BLOODLINES

The "man" was now only about a foot away from me, but when I screamed, he vampire sped away. Confused, I tried poking my head out of the broken window, my eyes scanning the upside-down world for any signs of unnatural movement. I could barely place anything. Everything blurred, spun, and it was very dark. Then, something appeared right in front of me. I let out a little shriek.

"How ya doing in there?" I recognized that voice; Damon. I tried to focus on him, but I was still upside-down.

"Damon?" I asked uncertainly, at the roundish but slightly blurred face image.

"Yeah, it's me." He confirmed. Relief flooded me, silently thanking Damon for showing up, before that guy, or whatever, could get to me. "You look stuck."

I gave a fearful half-choke laugh, "It's my seatbelt, I think it's jammed." My breathing came heavily.

"Hey," He said softly, trying to comfort me, "It's okay. Let me get you out of there. I want you to put your hands on the roof." Nodding, I tried placing my hands above my head, or below, which ever way I was facing. "Just like that." Damon then reached through my broken car window, and his hands clasped over the seatbelt beside my waist. "Ready? One, two, three." The seatbelt, was ripped away by Damon. Since it was no longer holding me up, I started to fall. Luckily, Damon grabbed ahold of me, and slid me out of the window.

My head spun as he placed me on my feet. Everything blurred, even more than before. And with the major headache from when I banged my head, it was extremely difficult to keep myself conscious.

Damon was the only thing keeping me from falling backwards onto the hard asphalt. His hands were wrapped around me, holding me up in the dreary night. It reminded me too much of the way Stefan would hold me, but I was too weak and tired to argue. "Are you okay?" He asked me, worried. I couldn't even muster a response, nothing worked properly. "Is anything broken?"

Damon's grip loosened on me for a fraction of a second. But my feet were not listening to my commands, and I started to fall backwards. "Whoa," Damon said, as he caught me. This time, he pulled me against him tighter, "You're fading fast, Ariana." My eyes were closing, as I felt myself fade a bit..."Ariana, look at me." Damon brought me back as his palm rested on my cheek. His fingers brushed across my lips as he instructed, "Focus. Look at me." My eyes opened slightly, to see his concerned gaze on me. His eyes in that moment were so kind...

Suddenly, the weight of all that happened came crashing down, so I knew that I was only seconds away from loosing it. Mustering all the strength I had left, I told him the reason of why I was in my car in the first place, through a whisper, "I look like her..."

My strength ceased to exist. All I heard was a confused, "What?" before my eyes left Damon's blue ones, and I faded into darkness...

3rd person POV:

Damon knelt on the ground, a unconscious Ariana in his arms. His gaze traveled across her ridiculously beautiful features adoringly. She almost seemed peaceful. Damon was confused about what she had stated before she fainted. Was she talking about Katherine? Is that why Ariana was nowhere near her house? He was fearful for the vampire who had been there when she crashed her car. What was he going to do to her? Damon's anger flared up the more he thought about it.

Running his hands though her soft hair and across her face, Damon wanted to make sure that she was okay. That the accident would not permanently damage her. Apart from a few scratches, making it hard for Damon to resist her blood, Ariana seemed fine. Damon finally snapped out of his daydream, wait no, night-dream, and looked around him warily. No sign of danger, or any other vampire.

"Upsy-daisy." Damon said, as he wrapped his arms around her, carrying her bridal style. To Damon, Ariana weighed less than a feather. He carried her as if she was the most fragile precious thing on the planet. Which, according to Damon, she was.

Ariana POV:

The low thrumming vibrated through me, awakening me from a seemingly endless dream. I dreamt of a world where no supernatural beings existed. Stefan and I were together, and we were in love. But then, something dark came. But, I had no idea what that darkness was. What did it want?

Once I had finally opened my eyes, I realized where I was. In... a car? And it was moving. The unrecognizable landscape rushed pass me, further confusing me. The sun shone brightly in the sky, lighting up the land. Where was I?

"Morning," I familiar voice called from beside me. Damon. He smirked as he continued to drive, changing the direction of his car - that I was sitting in - every now and then. Though, there was only one road meandering through the land, no turns nor stoplights.

Why was I in his car? How did we get here, to ... the middle of nowhere. Yesterday was a blur. "Where are we?" I asked Damon.

"Georgia." He answered.

What? We were in Georgia? Why- How - I - Huh? Now I was seriously confused. Why was he taking me to Georgia? I racked my brain for what had happened last night. "Why are we in Georgia?" I asked, deciding to go along with his claim. Knowing him, this new landscape I was seeing probably was Georgia.

"I don't know." Damon replied, still smirking. "Thought it'd be fun. Road trip and all. How're you feeling?"

My jaw dropped. Was he serious right now? I couldn't process a coherent thought.

