This went a LOT quicker than I thought it would. As usual, zero confidence, thought I must say, this first section still gives me a chill.

Anyways, without further adieu, here's chapter 3. I hope you enjoy it :)

Just as Stefan and Elena were frozen at the sight of Katherine, as he crept alongside them, Damon too was virtually motionless at the sight of her. She lay back on an armchair beside the fireplace, her legs crossed and a wine glass, half-full of blood rested in her left hand. She wore the same outfit from the previous night, as well as a smile that told of her absolute confidence while she spoke, "What? No applause?"

Elena's tears slowly began to run down her cheeks and finally, a few words broke free from her lips, just barely audible, "I look just like her."

"Wouldn't you love to know why?" Katherine replied from across the room, her twisted smile widening as she leaned forward.

"What are you doing here, Katherine?" Stefan interjected.

"You always were the curious one, weren't you Stefan?" Katherine replied. She turned her eyes to Damon and continued, "Damon never asked any questions. He never cared; he always just did what he was told."

"Things are different now," Damon replied.

"Are they?" Katherine replied as she stood from the chair. She nonchalantly strolled across the floor, so elegantly and effortlessly, almost as if to ask through her stride, "Are you kidding?" Then she spoke again, her eyes still locked on Damon, "Things didn't feel different when you kissed me last night."

Feeling more than a bit anxious in the moment, Damon replied, "Yeah…" he tilted his head towards Elena, "…I thought you were her."

Stefan turned to Damon looking more than a bit angry as Katherine again spoke to Damon, "So it is true." She chuckled slightly as she continued, "Damon Salvatore is in love with someone, besides Damon Salvatore."

Feeling left out in this verbal melee, Elena finally mustered up the confidence to speak, "Why did you kill my-"

Katherine instantly interrupted her, "Aside from what you may think, you mean less than nothing in this. You don't speak to me unless you're spoken to, understand?"

Never feeling fear for her life so much as she did in that moment, both Stefan and Damon took a step forward, shielding her somewhat from Katherine. While Stefan appreciated the gesture, he couldn't help but feel a strong desire to punch his brother in the face.

Again Katherine smiled, this time with a false warmth, "Awe, isn't that sweet. The two knights come to her rescue."

"You're right; Elena isn't a part of this, so why don't you just tell us what you're here for?" Stefan replied curtly.

"Very well," Katherine replied as she raised the glass of blood and poured it down her throat. She threw the glass into the fireplace and finished her thought, "I came back to tie up loose ends, the first of which being little Elena's waste of a father."

No matter how she despised Jonathan and everything he believed, he was her father. Elena's tears instantly ran harder still as Stefan again tried to get to the bottom of this little visit, "So you killed Jonathan; now what?"

"Oh you know, I thought I'd do some reminiscing. I do have a lot of memories here, Stefan. But you both know that, now don't you?" Katherine replied.

A few weeks earlier, this might have played out in a very different way for Damon. However, his patience for Katherine was worn to nothing and he struck as he knew he had to, in order to get anything out of her, "Oh come on."

Instantly, Katherine's happy-go-lucky attitude faded completely and a most serious look came across her face. She wasn't one for being mocked.

Damon took a step forward and pushed his luck further, "You have reminiscing to do? Please."

"Damon-" Stefan quietly began only to be interrupted by his brother.

"Let me bring you up to speed; Mystic Falls is over you. Either tell us what you came for or-"

"Or what?" Katherine denounced. Before anyone could have made the slightest of movements, a mirage of color flashed about the room and once again, Katherine stood by the fireplace, now holding Elena at arms length by her throat.

"Elena!" Damon and Stefan shouted in unison.

Just as they attempted to approach her, Katherine warned, "Ah ah ah…"

Damn and Stefan immediately stopped in their tracks and Stefan shot his brother a slight glare. He knew whatever they had to deal with regarding Katherine, would be nothing by comparison to what he, his brother and Elena would go through when it was through.

"Let's be clear about something right here and now, K boys? I don't care about either one of you. I never did and believe me when I tell you, I don't care about this little bitch, her family or her friends," Katherine replied.

"What about Isobel?" Damon asked. "You kill her daughter; she might not take that so well."

