Chapter 4

I hear Erik shot the man as I turned to him furious.

"Was that really necessary?"

"Do you want to be a prisoner again?" He asks me coming close to me as I stay back pressing against a table.

"We need to destroy the cure and you're stupid ass rage isn't helping, how we are going to find if there is any left?"

"There isn't."

"You don't know it for sure Erik." I tell him but he doesn't let me do anything as I feel metal around my feet and I look at him as I see his suggestive look and his hands on my bodysuit.

"You know I missed this." He says on my ear with his seductive voice and I found myself giving into him.

I return to Mystic Falls days after. The story I told was that after the party I had to leave town for a friend's wedding and I ended up staying a few more days. The true was far from that. As far from what happen with Erik, things went back to the same. I still wasn't in the brotherhood but I wasn't against either. My phone rings and cheek the ID accepting the call.

"Hi Lena."

"Lena?"

"Yes. I like it. What did you wanted?"

"Are you busy?"

"Surprising not why?"

"I have something to tell you, can you spend the night here?"

Elena then spends the night telling me about her dinner with Stefan and the conversation with the old man and I tell her that a doctor told me that the bodies found death didn't had any blood but in the end we were both confused about everything.

"Remember why I am here. I am not even in high school?"

"We need someone good at Math." She tells me and I roll my eyes as I sit at with Elena. "That'll be $20. I saw you last night. You were talking to a friend of mine, At the grill?" She says and I look up to see an old man. This must be the man who recognized Stefan.

"Well, I-I thought it was somebody I knew."

"Stefan Salvatore."

"Nah, it can't be. It's just my mind"

"Playing tricks on me." I say with a smile. I knew well how that could be. "Where do you think you'd seen him before?" I ask him as I was also curious about what was going on.

"When I first moved here, I stayed at the Salvatore boarding house."

"Oh." Elena says but that was when?

"Stefan was just passing through to visit his uncle. I mean, none of us knew he was even here until the attack."

"The attack?" I ask him this time.

"His uncle got killed. Mauled by an animal in the woods." Animal attack, again.

"His uncle, Zach?"

"Mm-mmm. Joseph."

"I'm sorry, sir. I don't think I'm familiar with the story."

"Oh, how could you? I mean, this happened years ago." At that moment a girl comes in

"Grandpa, you gotta go. Mom wants you home. Ok?" She says and the man walks leaving and I am about to get up to stop him. "He wasn't bugging you, was he? He's a little alzy-heimer."

"No, he was sweet." She says and looks at me and we both walk to the man stopping him as I asked urgently.

"Hey, sir, I'm sorry. Um, are you sure that the man that you saw, that you knew, his name was Stefan Salvatore?

"Yes. I remember his ring and his brother"

"Damon?" I ask

"Yeah. Stefan and Damon Salvatore."

"When was this?" I ask him-

"It was early June, 1953. Yeah. June, 1953." He says and Elena and I look at each other shocked not sure of what to say. Could they be?

"This can be right. I mean how can it be?" Elena asks me as we both walk confused.

"I don't know Lena. Look we should go to the station. They probably have records of old papers there."

"We need to find Logan."

"Hi. Elena, right? I think I met you once when you were 9."

"Oh."

"Your emotional maturity level when we were together." Jenna says and I wink at her. That is how you do it Jenna.

"Ouch. Here I thought we were making progress. And you must be Sofia McCullough." He says and I look at him confused. "Jenna spoke about you." He tells me and I raise my eyebrow at Jenna who just raised her shoulders.

"Is he enough in your good graces that I can ask him for a favor?" Elena asks her aunt.

"If I do her a favor, will I get back in your good graces?" he says almost immediately.

"Uh, a very reluctant maybe to both."

"Done. Wait. One condition. Dinner, tonight, your house."

"Fine. But you're eating leftovers."

"Ooh. What do you need?" He tells Elena and as they talked I turn to Jenna almost whispering so that they can't hear.

"He's hot Jenna."

"I know. But it doesn't change what he did."