Good thing he spoke up. "There's no broken bones. I checked." The way he said that sent shivers down my spine.

Then, last night's memories finally came back to me, and I remembered. Stefan and I together... Katherine and I looking exactly the same... me driving away... crashing my car... a guy... Damon showing up, and saving me... "There was a guy that I hit...and then I crashed my car..." A very nice car, might I add.

"Yep." Damon said, "It was pretty disastrous. Lucky I was there on time to save you."

I shook my head and sighed, "Thank you. For saving me, but we really need to get back. Jenna would be worried, and nobody knows where I am..." I pleaded with him. I was very thankful and grateful for Damon coming to get me, especially since he chased off the vampire, or whatever. But, now was not the time to sort out these things. I was still extremely confused, and I needed someone to explain everything to me, this time, without any "forgot to tell you" informations. I felt my back jean pocket for my phone, but it wasn't there. "Damon, could you please pull over for a sec?"

I never asked for this "ride", but it never hurts to be polite. Damon, still smiling, pulled over to the side of the narrow road. I wanted to smack his face. I got out of his car, feeling the nice breeze on my skin. There was nothing out here, besides grass, cows, and dirt. A sudden pain flashed through me, causing me to bend over and hiss.

I felt a pair of hands touch my arms, and looked up to see Damon crouched slightly beside me, with a worried look plastered on his face. No longer smiling. "Hey," he said. The pain went away, but his arms were still wrapped around mine.

His concern made me feel happy, yet uneasy. "I'm fine." I stepped out of his arms, and saw a look of hurt, before he looked worried again. "But, we need to go back."

His eyes danced a little, "Oh, come on. We've already come this far."

"This isn't about me." I said, "I wrecked my car. People are going to find out. I'm not going to make Jenna and my siblings worry about me. And..." I was about to say "Stefan" when I clamped my mouth shut.

"And what?" Damon asked, almost tauntingly.

"Never mind." I said, dismissively. Damn it. What was I supposed to do? It's not like I could make Damon take me back to Mystic Falls, nor did I want to walk there. I wasn't that crazy. But what was Damon planning? Why Georgia?

Then, I heard a phone ring. Wait... that was my phone. Damon smirked, taking it out of his jacket pocket. I gaped at him. "Mmm." He said, "I bet what you were about to say had something to do with your boyfriend. I'll take it." I stared at him accusingly while he said into my receiver, "Ariana's phone."

3rd person POV:

Stefan paced in his room, very, very worried. He needed to find Ariana, and tell her that it was all a big misunderstanding. He never loved Katherine. She had compelled his love. He only loved Ariana, and he had to explain that to her clearly. He's called her about a thousand times, and left a hundred messages, yet she hadn't picked up. But, he called her again, and this time, the phone picked up. But it wasn't Ariana. Unfortunately, the last person Stefan would ever want to hear on Ariana's phone, just so happened to pick up. "Ariana's phone." Came his brother's haughty voice.

Stefan stopped pacing, and tensed, "Where is she?" He asked, "Why do you have her phone? Is she okay?"

"Ariana?" Damon asked innocently. He smirked at Ariana, while she just shook her head. "She's right here. And, yes, she's... fine." He emphasized the last word.

Stefan narrowed his eyes automatically, and asked, "Where are you? Let me speak to her."

Ariana POV:

Damon, who was leaning against his car, held out my phone to me. "He wants to talk to you." He said, his eyes challenging me, as if he was daring me to take the phone. But, really, what could I say to Stefan, anyways? "Yeah, umm, hey. Just wanted to let you know; I left your house and drove away because your old girlfriend looked like me. And now I'm hanging out with your brother who just happens to act like a serial killer. Yeah, don't worry about me at all!" Somehow, I don't think that conversation would go down well.

So, I shook my head at Damon.

3rd person POV:

"Yeah." Damon's voice came out of the receiver a few seconds later, "I don't- I don't think she wants to talk to you right now."

Stefan felt rage burn through him. He wanted to kill his brother, right then and there. The scenarios in his head of what was happening was endless. He winced, just thinking about them. "Damon," Stefan threatened in a deadly voice, "I swear to God, if you touch her-"

He was cut off by his brother, who said in a "I'm way better than you" voice, "You have a good day now. Mm-hmm. Bye-now."

The phone clicked off, and all that was to be heard was the sound of the long beep. Stefan shouted in frustration. He threw his phone across the room in anger, and it landed on his chair with a loud bang. He picked up the necklace that Ariana had left on the table, and clutched it with his hands. He stared at in horror, as he realized, that without vervain on, Ariana could easily be compelled to do whatever Damon wanted. Stefan's blood ran cold, colder than ice. He needed to find her, now.

