a steady beat on the dashboard, her face not showing any emotion as Alaric drove into the Salvatore property. Deep inside she was so thrilled that she knew it would show if she took off that emotionless mask.
She didn't know that a visit to Mystic Falls would be so full of thrill on the very first day. Mystic Falls was, she thought, the place to be.
It seemed weird to her that there was no sense of fear in her right now. She was about to meet some vampires and what she felt knowing what vampires were capable of, wasn't what a normal person would feel.
"We're here," Alaric said as he cut the engine off.
All Jacqueline could do was let out a deep breath before exiting the car.
Alaric led her to the front door of the Boarding House.

The door opened before they even had the chance to ring the bell or knock. A man stood at the door, Jacqueline examined him. He seemed to be around the same age as her, physically, that is. His hair was dark, his skin slightly pale and his blue eyes held urgency in them.
"Thanks for coming, Ric," the man said as he held the door for them to enter. His eyes slowly travelled to Jacqueline's face, "I see you brought your plus one."

"She can help," Ric said simply as he entered the house. Jacqueline followed.

"I know, I know...just that when someone says 'niece', no one thinks hot girl..." the dark-haired man said with a slight smirk.
Was he attempting to flirt? Jacqueline just rolled her eyes.
She guessed that he was Damon; he acted like the same way Ric had said.
"I'm Damon Salvatore...you're obviously the niece."
Damon held out his hand, wearing his signature smirk.

"The niece, you see, has a name and it's Jacqueline Flemming."
Jacqueline took his hand and shook it without hesitation. Damon's smirk didn't falter; it was amusing though, the way she didn't hesitate although she knew he was a vampire.
Alaric sighed.

"Can I get you something to drink? Coffee? Bourbon? Bourbon into coffee?"
Damon turned and led them to the living room motioned for them to sit. Another man and Elena were sitting on the couch; Jacqueline supposed the guy was Stefan, the younger brother.

"Elena, you already met Jacqueline," Alaric said as he sat down, "Stefan, this is Jacqueline...my niece."

"I don't you not to say that, it'll make you feel old," Jacqueline said with a small smile, "Nice to meet you Stefan."
She held out her hand, Stefan took it.

"It's a pleasure," he said with a smile.

Jacqueline sensed that no one really wanted to do introductions so she quickly sat down beside Alaric.

"Elena mentioned you needed my...our help?" Alaric said, making himself comfortable on the couch.

Stefan leaned in, "Yeah, we were hoping you could help shed some light on the Lockwood family."

Jacqueline furrowed her eyebrows in confusion.
"I just know that they were one of the founding families...how would we know anymore?" she asked.

"Why you wouldn't," Damon said, taking a seat, "but Alaric's dead-not dead vampire wife might."
Jacqueline arched an eyebrow in confusion.

"Isobel's research from when she was at Duke," Elena clarified.

"Yeah, her research on this town was mostly rooted in folklore," Jacqueline nodded.

"At the time I thought most of which was fiction," Alaric added.

"Like the amazing vampire story," Damon said with a smirk.
Jacqueline concluded that he was the sarcastic type, one who had something to add to everything someone said.

Elena sent a glare towards Damon, "Aside from vampires, what else?"

Jacqueline took a deep breath. Digesting the fact that vampires existed had been difficult enough, another one of the legendary beasts existing would be too much to handle.
She shot a look at Alaric, her eyes holding disbelief.
"Lycanthrope."
The brothers exchanged looks. Elena looked confused.

"Wait, like werewolves?"

The older Salvatore sat up, while everyone shuffled in their seats.
"No way," he said, trying to dismiss the theory, "Impossible, way to launchy."

"Well, the vampire story turned out to be true," Jacqueline said with a shrug, her eyebrows rose, challenging him.

"You see, I've been on this planet one hundred and sixty some years, never came across one. If werewolves exist, where the hell are they?"

"Why exactly are you interested in the Lockwoods?" Alaric questioned.
The two brothers proceeded to explain the situation.
A device that was able to detect vampires had affected the Mayor but vervain hadn't and then his brother had exhibited some inhuman behaviour at the carnival the previous day.

"We're hoping Isobel's research could help us figure out what it is," said Elena.

"Well, she's still missing...technically," Jacqueline said.

"Her office is still there at Duke," Alaric added.

"So we can get access to it?" Damon asked.
Alaric nodded in response.
Damon seemed rather agitated by the thought of having some more supernatural creatures around.
"Rick, we don't know what we are dealing with. If this wolf-man thing is true, I've seen enough movies to know it's not good. It means Mason Lockwood is a real life Lon Chaney and that Tyler punk may just very well be Lon Chaney Junior which means Bella Lugosi, meaning me, is totally screwed."
Jacqueline couldn't help but smirk a little at the vampire's words.