Katherine laughed as she replied, "You think I'm afraid of Isobel?"

"Fair enough," Damon quietly replied.

"Please just don't…" Stefan began, catching himself before sounding like a beggar, "…please don't hurt her."

Katherine turned to Elena and again spoke in a calm and carefree tone, "You hear that? He doesn't want me to hurt you." Elena's hand wrapped Katherine's wrist as the grip on her throat tightened. She pulled Elena in closer to her, and within a few inches of her ear, continued, "You know why? Because you, look like me." Struggling for air, Elena cried harder still while Katherine continued to crush her both mentally and physically, "That's the only reason either of them have the slightest interest in you. You're nothing more than a caricature, of the woman they wish I was…"

From across the room Damon and Stefan listened on, desperately wanting to stop Katherine from saying these things, but they both knew the slightest intervention could have cost Elena her life.

"…and if you want to live, you're going to make sure they do exactly as I ask, understand?"

Elena weakly nodded and Katherine threw her to the floor like a ragdoll. Immediately Stefan and Damon rushed over to help her while Katherine spoke, "Look at the two of you; caring and concerning yourselves with these humans. It makes my skin crawl to know I made you both." While Stefan had quickly collected a terrified Elena into his arms, Damon kept his focus on Katherine who had knelt just before them, "I'm going out for a drink. I'll be seeing the three of you soon."

In a flash, Katherine was out of the house and Damon turned to Elena, "Are you-"

"She'll be fine," Stefan interrupted, pulling Elena tightly to him. His anger at Damon was obvious, and Damon himself was fully aware that he had finally crossed the line.

As she trembled, a single question remained in Elena's mind. She collected herself as best she could and asked, "What she said; was it-"

"No," Damon and Stefan replied in unison. Again Stefan glared at his brother and Damon finally backed off, allowing Stefan the honor of comforting her.

"Yes, at first your likeness to Katherine drew me to you, but now that I'm with you…" Stefan treaded such a fine line. Any one wrong word in a time like this could have ruined everything they had. He simply offered her a smile and finished his thought the best way he knew how, "…I love you, Elena. I love you for all of the reasons you're not like her."

Elena smiled slightly through her tears, and Stefan leaned his face to hers. They shared a brief kiss, and when they pulled apart, Damon was gone.

Anna slipped into Jeremy's room, silent and unannounced as usual, only to find him laying on his bed passed out. As she looked on his sleeping form, she remembered how she'd found him just a few hours earlier. She respected his wishes; his reasoning to not turn. A part of her agreed that the oddity of their relationship might be a part of what made it so special. Still, she couldn't help but wonder if their lives might have been easier if he had turned. Especially with Katherine out and about, there was no way of knowing who she'd come after. She knew Katherine needed no reason to take a life, and at least if Jeremy were a vampire, she'd have to work a little harder to kill him.

She shook the thoughts from her head, and took her place at his side; the slow rise and fall of his chest reassuring her that he was still alive. She laid her head back on his pillow and took him in for a moment. Their relationship had grown so much these past few weeks. There was no question how much she loved him, she only wished she could keep him safe.

Jeremy's eyes fluttered open and as he looked about the room, he centered on Anna and immediately a wide smile graced her lips.

"Hey," he greeted.

"Hey," Anna replied. "How're you feeling?"

Jeremy closed his eyes and rolled his head back to the center of his pillow, "Tired."

"Do you want me to get you something?" Anna offered.

His head rolled back to the side and he lightly opened his eyes as he asked, "Would you mind?"

She leaned to him and placed a kiss on his lips, "Sit tight; I'll be right back."

Anna hopped off the bed and as she proceeded down the stairs, she felt lighter than air. She was alive, virtually unkillable, Jeremy was safe, and barring any interference from Katherine, she just might get the happy ending she wished for, after all. She casually opened the refrigerator and peered inside; Ham, Swiss, Tuna… She retrieved a few items when suddenly she heard a door in the house had opened. Before she could even react, Katherine was right beside her, her hand propping her up in the doorjamb.

"Annabelle," Katherine smiled. "I thought that was you last night. What are you doing here?"

What was she to do? She had no idea what Katherine did and didn't know about what was going on in Mystic Falls. She did know that if she linked herself to Jeremy in any way, he would instantly become a target. Katherine on the other hand would obviously know that Anna had to have been invited in by someone, so the question became, who to pin the bullseye to?