Ariana POV:

I shook my head at Damon. Way to rile Stefan up, I thought. I sighed, and tried again, "Look, Damon, no one knows where I am. Can we please go back."

"We're almost there." Damon stated. I raised my eyebrows, and he continued, "It's a little place right outside of Atlanta. It'll be fun." I turned my head to the side, and closed my eyes. Why was he being so difficult? "Oh, come on, Ariana. You don't wanna go back right now. Do you? What's the rush?" He gave me a knowing look, "Trust me. Your problems are still going to be there when you get home. Just take a step away for five minutes."

There really was no point in arguing, it wasn't going to get me anywhere. And... I guess he was right. Did I really want to go back right now, and have to deal with Stefan? Especially since it's sort of my fault. I mean, I left the boarding house, hit what I thought was a vampire, crashed my car, and now I'm stuck with Damon. So, everybody's worry would be my fault. I sighed again, and nodded, "Okay."

"Yes!" Damon said, as if he was victorious. I shook my head at his silliness. "Come on, let's go!" He strolled back over to the driver's side of the car. Smiling out of amusement, I walked back over to the passenger side.

Once we were driving again, I looked over to Damon, and asked, "After I wrecked my car, did you put it anywhere?"

"I pulled it off to the side of the road." He answered, and shrugged, "I don't think anyone will bother it."

Okay... "The man, the one I hit..." I started, "Is he a...?"

"From what I could tell, yeah..." Damon answered, not needing for me to finish. Great, more vampires in Mystic Falls.

The scenery changed gradually, and I found myself surrounded by a few old buildings. Damon pulled up to a stop in front of a dirty blue cement bar called, "Bree's Bar". I raised my eyebrows at Damon once we got out of his car. "Hmm. How did I not guess that you were going to bring me to a bar?" I asked.

He smirked, and said, "You've had a lot on your mind recently." He jerked his shoulder towards the bar, indicating for me to follow him. I rolled my eyes, as I fell into step behind him. Once we got to the - what I assumed was the - front entrance, Damon opened the door for me.

I nodded my head in a "thanks", as I walked into the bar. The door swung shut behind us, and I surveyed the inside. Wood covered most of the structures, with added lights, stools, and pool tables. It was much nicer inside than it was outside. Cute. Damon and I approached the bar table, and a woman taller than Damon, with chocolate skin, and black tight-curled hair sauntered over to him. I was guessing this was Bree.

She looked to be in her late thirties. "No. No, it can't be. Damon." She said, swinging her legs over the bar table, and walking right up into Damon. They were both smirking. "My honey pie." Grabbing his hair, Bree planted a noisy kiss on his lips. Umm... awkward. I just stood there, confused as to what sort of background history there was between the two.

After that, Damon and I got settled down. We sat on the bar stools, right in front of Bree, who stood on the other side of the wooden counter. While pouring a few shots of tequila for the few people in the bar - it was still early afternoon - she shouted, "Listen up everybody! Here's to the man that broke my heart, crushed my soul, destroyed my life, and ruined any and all chances of happiness." I sighed, knowing that she was referring to Damon. It wasn't exactly unexpected. "Drink up!" She announced, once done pouring. Damon and Bree both picked up a shot glass, and downed the alcohol. Yeah, I wasn't doing that. "Ah. Whoo!" Bree turned to me, and gestured towards Damon, who sat next to me, smirking. "So, how'd he rope you in?" She poured another shot and handed it to me.

I took the mini-glass into my hands, and placed it back down onto the table. I wasn't exactly in the mood to get drunk, though, I could probably use it. Bree's question caught me off guard, and I immediately said, "Actually, I'm dating his brother."

"Honey," She turned to me with a knowing smile, "If you're not roped, you're whipped. Either way, just enjoy the ride." She smiled, and poured herself another shot of tequila.

I wasn't gonna bother to correct her. Damon kept glancing at me a smirking. I sighed, rolled my eyes, and changed the subject - sort of - by asking, "So, how did you two meet?"

There was obviously some sort of backstory, and since I was bored, I thought I'd might ask. Damon and Bree shared a look, before she answered, "College."

Hmm, strange, I wasn't expecting that. It was hard to imagine that Damon went to a college, even if he did have centuries to spare. He just seemed to make people feel as if he was above all that. I gave Damon a smirk, and asked, "College?"

"What?" He shrugged, "A way to pass the time." Then he whispered to me; "Plus, people there are young and fresh."

I shook my head and rolled my eyes. I definitely didn't need him to explain to me how much he enjoyed eating other people. Hopefully, he hadn't killed too many of them.