"So, what exactly brings you to our humble town of Mystic Falls?"
Jacqueline looked at Damon.
They were currently leaning against the side of the car, waiting outside the Gilbert house for Elena and Ric. Jacqueline had refused to go in, not wanting to make it awkward for Alaric as he was going to be meeting his ex. Family and ex-girlfriend wasn't the best combination in her opinion.

"Work?" she shrugged, "I want to start writing a new book but staying in the same place provides little inspiration."

"Tell me about it, I can't even stay in one place for five years."

"And doing that for over a hundred years must get boring," Jacqueline sent a small smile towards the vampire.

"There are quite a few means of entertainment," Damon raised his eyebrows.
Doing that, Jacqueline noticed, seemed to be a habit of his.

"I bet."
She shook her head and looked on as Alaric exited the house, Stefan and Elena followed shortly after.

"Get in," Alaric said as he approached them.
Jacqueline obeyed and got into the car. She watched from inside as some kind of conflict ensued among three that were outside. She honestly didn't want to know but she had a feeling that things between Elena and Damon weren't good and the drive wouldn't be too pleasant.

And she had been right. Damon kept trying to get Elena to forgive him without apologizing.
Elena did have a reason to hate Damon though. Jacqueline learned that he had killed Elena's brother but he had been saved due to the ring he had been wearing, a ring similar to the one Alaric had.
That had got her thinking. Damon was one person she didn't want to get too close to, Ric had been right to warn her.
They uttered the words 'killed' and 'died' like they were nothing, just a part of everyday life.
And maybe it was for them.
She wondered if she stayed there things like that would become a part of her life as well. A part of her was scared at the thought.
But she wanted to stay; Mystic Falls had a kind of magic that made you want to stay there. She hadn't felt alive in a year or two and somehow now she felt alive...like she was someone new.

"We're here."
Alaric's voice caused Jacqueline to come out of her reverie.
She hopped out of the car and slammed the door shut. She took a deep breath and looked around. It had been almost a year and she realised how much she had missed being on the campus. She remembered setting her feet on the campus for the first time...she had been so lost back then.
But now she felt like she knew what she was doing.
"Come on, let's go," Alaric said as he started walking.
She smiled to herself.

When they arrived at Isobel's office building, Jacqueline couldn't help but feel a bit uneasy as they entered.
The last time she had been there was when Isobel had still occupied the office...when her aunt was human and not undead. She didn't pay attention as Alaric said something to Damon and Elena; he wasn't speaking to her after all.
Jacqueline looked up only when they walked into a smaller office. A woman was going through some things; she looked up when Alaric began introducing them.
"Excuse me, hi. I'm Alaric Saltzman, I called earlier."
The woman smiled at them and introduced herself as Vanessa. Her eyes shifted to Elena and Damon.
"These are my friends Elena and Damon and this is mine and Isobel's niece, Jacqueline. I hope this isn't too much of an imposition."

"Yeah, I remember seeing you here," Vanessa addressed Jacqueline.
"And please, it's not an imposition. Isobel's office is right through here."
She shuffled through some drawers and grabbed a bunch of keys.
"She was one of the reasons I went into folklore...I have to ask, has there been any news?"
All four of them grew tense at the question and Alaric seemed to be contemplating his answer.

"No, I'm afraid not," he finally replied.

Vanessa unlocked the door to Isobel's office and held the door open for the four of them to enter.
"I'll grab the light, feel free to look around. It's fascinating isn't it?"
All four looked around the room. The shelves were stacked with hundreds, maybe thousands of books and transcripts that Isobel had put together.
She had been a very dedicated researcher...but who had known that her dedication would cause her to lose her humanity.
Jacqueline remembered coming here to meet Isobel and how she'd always be immersed in her research. Jacqueline had read a lot of her research and had at some point started wondering if it was all true. Everything had seemed so plausible, so real to her when she had just read it, no one could have just come up with it, and now she knew it was all true.
She couldn't help but run her along the shelves. It was like they held her essence, Isobel's. Like in them she was still her aunt; loving, caring and human.

"Where did she go?" Damon, who was looking through some things, asked.
As if on cue, Vanessa entered the room with a cross-bow in her hands. Jacqueline's heart sped up and her stomach, Vanessa was aiming for Elena. Being closest to her, she rushed and pushed Vanessa against the wall but not before she had taken a shot.
Jacqueline could only watch as the arrow headed straight for Elena but within seconds, Damon, just a blur to human eyes appeared in front of Elena. He'd taken the hit.
Alaric rushed forward as Jacqueline let go of Vanessa and dragged her out of the office. Jacqueline followed.