"I know but sex is a great thing." I tell her with a smirk and she looks at me with the look that I knew very well: did you do it. "Come on Jenna. I am not 16. Even if 16 years old also do it."

"I leave with two teens. I know."

"Are you coming?" I hear Elena asks and I nod not before winking at Jenna.

"We digitized all our archives last year. You can pull all the remote footage right up on screen. What is it exactly you're looking for?" Logan tells us

"An incident from 1953, If it even happened- At the old Salvatore boarding house." I tell him and he nods thank to both Elena and I he had to leave so we both sat in front of the computer.

"This is Michael Fell reporting to you from the Salvatore boarding house, where a brutal animal attack has ended in tragedy. Ok, they're bringing out the bodies. See if you can get closer. Is that the nephew?"

At the background, there was Stefan and Elena and I look at each other. No one knew what to say.

San Diego 1988

"Daddy can you tell me those stories you used too?" A 3 years old Sofia tells her dad as she lays in bed ready to sleep.

"Yes but you can't tell mommy."

"I won't. It's our secret. Not witches the other ones."

"The vampires?"

"Yes those."

The next day Elena calls me and tells me that she confronted Stefan last night and he confessed to be a vampire. I told her that I suspected that it was that. She also told me that it wasn't Stefan who killed all those people but Damon and that he would answer any question we might have about it and she agreed to meet him at the coffee place. I decide to go too. I needed answers.

"You said you would explain everything. That's why I asked you to meet us here. When you google "vampire," you get a world of fiction. What's the reality?"

"I can tell you whatever you wanna know. Both of you." he tells me kindly and I smile at him takes him by surprise.

"I believe you when you said it wasn't you. I got a negative vibe about your brother since I first meet him. I didn't exactly google it but I had my Anne Rice phase." I look over at Elena to start talking.

"I know you eat garlic."

"Yes. "

"And somehow, sunlight's not an issue." I tell him as the woman gives us our drinks.

"Here's your drinks."

"Thank you." Elena says as I taste the hot chocolate.

"We have rings that protect us." He says showing us his ring.

"Crucifixes?" Elena keeps asking.

"Decorative."

"Holy water?"

"Drinkable."

"Mirrors?"

"Myth."

"You said you don't kill to survive." I tell him trying to change our conversation to a more interesting subject. Not that Elena was asking bad questions, knowing your treat is always necessary, even if Stefan wasn't a treat you never know who can be.

"Animal blood keeps me alive, but not as strong as Damon. He can be very powerful." And speaking of treats.

"And yet you let him get involved with Caroline?"

"Forcing Damon not to do something is much more dangerous, believe me."

"He was hurting her." Elena says and I look at the two. I didn't know it. But I mean they were 'together'.

"He was feeding on her. He was able to take away her memories of being bitten using a form of mind compulsion. She never knew what was happening to her. If he wanted to kill her, he would have." Wait compulsion. I try to look at Stefan's mind but it was blocked. I couldn't read his mind. So my powers don't work on vampires. That is just great, I can read the minds of a little girl but a treating vampire no.

"Is that supposed to make it ok?"

"No. no, none of this is ok, Elena. I know that."

"Are there any others, aside from you and Damon?" I ask him and he turns to me and I think he could see I was trying not to have them fighting.

"Not in Mystic falls, not anymore."

"Not anymore?" I ask him. God, I look like a journalist.

"There was a time when this town was... Very much aware of vampires, and it didn't end well for anybody. That's why it's important that you don't tell anyone."

"I can't promise that."

"Elena... Give me today. I will answer any questions that you have, and when it's over, you can decide for yourself what you wanna do with what you know. It'll be your choice." He then turns to me.

"I will keep it quiet. I know the consequences of telling, or at least I can think of, but if I can, I would like to still accompany you."

"Of course." He tells me.

"Stop here." Stefan tells me and I stop the car in front of an old abandon place in the middle of nowhere.

"What are we doing here?" Elena asks as we get out of the car.

"I want to show you something."

"In the middle of nowhere?"