Good thing, Bree spoke before I could ponder too much on his statement. She explained, "About twenty years ago, when I was a sweet, young freshman, I met this beautiful man, and I fell in love. And then he told me about his little secret, made me love him even more." Wow, so Bree knew about Damon being a vampire. I made sense, seeing how they met twenty years ago. Then, she continued, "Because, you see, I had a little secret of my own that I was dying to share with somebody."

What secret? Damon leaned over to me, and whispered, "She's a witch." I raised my eyebrows at Bree. Bonnie was a witch too, that was kinda cool. I wondered what sort of spells she'd learned.

"Changed my world, you know." She said to me. Yeah, no kidding, I thought. Witches and vampires seemed to currently surround my life.

"I rocked your world." Damon stated. I did not need to know that information.

"He is good in the sack, isn't he?" Bree asked, and all I could think about was; I did not need to know that information either. "But most of the time he's... just a Walk-Away Joe."

I felt sorry for her. Damon's composure dropped for a second, but I could see that Damon must've left Bree, shortly after she fell in love with him. I felt sympathy for Bree. Then, there was Caroline. Did Damon do this to all the women he'd been with, break their hearts? I guess since he never aged, it wasn't possible for him to be with other girls. I wondered if he'd ever be happy with someone again. Is that what he was looking for when he came back to Mystic Falls? For love?

"So," Bree's gaze turned hard as she stared at Damon, "What is it that you want?"

I wondered the same thing.

I walked outside for some fresh air, and then, there's the real reason. Damon gave me back my phone, and I knew that it was time to call Jenna. She picked up on the first ring, and I waited for her voice while I watched a couple of crows fly through trees and above the buildings. "Hello?" I heard her voice from my cell.

"Hi, Jenna. It's me." I said, after taking a deep breath. I wondered if she knew about the "accident".

"Ariana?" She asked, her voice raising considerably, "Where are you? Why didn't you call before?"

"I'm so sorry. I was so tired last night, and I fell asleep at Bonnie's." God, I really did hate lying, especially to my own family. Damn you... Damon. "When I woke up, I was almost late to school, so I didn't have any time to call you. I'm sorry."

"Are you okay?" Jenna asked.

"Yeah, I'm fine." I told her, "Just trying to sort some thing's out."

She didn't respond for a few seconds, but then she asked, "...About Stefan?"

I nodded sadly, though she couldn't see me. "That, and a few other things."

"You can tell me anything, you know." Jenna stated, all motherly. I smiled. "I'm here for you."

"I know Aunt Jenna," I said, gratefully. I wanted to go back home, to see Jenna, Elena, Jeremy, Bonnie, Caroline, and everyone else. But, I had a Salvatore vampire keeping me in Georgia. "Don't worry about me. I'll talk to you soon, okay?"

"Okay." She agreed, "Next time, make sure you at least text me if you're not coming home, that way, I'll know you're okay, alright?"

"Of course," I told her. I hoped that the day when I wouldn't be calling her, would never come. "Bye."

"Bye."

I hung up, stared at my phone for a while, and sighed. What did I do to deserve such a wonderful aunt. I prayed to God that she wouldn't get caught up in all this vampire business, like I seemed to be in. Now, to find out what Damon's plan was, bringing us to this bar.

I walked half-way back to "Bree's Bar", when my phone rang. Taking it out of my pocket, my heart gave a lurch once I saw the caller ID. I pressed the "answer" button and held my phone to my ear.

"Ariana, is that you?" Stefan's frantic voice came from the other end.

I actually felt guilty that I made him worry. But the other part of me felt glad, because after he lied to me all this time, the part thought that I deserved to have some respect for myself. I took a deep, deep breath, and confirmed, "Yeah, it's me,"

"Oh God," Stefan sounded relieved, yet worried at the same time. It sounded as if he was about to explode from stress, and the guilt tugged at me again. Technically, I left the boarding house without giving him any notice, but, I had a good reason to do so. "Are you okay? Where are you?"

"I'm fine," I automatically said. But, I couldn't answer his second question. I was in Georgia... with Damon... so it wasn't as if he could come and rescue me, or whatever.

After realizing that I wasn't going to tell him my whereabouts, he said, "Just tell me where you are, so that I can come get you."

By the way, I also wasn't ready to face him yet, to talk about Katherine, and how I was practically an exact image of her. "I'm okay, I'll come back home once..." I trailed off. Whoops...

"Once what?" Stefan asked, concerned. "Damon's with you isn't he? Has he compelled you? Is that why you can't tell me where you are?"

"Oh, no, no, no, no." I rushed, "He didn't compel me." I bit my lip, though. How would Stefan know whether Damon compelled me or not. For all he could know, Damon had compelled me to deny whatever Stefan had just claimed. I sighed in frustration, and ran my hands through my hair, "Look, I'll be back by tomorrow," hopefully, "And then you can explain to me about Katherine and my connection to her."