Vanessa struggled to free herself but Alaric was obviously stronger. He sat her down and confronted her.
"Please! I freaked out okay? Alright, you would have done the same thing, it's not possible! Katherine Pierce can't be alive and Damon Salvatore died in 1864. Okay, I read Isobel's research."

"Then you know how it's possible," Jacqueline said, leaning against the desk.
Elena and Damon arrived just as they were talking and Elena explained things to Vanessa.
It didn't take much to convince her to provide them help so they immediately put themselves to work.

Hours of going through all the books resulted in nothing, there was no history of werewolves in Mystic Falls. Their hope had started to dwindle when Vanessa found a book that said of an Aztec legend.
"It translates to 'The Curse of the Sun and the Moon."

"It's Native American," Alaric commented.

"Aztecs. It explains one origin of the werewolf curse traced through Virginia. The short story: 600 years ago, the Aztecs were played by werewolves and vampires. They terrorized the countryside, made farming and hunting impossible until an Aztec shaman cursed them, making vampires slaves to the sun and werewolves servants of the moon. As a result, vampires could only prowl at night and werewolves could only turn on a full moon. When the full moon is crossing the sky, whoever's unlucky enough to fall into the werewolves curse turns into a wolf."

Jacqueline just listened silently while Elena and Damon asked questions. It seemed surreal to her that all the things that they were talking about actually made sense to her. Only in her life could something like that happen.
Vampires had hunted down almost werewolves down to extinction because their bite was fatal to vampires.
She realised that there was so much more to the world than she had known...whether she wanted to know more or not, she hadn't yet decided.
"Can I talk to you alone, Jacqueline?"
That question made her face Alaric with a confused look. He just motioned for her to follow him out of the office.
He turned to face her when they were a good distance away from the door.
"I know what you're thinking."

"What?" Jacqueline chuckled, "You're Edward Cullen now?"

"Don't try to laugh it off, Jacqueline," Alaric said, "this is not a game, it's serious and it just plagues your life if you let it."

Jacqueline shook her head, "I can decide for myself, Uncle Ric. Besides, I want to help you."

"Help me with what?"

"Anything you want, you know I can."

"You said- you- I thought you had stopped."
Alaric suddenly grew uncomfortable.

"I can't just ignore it," Jacqueline shrugged, "Aunt Isobel gave me some books and papers that she thought could explain it all, you know...before she left...I haven't brought myself to read it but now I think I will."

Alaric sighed, "I just think you would be safe if you weren't in Mystic Falls."

"Oh come on, Uncle Ric, I've never liked it safe. And besides my Charlotte apartment is on sale."
Jacqueline quickly headed towards where the others were.
Alaric was shocked to say the least; it wasn't right that she was there but he knew she was stubborn and now she wouldn't listen. She had been the one he thought would be out of all of this because she was far away and had a job and...She had a chance at life, a normal life. She was throwing that away and he couldn't do anything about it.

"Let's get going," Damon said as he exited Isobel's office.
Alaric didn't say a thing; he let Damon and Elena head out first.

Jacqueline had already made it to the door, Alaric called after her, and "You stay, Jacqueline."
Jacqueline stopped in her tracks and turning to give him her sweetest smile. Alaric motioned for her to wait for him. He turned towards Vanessa and smiled at her.
"I'd like to thank you for your time and...patience, really you could have chosen to not help. I trust you're not gonna say anything about this to anyone."

"Who'd believe me if I did?" Vanessa let out a small laugh, "But all this had got me thinking...did Isobel's disappearance have anything to do with her research?"

Alaric sighed, "She became her research. Isobel wanted to become a vampire and she got her wish."

"I guess that could put strain on a marriage. I just wanted to say that I'll always be here if you need any help."

"No. I mean, you wouldn't want to get caught up in this, it won't let you live."
Alaric turned to look at Jacqueline as he finished his sentence.
She just looked back at him with a resolution in her eyes.
She didn't know why she wanted to stay in Mystic Falls but she did and she would. There was something inside of her that told her to stay...that she needed to stay there because Alaric would need her there.

Author's note:

Another chapter!
What can I say...winter vacation ends in one week and then school will be on, I just want to post as much as I can.

A big thank you to everyone who bothered to read or follow or favourite :)

Also a special thank you to ArgentOir for being kind enough to review. As I said, 'You'll forever be seared onto my hearts."This chapter goes out to you.

I hope anyone who reads this story enjoys it and forgives me for any mistakes.