"This... Didn't used to be nowhere. Used to be my home." He tells us and I look around. I could imagine this being a huge house; I actually could picture the big estate with horses and lot of people working around.

"It looks so..."

"Old? It's because they are."

"Wait. How long have you..." Elena questions him.

"I've been 17 years old since 1864."

"Oh, my god." Elena says but I actually find it acceptable. Ok Stefan as older than Erik but come on he could be much older, he's a vampire after all. That reminds me I need to create stakes.

"You said you wanted to know. I'm not gonna hold anything back." He says and we nod of him to keep talking. "Half century before the boardinghouse was even built, this was my family's home. Damon and I... We were both born here. The Salvatore brothers, best of friends." He says and I start to see something in front of me.

Mystic Falls, Virginia, 1864. (Sofia thoughts)

I look around and I see the big house. Where am I? I listen to a familiar voice.

"Wait. Where did you learn this game?" It was Stefan and Damon. What the hell? This never happened to me.

"Camp outside Atlanta. One of the officers picked it up at Harvard. Catch." Damon told the truth at the game night. He did teach Stefan how to play. But how can I see this? And they can't see me?

"Wait a minute. Wait a minute. What are the rules? What are the rules?"

"Who needs rules? Mind if I join you?" Someone who looks exactly like Elena comes in. What the hell is going on?

"Uh, well, you could, uh- you could get hurt. My brother likes to play rough." Always a sweet guy.

"Somehow, I think that you play rougher." Ok, this was not Elena. Not in years.

"Why are you just standing there? That is a girl who clearly wants to be chased. If you don't do it, I will." Damon says running after the girl who runs with the ball.

I return to the real word and I blink and I could see Stefan looking at me strangely but I give him a look at say for him not to say anything.

"You knew Katherine in 1864? Damon made it seem like..." Elena keeps talking as she did not notice my look. Wait that was Katherine? But she looked like Elena? Ok my head is a mess right now.

"Damon was trying to make you think that... I was still heartbroken. He saw that I was happy with you, and he wanted to ruin it."

"All because you loved the same girl 145 years ago?"

"She wasn't just any girl."

Mystic Falls, Virginia, 1864.

I see Stefan running after Katherine as she laughs once she got to the statue.

"Ha! I win. What's my prize?"

"What would you like it to be?" Damon appears next to me but he couldn't' see me of course.

"They extended your leave?" You could see the smile in Stefan's face.

"I was simply having too much fun to return to battle."

"Your commitment to the confederacy is inspiring." Who wouldn't? I was totally against them back them. But Virginia wasn't. I look at the two brothers hugging; they sure were best friends by the genuine smiles.

"Well, this works out wonderfully for me."

"How's that, Miss Katherine?"

"Now I'll have both of you here to keep me entertained. First and foremost, I'll need someone to escort me to the founder's ball." She is playing with both of them… Bitch.

"With pleasure."

"I would be honored." Both of them say at the same time.

"The smart and kind Salvatore brothers both coming to my rescue. How will I ever choose?" OMG. SHE IS REALLY PLAYING WITH BOTH.

I get back to the present and to Elena and Stefan as we walk around the ruins of the old estate.

"She chose me. I escorted her to the ball at the original Lockwood mansion." I kind of feel bad for Damon for that one actually.

"The first founder's party... Where you signed the registry."

"I didn't care that I had gotten something that my brother wanted. I didn't even care if it hurt him. I only knew that I wanted her." It's called love Stefan.

"So he was upset."

"That's the thing about Damon. He doesn't get mad. He just gets even." He tells us and I didn't like the sound of that.

We walk a bit more with Elena in the front and I turn to him, speaking so that he could be the only one listening.

"I understand why you did what you did that night." I tell him and he looks at me shocked and surprised. "I had been in your position before. Not with Elena, but I once had to make a choice that hurt someone." I tell him and he gives me a little smile, not petty one but an understanding one.

"What Damon wants, Damon usually gets. I didn't know it at the time, but... Turns out that night... Katherine was with him, too."

"So he stole her from you, not the other way around?"