I was giving him a chance, he better not screw it up. "Okay," Stefan agreed, "I'm so sorry, Ariana. I truly am. You didn't deserve to find out this way. I promise to explain everything. And, please, be careful around Damon. Be safe. I love you."

My throat tightened. I loved him too, but could I say it? The whole Katherine thing, hadn't been sorted out yet. I needed the whole story, before I could learn to forgive him. Resisting the urge to cry, laugh, or start babbling, I said tightly, "Goodbye, Stefan." And like a big baby, I hung up.

My emotions were everywhere. But, pushing it back down, I turned around, ready to head back towards the bar. I jumped, seeing that someone was right in front of me. My breathing became heavy.

"You okay?" Damon's concerned gaze entrapped me. He seemed to really care.

"I'm fine," I repeated for like the thousandth time today. "Let's just... go back to the bar."

Damon nodded and said softly, "Come on."

He led me back to the bar.

Back in the bar, Damon had ordered lunch/dinner for us. While he ate his burger and fries, he asked me what it was that made me leave the boarding house. I finally confessed, and told him about me finding the old photo of Katherine. He didn't seemed too surprised that I'd found out. "Do you think that I'm related to Katherine in any way?" I asked him.

He shrugged, "If you were, then that would mean she had a baby before she turned." He shook his head, "Vampires can't procreate."

Good, I thought, this isn't Twilight. I felt uncomfortable with my next question, "Do - do you think that... he was using me... as sort of her... replacement?"

It took a few moments, before he looked at me, and gave me a non-serious answer, "Kinda creepy, if you ask me."

I sighed, and stared at the burger and fries on my plate absently. The music changed, and Damon furrowed his eyebrows at me.

"Why aren't you eating?" He asked me, still munching on his french fries.

I shrugged, "Not hungry." I should be though. After the crash and all of the drama, you'd think that I'd be starving. But really, I felt almost hollow. Damon being there made me feel a bit better, as if I wasn't alone.

"You're a strange human." Damon smirked as he picked up my burger, and took a big bite out of it.

I shook my head in amusement, "Gee, thanks," I said, sarcastically.

He smiled, "It's not necessarily a bad thing. You're... different." He gave me a side-ways glance, and stole a few of my fries.

I pushed the plate towards him, and said, "Here, you can have it all?"

"You sure?"

"Go for it." I assured him, then asked, curious, "How can you even eat? It doesn't make sense."

"Nothing ever really makes sense in this world." He stated, then explained, "As long as I keep a healthy diet of," he paused, "blood in my system, my body functions pretty normally." He shrugged, and popped another fry into his mouth.

Yeah right, normally. I looked at Damon, and he smiled at me. Everything seemed normal in that second. The background music, people playing pool, Damon and I having lunch, well, he was the only one eating. But, it felt nice. Just to feel... normal. "This is nice," I smiled back, "You're being nice, and... things can almost be normal."

He smiled at me, but our gaze broke when Bree's voice interrupted us, "Here you go." She placed two bottles of beer in front of us.

I looked at the beer questioning, as Damon slid one of the bottles towards me. "If you're not going to eat, then drink." He said, taking a swing out of his own bottle.

"Yeah," I said sarcastically, "'Cause the last time I got drunk turned out to be just perfect."

"Oh, come one." He smirked, "Have some fun. It's not gonna kill you."

I rolled my eyes at him, "With you, I just might die." I teased.

"Ouch," he pretended to be hurt, and opened my bottle cap. I sighed. What the hell, I shrugged. I lifted up the cool bottle, and tapped it against Damon's in a sort of "cheer". Well, better now when I'm away from others, then back at Mystic Falls. I tasted the beer, and made a face at the bitterness. Damon just smirked at me.

The night finally came, and more people entered the bar. They gathered around Damon and I, where Bree stood on the other side of the counter, pouring more shots of liquor. I was having fun, and the slight dizziness was bliss. I felt good.

"Ready..." Bree said, once she had passed me, Damon, the other people, and herself each a shot of liquor. "Go!"

We all downed our shots, and I smirked at the burning sensation that had become familiar. I clasped my hands together, and did a little dance near my stool after consuming the alcohol. "That's 3!" I announced to all the drinkers.

Damon coughed, and smirked at me, "You look like you're having fun."

"I am," I replied. "All right. Who's next."

A woman next to me, whose cheeks were pink from the alcohol, pointed to me, and stated, "Honey, you should be on the floor!"

"I am not even drunk." I lied, I was definitely drunk. And might I add, also underaged. Though, no one seemed to really care. "My tolerance is like, way up here." I jumped into the air, and my arm reached above me, as if I could touch the sky.

Damon smiled at me, and questioned, "Who knew such a small girl could handle so much?"