She blinked and stumbled slightly before finally replying, "Waiting for someone."

"Really?" Katherine asked. "Who?"

"Elena Gilbert," Anna replied. "I'm pulling this con at the local High School. She-"

Katherine burst out laughing, interrupting her. Anna looked away as she knew she'd been caught, and Katherine asked as she collected herself, "Do you really think I'm that stupid?" Anna sheepishly shook her head 'no', when she remembered the charm around her neck. She felt a surge of confidence, though she kept it to herself as Katherine continued, sure to gain Anna's absolute attention, "How is little Jeremy? Is his tummy feeling better?"

"What do you want?" Anna asked as quietly and sternly as she could, without ruining her charade.

"I'm looking for your mother," Katherine replied as she walked about the room. Anna's eyes quickly filled with a sheet of tears as Katherine finished her thought, "I know the vampires beneath Fell's church were released, and I know she was one of them, so how about it; has Pearl coming looking for you, Annabelle?"

Fighting to keep her tears back, Anna replied harshly, "Mother's dead…" Katherine stopped and locked on Anna as she continued, "…Jonathan Gilbert."

Katherine sighed before replying, "Well that ruins everything."

"I'm sorry my mother's death is inconvenient for you," Anna barked back.

Again Katherine chuckled slightly, "Don't take that tone with me. I'll snap your little boyfriend's neck like a twig and there wouldn't be a thing on this earth that you could do to stop me."

Anna quickly weighed her options. If she took a stab at Katherine, it would almost certainly end with her being staked again, and Jeremy being killed. She kept her charade going and calmly asked, "What did you need mother for?"

"Pearl had a trinket made not long before she was imprisoned," Katherine replied and Anna's eyes widened slightly; Katherine must have come for the necklace. Anna kept her poker face in play and Katherine continued to explain, "Emily wrote of it in her journal; she called it her greatest achievement.

"What was it?" Anna asked.

"She only refers to it as 'the item'," Katherine replied. "I know that she made it specifically for your mother, and I can only assume that whatever it was, she had it made for you."

"Made for me? But…" Anna's glassed-over eyes raced about as she replied in an attempt to move the attention off of her, "…that doesn't make sense."

"What doesn't make sense?" Katherine asked.

"Got her," Anna thought. "She was out of that tomb for weeks before she was killed."

"And?" Katherine asked.

Without batting an eyelash, Anna replied, "Whatever it is you're looking for, if she had it with her, wouldn't she have given it to me?" Katherine's eyes narrowed and Anna finished her thought, "It's been over 150 years. If she didn't have it with her in the tomb, wherever it was when she was put there, it's long gone now."

Anna could see it in Katherine's eyes, clear as day; she was furious. She pushed the random pilings of paperwork from the counter as she barked, "Dammit." Obviously not getting what she came for from Anna, she quietly muttered, "The witch."

Without another word, Katherine turned and left the Gilbert's home. She only wished she could be there when Katherine and Bonnie butt heads. Certainly that would be a sight worth seeing. Regardless, Anna breathed a slight sigh of relief as she walked away. Katherine was gone for the moment; away from Jeremy and that was all Anna needed. As she collected herself, Jeremy came down the stairs using the railing for support and Anna quickly rushed to his aid, "You shouldn't be out of bed."

"I thought I heard you talking to someone," Jeremy replied weakly.

"Yeah," Anna replied. He would find out sooner or later who and what Katherine was, at least if he knew, he might be more aware and more cautious. "Jeremy…"

Just as she began, there he was again; Damon. Holding up the doorway as he interrupted her, "I always seem to catch you two in the cutest of moments, don't I?"

"These visits of yours are becoming a little too frequent, Damon," Anna replied as she helped Jeremy back up the stairs. "What do you want?"

"Katherine was here?" Damon asked as he looked around the house.

"She just left," Anna replied.

"Who's Katherine?" Jeremy asked.

"Any chance she said where she was going?" Damon asked disregarding Jeremy's question completely.

"The witch-" Anna began only for Damon to interrupt her.

"She's going for Bonnie?" Damon barked in mild panic.