"Turns out she wasn't ours to steal." He tell us and I go back in time again as I saw the room change.

I was in a room where I heard … kissing and I turn to see a shocking image. Stefan in bed with Katherine, thanks god they had sheets covering them, the last think I need is seeing my sister's boyfriend in bed with a woman who looks like her.

"I will love you forever."

"Forever is a very long time, you know."

"Not long enough."

Suddenly Katherine elongates her fangs and bites him.

Them it all went black and seconds after the light came back and I saw Katherine and her handmaiden who is helping her get dressed when Stefan wakes up. It was the morning after.

"Good morning. Clear the room, please." She says and the other woman leaves as I see an upstate and confused Stefan.

"You're upset."

"Your face, it was like a demon."

"But you're not afraid."

"Get away from me. Get away.

"It doesn't change the way you feel about me. You will not tell anyone." She says and he listen like he is in some kind of spell. Compulsion. Mind Control. She could change people minds.

"I—"

"Shh. We will go on exactly as we have."

"Yes. We will go on." Totally a spell. "You have no idea of the future I have planned for us, Stefan- You, me, and Damon. No rules." Wait what?

The light goes off again and I am back in the present in the middle of the field in the old Salvatore's mansion.

"She could control my mind; and Damon's. She compelled each of us to keep the secret from the other. She wanted all of us to be together. Forever. Didn't work out that way, but... Damon and I, looks like we're stuck with each other... Like it or not." He says and I see him pulling out a ring from a ruin. It was Damon's ring. It has to.

"Is that Damon's ring?"

"I took it from him, but I have to give it back."

"No, don't, Stefan. Keep it hidden."

"Elena, if I don't give it to him, he'll retaliate in the only way that he knows he can hurt me."

"And how is that?"

"By hurting you." he tells her and I felt like the 3rd wheel again.

Elena left to her house but I stayed with Stefan to have a little chat.

"You are taking all this very well." He tells me and I sit in the porch.

"My dad… my adopted one used to tell me all this stories about magic creatures. I just thought they were stories."

"I never wanted to put your sister in danger."

"I know, especially since she looks so much like Katherine." I tell him and he looks at me super confused. "When you were telling us the story I had clips of images, strangest ones, thinking better, it was like a movie. I am still trying to figure it out. God I am rambling again. The point is that I saw her… Katherine, she could be Elena's twin."

"That is not the reason."

"I know." I say interrupting him. "I can see how much you care for her. I see the look, I am not blind. I loved before too." I say and I felt the pain again as I said those words but it was not the time for that. "Give her time, she will come to her senses and I won't tell her if she is going to find out by anyone it should be you."

"You're very kind." He tells me with a smile wish I also give him.

"I am not Stefan but thank you anyway."

I spend the rest of the day trying to figure it out. What I got until now was that I decide to call it travel between the present and the pass but only when people told me about them, not people, Stefan, wish I came to the conclusion, it is probably all vampires. So I can't read vampire's mind but I can see their past. Then Elena called me again to tell me that Damon has turned Vicky, because things couldn't get more complicates.

I walk into the Gilbert's house it was already dark when I saw a familiar voice.

"Tell my brother I'm looking for him. Oh, tip for later, be careful who you invite in the house."

"Don't worry I will." I tell him entering and he turns to me.

"I can see you also know but you're not afraid."He says intrigued.

"I should I be. If you want to kill me you had done it the moment I enter the house." I can see him smirking at me.

"You're always like this? So stupidly brave?"

"Don't you have a brother to look for?" I tell him and he leaves still with the damn smirk on his face.

"He could have hurt you."

"Lena I am fine. Don't worry. Now let's have dinner?" I ask her and she looks at me like I am insane. "Just because we found out that your boyfriend is a vampire who was a brother who kills for fun and they both loved a woman who played them making them hate each other doesn't mean I won't eat. Or you."

Stefan had return and Elena and him were talking outside when I saw her entering she was crying that she sat in the floor against the door and I got to her hugging her.

"It's going to be ok. Lena. Everything will be ok."I try to consulate her.