"I am not small." I protested, fake-pouting.

"Well," he shrugged, "You may not be short, but you're still very thin."

"Whatever," I rolled my eyes, not sure whether that was a compliment or not.

"All right." Bree said, "Here you go." My eyes lit up as she poured another round of shots. Damon smiled at me in amusement.

I laughed and did a little victory twirl as my next shot went in. I was playing pool with this other guy, whose name I didn't even know, or remember. My phone rang suddenly, bringing me out of my drunken haze. Answering it, I said, "Hello?"

"Ariana?" Oh, shit. It was Jenna. She'd be wondering where I was. What time was it?

"Excuse me." I said to the guy I was playing pool with. Putting on my leather jacket, I said into the phone, "Jenna! Hold on."

"Ariana, where are you?" She asked me, very worried, "Are you okay?"

I was such a bad niece. Gosh... "Yeah, no, I'm fine. Everything's fine. One sec, hold on." I couldn't hear her very well. Walking out onto the bar porch, the cool air helped clear my head a bit. It was quiet, and very different to the people inside, who were drunk and loud.

"No, it's not fine!" Jenna protested, "I got a call..." Her voice ceased to exist, as I tripped over the stone by the railing, and dropped my phone. I sighed, Jenna must've found out about the car crash, and, well, about me not even being in the same state. Falling onto the wooden floor, I picked up my phone again, and tried to balance myself back into my feet.

Before I could speak to Jenna again, something made me drop my phone. A big hand covered my mouth, and muffled my screams, as I was vampire sped away. Fear set in once I realized that a vampire was carrying me. What did he want from me? To eat me? This would not end well... I sighed, where was Damon when you needed him? And to think that I was joking about dying just a few hours ago. I was sick.

3rd person POV:

Damon sat at the bar, drinking some beer when Bree came up to him. She poured some more liquor into shot glasses, and asked him, "Hey, where's your girl."

Bree knew where Ariana was, or at least, she knew who had her. But, she wasn't abut to let Damon know. She was mad at him for killing Lexi, and she wanted revenge.

Damon looked around the bar, his eyes scanning for Ariana. The beautiful brunette was no where in sight. He had last saw her playing pool with some other people, but she wasn't there anymore. "Excuse me." He said to Bree, and immediately got up. Sauntering out of the bar, and into the cool night, he was confused as to where she could've gone. She better be okay. His eyes caught sight of a small cell phone on the wooden porch: Ariana's phone.

A gut wrenching feeling twisted his stomach, as he felt shivers of sharp icicles crawl up his neck. He picked up the phone, and glanced around him. Forget being drunk, he was now alert. Shit, where was she? What happened? He needed to find her, now. He was gonna rip the heads off of the people who were responsible for Ariana's sudden disappearance.

Damon walked around the bar building, silently, but quickly. He came across and electrical building behind the bar, when Ariana's voice reached him; "Damon, get out of here!"

But, before he could sigh in relief, find where she was, or question her panicked dialogue, a sudden pain hit him from the side. Aw, hell.

Ariana POV:

I watched in horror as Damon fell to the ground, with the vampire who took me, hitting him with a wooden plank repeatedly. I scrambled down from the tank the vampire had placed me on, and ran towards Damon. But I stopped suddenly, once I realized that I couldn't possibly stop what was happening. The vampire stopped attacking for now, but I knew he was far from being done.

"What the hell?!" Damon spat out in pain and anger, curling up a bit. I wanted to help him so bad. "Ariana run!"

"No." I defied him, and my heart started beating faster once I saw that the unknown vampire had come back, this time with a plastic container. Oh no. Gasoline. "No!" I repeated again in panic, as the guy poured the gasoline all over Damon. He was gonna set him on fire. The vampire's face twisted in rage and disgust as he shouted at Damon;

"What did she do to you, huh? What did she do to you?!"

I was so confused, who was he talking about. Did Damon do something wrong. Scratch that. He always does something wrong. And now, it was gonna get him killed.

"Nothing." Damon answered, a bit guilty. What was going on?

"Please, tell me," I pleaded with the vampire, tears running down my cheeks, "What did he do?"

"My girlfriend went to visit Stefan," Came his anguished reply. Then, he sneered Damon's name, "And Damon killed her, got it?" Picking up an aluminum bat out of nowhere - literally - swung and hit Damon in the back. I winced considerably. Damon grimaced and groaned in pain, rolling over.

Then I made the connection. Lexi. Of course. He must've been talking about Lexi. Why did Damon have to kill her? She was so nice, Stefan's best friend, and now, her boyfriend wanted revenge. The vampire, then lit a match, and I watched the flame. It was the only natural light at that moment. My heart sunk to my stomach, as I racked my brain for a solution to this problem.