Anna nodded and Damon quickly pulled his cellphone from his pocket.

Bonnie's cellphone vibrated atop the coffee table she and Anna sat at earlier. Knowing she wouldn't answer his call, Damon sent her a text message. She picked up her phone and read his message aloud, "Not Elena, DON'T LET HER IN!"

"What the hell?" Bonnie asked of the message. Just as she put the phone back down, there was a knock at the door. Now on the highest of alert, she stepped to the door and looked through the peephole. Sure enough, the girl on the opposite side of the door did appear to be Elena, though she knew warnings like the one she'd received were not to be taken lightly, not in this town.

She slipped the door open and Katherine greeted her with a slight smile. She'd been keeping track of all of the comings and goings throughout these past few days. She knew Elena and Bonnie's friendship was going through a rough period and using a most sympathetic tone, Katherine asked, "Can I come in?"

Bonnie's face remained deadpan as she replied with a slight shake of her head, "No."

"Please, Bonnie; I just…" Her acting was golden as she even managed to wrangle a few tears, "…I just want all of this to be behind us."

Bonnie could feel her presence, even over the moderate distance that separated them. She knew this wasn't Elena, and reading all she had these past few weeks, she had a name and a history to go with the creature that stood at her door. She said nothing as she developed a ringing in Katherine's ears. Gasps of pain passed Katherine's lips as her hands crashed onto her ears. At the sight of her suffering, Bonnie amplified the ringing further till Katherine fell to her knees and was now screaming in pain.

Bonnie knelt safely behind the threshold, and calmly spoke over Katherine's cries, "I don't know what you were thinking coming here, but if I were you, I would go back to wherever it is that you came from, and leave my friends alone."

Katherine struggled to speak through her cries, "You…can't hold me…here forever…"

Bonnie stood and looked down on Katherine as she spoke, "You're right." She reached to a table beside the door retrieving a stake and asked, "Should I just kill you?"

"You're…not…a murderer…" Katherine replied.

"No I'm not," Bonnie replied. Again she kneeled before Katherine, taunting her further by slipping the stake through the threshold, its tip just touching her chest, "Not yet." Without another word, without even laying a hand on her, Bonnie pushed Katherine into the middle of the street.

The ringing in her head gone, Katherine picked herself up and shouted, "You can't protect them all!"

"Watch me," Bonnie warned.

In a flash, Katherine was gone and Bonnie looked back to her phone. She picked it up and after flipping through her contacts, she placed the phone to her ear. The other party picked up and she quietly spoke, "She's gone…Right…I'm on my way." Before hanging up, she caught the person on the other end, "Hey, Damon…" she couldn't believe what she was about to say. She very well might have seen it wasn't Elena on her own, though she still felt inclined to offer him a kindness, "…thanks."

Elena sat beside Stefan on a couch in the living area of his home. She was nestled tightly in his arms, the red mark left by Katherine's hand on her throat still clearly visible. Her tears over what Katherine had said ceased long ago thanks to Stefan. They had a way of comforting each other through just about anything, and while the subject was truly delicate, they'd been down this road before. Granted this was all too real with Katherine being back, nothing had changed between them. They were in love and nothing would change that.

"What are you thinking?" Stefan asked.

"We need to find out why she's here," Elena replied. "Depending on what she wants, if we can just get it over with so she'll leave." She looked to Stefan and asked, "What?"

He smiled as he offered, "You know…" he gently brushed her hair from her face as he continued, "…everyday you amaze me a little more. With what you went through not even an hour ago, and look at you; you're itching to throw yourself back into it."

"Maybe there's more of her in me than we all thought?" Elena replied.

"No," Stefan replied simply as he gave her a kiss. He pulled away from her and placed a hand on her face as he finished his thought, "I just think you're amazing."

Elena finally smiled when Stefan's phone rang. He sighed at the sight of the caller ID; Damon.

Taking notice of his reaction, Elena commented, "With Katherine in town you can't ignore him; it might actually be important."

"Somehow I highly doubt that," Stefan replied. He clicked 'talk' and spoke, "Yeah."

Stefan's eyes immediately told of the importance of Damon's phone call. After listening to all that his brother had to say, Stefan spoke, "We're on our way."