"I'm doing you a favor." He said to me, as he was about to let go of the match.

No, he wouldn't be doing me a favor. I cared about Damon, and I wasn't going to watch him get barbecued right in front of me. The tears got caught in my voice as I chocked out a plea, "Please. Don't do this, I'm begging you. Lexi loved you," At least, I was guessing she did, "She was good. Which means you're good. Be better than him. Please, please, don't do this."

I felt sorry for the guy. Damon had just killed his girlfriend. But killing Damon? What would that do? It would only add to the pain. He teared his tortured gaze in my direction, and closed his eyes. His shoulders slumped, and I saw the fight leave him, and fly away. He bent down, picked the half-conscious Damon up, and through him into the concrete building a few meters away. I winced, but kept my gaze on Lexi's vampire boyfriend. "Thank you," I nodded sincerely.

He nodded once, and disappeared. He did have a good soul. But, I believed that deep inside, Damon did too. So he didn't deserve to die either.

Not thinking about it twice, I ran to Damon's side, making sure he'd be okay.

Finally, finally, finally... Damon was driving us back to Mystic Falls. I felt so relieved when I was sure he'd be alright. After the attack, I was afraid he wouldn't make it. But, that was stupid of me. He was a vampire, and his wounds had healed quickly. I was just happy he was alive. Well, sorta alive, I guess.

"So," I turned to Damon, and asked, "Why did you decide to bring me with you?" I still wasn't sure what it was he was trying to accomplish in Georgia, but, I didn't really care. Right now, I could almost be happy. If, t weren't for the many problems still back in my town.

"Well," He smirked at me, "You were there in the road, all damsel-in-distress like. And, I knew it would piss off Stefan." I rolled my eyes at that. Damon was such a jerk to his brother, "And... you're a fun person to be around with, Ariana."

That felt good. At least I wasn't completely boring to hang out with. "I used to be more fun." I stated, "Before all the drama that's happened in my life."

Especially before my parent's death. That was a huge toll on me.

"Well, I had fun." Damon smiled.

"Yeah?" I teased, "Even the whole 'getting beat up by a vampire' thing?"

"Hey," He said, "In my defense, I could've totally beat him if my mind wasn't occupied with other things."

"And what were those things?" I asked him, still humorous.

He smirked at me, "Trying to find out where you were and all. You suddenly disappeared, without a trace. And that would definitely piss off Stefan."

I shook my head playfully and giggled.

Everything turned serious once we got back to Mystic Falls. I needed to talk to Stefan, so after wishing me good luck, Damon dropped me off at the boarding house, and drove off to what I assumed would be towards the Mystic Grill.

I felt anxious the entire way up to the boarding house. I remained silent, not really looking forward to making my presence known. But, I couldn't put it off forever. Walking nervously to Stefan's room, I took a deep breath and knocked on the open door frame. Stefan, from where he was sitting in his desk chair, snapped his head up, took one glance at me, and was out of his seat.

"Hi." He said to me. He didn't move though, and nor did I.

"Hi," I said back. "You promised to explain."

He nodded, "I did. Are you okay?"

"I'm fine." I answered, and he visibly relaxed. He seemed relieved to see me there, and away from his brother. I walked closer to him, my heels echoing through the room ominously. I stopped a few feet away from him, and he looked at me, then began.

"Ariana, you are not Katherine. You are the opposite of everything that she was. Where she was the darkness, you are the light. You make me feel alive, and it's effortless for you. Please, you have to understand that."

He looked so vulnerable, that I felt like forgiving him right then. But, there were more questions to answer. "If that's true, then when did you realize that?" I asked him, "When you see me, who do think of?"

"You're not her," He assured me, "I knew that you were completely different, from before we officially met."

That caught me off guard. I blinked a few times, and asked, "What do you mean?"

He stared at me intensely, then explained further, "The first day of school - when we met...it wasn't for the first time, Ariana."

I shook my head, confused. Where was this going? Did he mean that we had met sometime before? Then, how did I not remember? It would be difficult to forget someone like Stefan. Unless... unless he compelled me.

"The first time we met..." Stefan continued, "...was May 23, 2009."

My heart stopped. That was...I gulped...the day...no. How?

"The was the day your parents' car went off the bridge." Stefan said, once it was obvious that I wouldn't be replying to this new information. "Every couple of years I come back here, to see Zach and see my home. Last spring, I was out in the woods, by old Wickery Bridge. And I heard the accident. All of it." I think I made a weird choking sound from the back of my throat, but I couldn't be sure. I was too focused on this new information which Stefan had sent my way. "I was fast getting there, but not fast enough. The car was... already submerged. Your dad was still... he was still concious. I was able to get to him, but he wouldn't let me help him... until I helped you."

I started crying near the end of his explanation. My dad, he... He saved me. Stefan saved me. He was there when we were about to die, but he had saved me. I wasn't sure if I should've been grateful, or angry, that Stefan had saved me. My dad could have lived. My parents. But I guess... that wasn't what he had wanted. I choked out another sob, and sniffled as I said, "When I woke up in the hospital... nobody could figure out how I got out of the car. They said it was a miracle."

"I went back for them," Stefan said, almost as if he was in pain too, "But it was too late. I couldn't- I couldn't save them." I looked down, and more tears ran down my face. Stefan tried his best, and I was very grateful. "When I pulled you out, I looked at your face. You looked like Katherine. I couldn't believe the resemblance." A pause. "After that, I spent months making sure you weren't her. I watched you. I learned everything that I could about you. And I saw that you were nothing like Katherine." I felt myself warm a bit at that. Stefan had stayed and watched over me, just to make sure that I was not Katherine. It made me believe him. "And I wanted to leave town, but, Ariana, I couldn't. I couldn't leave without knowing you. I'm so sorry that I didn't tell you. I wanted to. But... you seemed so sad. I couldn't just drop something like this on you. And even now... I'm so sorry."

I nodded, indicating that I accepted his apology. He saved my life, and tried to save my parents. And then, he made sure that I didn't act like Katherine, whom, I assumed, wasn't a very nice person. He was a good guy, but there was still a question left unanswered. "Why is the resemblance between the two of us so immaculate?"

"Ariana," Stefan said, in the same tortured voice, "You've been through so much."

I pushed all the pain and anger down, and pleaded, "Please. Please tell me."

Stefan hesitated, then responded, "It didn't make any sense to me. You were a Gilbert. She was a Pierce. But, the resemblance was too similar. And then I learned the truth." He paused, then said, "You and your sister were adopted, Ariana." My breath caught.

I shook all over, and Stefan had to lead me onto a couch in his room to keep me from falling over. "How did you learn all this?" I asked Stefan, still shocked and even a bit horrified. How was this possible? How could I grow up my whole life, and just now learn that Elena and I were adopted. I didn't want to accept it. My parents had always been my parents, the ones who helped and cared for me. For us to have actually been adopted... it wasn't believable. It was impossible, yet, it was the truth.

"Your birth certificate from the city records. It says Ariana Gilbert, Mystic Falls General." Stefan replied, then shook his head, "But there's no record of your mother ever being admitted. There's no record of her ever being pregnant."

"What about Elena?" I asked.

"Same with her. 'Elena Gilbert'." He answered, "For me to go any further, I would've had to look in the Pierce family, and I couldn't do that. It's too much of a risk. If someone found out I was asking about Katherine..." His tone suddenly changed. His voice was still soft, but he now looked directly into my eyes, capturing me with his gaze. He looked to be on the brink of tears as he placed his hand on my knee, relaxing me. "Listen to me, it doesn't matter. You are the woman I love. I love you."

At that moment, I knew it was true. He didn't love me because of my ancestor Katherine, he loved me for who I was. "I love you too," I said, and we kissed. The electricity surged through us again, just like it did all the other times. Stefan really did care for me. He had saved my life, and for that, of course, I would always be grateful. But, I loved him with all my heart. And I believed that we could be together, always.

I started crying again, and Stefan wrapped his arms around me, as I buried my face into his chest. I let it all out. The pain, confusion, anger, betrayal, and hurt. How was I gonna explain all this to Elena, when the time comes? Or Jenna? Did she know this whole time?

Entering my own house, I saw Jenna's head whip around to glare at me from the couch. Putting down the magazine she was reading, she stood up angrily, and walked towards me. I sighed as she said, "I don't set a lot of rules, Ariana. Not with you. I trust you to tell me the truth. Where were you? Why would you lie to me about it? I thought we were closer than that."

Was she serious right now. I asked, "Are we close, Jenna? I thought I could trust you to tell me everything, too."

"What are you talking about?" She questioned.

Taking a deep breath, I asked, "Are Elena and I adopted?"

I saw Jenna's face turn from angry guardian, to disbelief. "How did you - they told me not to tell you two."

Great. Awesome. I just learnt that my closest Aunt had been lying to me this entire time. Elena. Do I tell her? "Jenna," I started, "I really don't know what to think right now. So, I'm gonna go to bed, before I say anything I might regret.

So walking up the stairs, I quickly went into my room, deciding not to tell Elena. Not yet.

Sorry I haven't updated in almost a week. But, I do have a lot going on. With school, Thanksgiving parties, exams, and everything else. So, I hoped you enjoyed this chapter/episode. If you liked it, or hated it, please tell me through my reviews. Thank you!

-Spiralcloud