He ended the call and Elena asked, "What's going on?"

"Katherine went after Bonnie," Stefan replied as he stood from the couch.

"Oh my god, is she alright?"

"She's a witch, a powerful one at that; she's fine."

"So what's going on, where are we going?" Elena asked.

"Your house," Stefan replied.

At Elena's home, the roundtable was assembled. Stefan, Elena, Jeremy, Anna, Damon, and Bonnie sat around the living area in discussion of what to do about Katherine. Everyone was brought up to speed regarding the nature of Anna's necklace, and Jeremy was finally dealt the revelation that there was a doppelganger of Elena roaming around. For all he'd known, he may have even encountered her these past few days. Considering he still didn't have his strength, he was dealing with it rather well.

"I just don't get how it's possible," Jeremy commented. "How can she look exactly like you?"

"At Stefan's, she taunted us that she knew how," Elena replied. Even with the chaos that had fallen on them, Elena was very happy to have her brother speaking to her once again. "As much as I don't want to run into her again, I am curious."

"That would make six of us," Damon replied.

"So what now?" Anna asked. "We know she's looking for the necklace and I think it's pretty obvious that we're not going to give it to her."

"Agreed," Stefan replied.

Damon's eyes wandered for a moment before he spoke, "Wait a minute." He turned to Bonnie and continued, "You said the necklace was bound to Anna, right? Its spell only works for her?"

"That's right," Bonnie replied.

"Why don't we give it to her?" Damon replied to the group. "If she thinks she's invulnerable, Bonnie can hold her, one of us can stake her; wham bam, thank you ma'am."

"Honestly, I don't know if it's that easy," Bonnie replied.

"What do you mean?" Damon asked.

"Emily made quite a few of these sorts of things, each of them with different spells. Whatever Katherine's looking for, it might not necessarily be Anna's necklace," Bonnie replied.

"But she said my mother had asked Emily to make it," Anna replied. "What else could it be?"

"What else indeed," Bonnie replied most cryptically.

While everyone let the mystery settle in, Damon broke the silence as he turned to Bonnie and asked, "What I asked you about earlier, can you-"

"Oh, yeah," Bonnie replied as she stood from the arm of the couch. Damon, Stefan and Elena followed her to the door, while Anna remained with Jeremy on the couch. At the threshold to the door, Bonnie's eyes closed and she quietly began muttering out a spell.

"What's she doing?" Elena asked.

Damon turned to Elena and replied, "Changing the locks."

"Elena?" Bonnie called without turning to her.

Elena stepped beside Bonnie, and the witch extended her hand to her friend. Elena took her hand and Bonnie looked over to her. Elena could tell just by the expression on her face, Bonnie was ready to let their friendship heal. She hated not having Elena to talk to and though it would never change what he and Stefan were responsible for, Damon went out of his way to keep her safe. It wouldn't bring her grandmother back, but it was a start.

Bonnie again closed her eyes and finished the incantation. A ripple of air passed through the house and as Bonnie looked to Elena, she asked, "Is that it?"

"Magic; big overture, little show," Bonnie replied with a smile.

While Elena and Bonnie shared a hug, Stefan asked, "Do we need to be invited in again?"

As they pulled away from each other, Bonnie replied, "You were in the house at the time the spell was cast; unless another spell is cast to specifically keep any of you out, you're always welcome."

"Thank you," Stefan and Anna replied in unison. At hearing her quiet reply the group turned to Anna to find Jeremy had fallen asleep with his head in her lap. Elena smiled slightly, happier than she'd been in days at the sight of Anna taking care of her brother.

And that's it for this entry. If you made it this far, I hope you enjoyed it :)

I think I had my big idea while working on this chapter. I'm not sure how it's going to pan out, but I think it'll give me the ending I want. I've got some thought collecting to do in regards to where to start the next chapter, and again, I'm still not quite sure how long this will end up being.

Thanks a bunch to my reviewers :) I hope this chapter wasn't a let down...

-jm

P.S. An internet cookie to everyone who caught the Buffy reference ;D

6/18/10 - To anyone re-reading this, you may notice I've made changes in chapters 2 & 3. I just realized a MASSIVE error I made in continuity and fixed it as best I could. I can't believe how stupid that mistake was :(