Chapter 24

Dear diary,

I haven't written in a long time, but I haven't wanted to. It has been really confusing for the past two days. First I'm a vampire and then I'm not. How is that possible? I am left with all these questions, and though Damon tries to be there for me, he doesn't understand. No one understands. The only one I have been seeing these few days has been Stefan, and that has made Damon distant. I don't know what to say to him... I like him, but just as a friend.

Audrey closed her diary and looked the white wall in front of her. She rubbed her neck before throwing the leather covered journal on the bed and moving her feet out of the bed.

So, she was human again. Every pain of her earlier human life was back. The headache, nosebleeds, wounds. She didn't heal like she used to. And most importantly of all, she felt like being a vampire had been just a dream.

They hadn't talked about the fact that when Damon killed Elijah, Audrey had pushed him down with some kind of magical powers. Though after she used them, she felt different. But Stefan, Damon and Elena had just shoved it under a carpet where were also subjects like Elena's relationship with Damon, Bonnie being distant, Caroline almost not talking to them.

Suddenly Audrey felt tears drop from her eyes. She placed her hand over her eyes and just started crying. Her sobs were silent so that no one could hear. She didn't want to go to school she just wanted to go away somewhere.

Audrey got up from her bed and moved her wavy hair behind her ear. She grabbed her leather bag from the end of her bed and walked out of her room.

Soon she was at her destination. Audrey knocked three times on the heavy door before it got open. Damon looked at her, and she looked at him. Audrey tensed her jugular bone and swallowed.

"Hi."

"Hi," Damon whispered back dryly.

Flashback - Yesterday

They were at Audrey's room. She was just going to sleep when Damon appeared. Audrey took Damon's hand and smiled sadly. "We need to talk."

"I know," he said and cupped Audrey's face in his hands. She looked so beautiful, and Damon wished he wouldn't have to do this.

"I love you Damon," Audrey smiled and looked him in his baby blue eyes.

"I love you too, and that's why I have to let you go."

"No Damon please don't do this. I love you, do you hear me?" Audrey started panicking. She didn't have Vervain on. "I love you."

"I want you to live your life by the fullest. To grow old, decide if you want to have kids. That's why I need you to forget that I love you, forget our night and this conversation. I don't deserve you," Damon compelled Audrey. And one by one the memories were slowly erasing. A tear fell down from Damon's eye as he sped away.

Present

"Come on in," Damon moved aside from the doorframe and let her walk in. Audrey created a friendly smile and walked in.

"Is Stefan here? He called. He said it was important," she said as she turned around and looked at Damon.

Damon nodded and held the best smirk he was able and gestured on the way of the library. "Right this way. Everyone's already here."

Audrey walked in to the library where Stefan, and Elena, and Rose were. Stefan created a tiny frown towards Damon who had lowered his eyes and seemed sad. Audrey went on and sat on the couch. Then Rose started talking.

"Okay, you have to understand I only know what I've picked up over the years and I don't know what's true and what's not true. It's the problem with all this vampire crap but Klaus, I know he's real."

"Who is he?" Elena asked with a frown and glare towards everyone.

"He's one of the originals, he's a legend," Rose said and made Audrey chuckle. Suddenly she wanted to meet this Klaus.

"From the first generation of vampires," Stefan continued Rose and looked at her quickly. Damon had walked over to the liquor table and poured himself a drink.

"Like Elijah?" Elena asked and hugged a pillow. Audrey was already going over a small plan inside her head.

"No. Elijah was the Easter bunny compared to Klaus. He's a foot soldier. Klaus is the real deal."

"I don't want to correct you Rose but Elijah told me he's an original," Audrey said looking cocky. "After I stabbed him in the chest."

"Whatever he told you, Klaus is known to be the oldest." Stefan brought his hands on his waist.

"Okay, so you're saying that the oldest vampire in the history of time is coming after me?" Elena asked hugging the pillow more tightly. Audrey moved her eyes to Elena and glared at her.

"For us, Elena," she cleared and looked at her intently.

"Yes," Rose looked at Audrey and Elena.

"No," Stefan said.

"What they're saying is, I mean if what she's saying is true..." Damon started and walked over to Rose.

"Which it is." Rose looked at him.

"And you're not saying it so I don't kill you."

"Which I'm not."

"Then we're looking at a solid maybe."

Audrey clicked her tongue and looked at her company. Two brothers falling in love with the same girl, a crazy paranoid vampire who has been running from the originals for about 500 years, Audrey herself who was addicted to everything that got her into a high, and Elena. Audrey had nothing to say of her sister.

"Look, Elijah's dead, right?" Stefan looked at all of us. "So no one else even knows that you exist."

"Not that you know of," Rose glared at Stefan.

"That's not helping." Damon looked at Audrey and Elena who had a distance between them. They haven't been like real sisters since Stefan and he appeared in town. Damon's eyes lingered on Audrey's side profile just a second, but Rose noticed it.

"Look, I've never even met anyone who's laid eyes on him. I mean, we're talking centuries of truth mixed with fiction. We don't know if he's real. For all we know he could just be some sort of stupid bed time story," Stefan threw his hands in the air. Audrey chuckled at his words darkly. Only if.

"He's real and he doesn't give up. If he wants something, he gets it. If you're not afraid of Klaus, then you're an idiot," Rose stated passionately.

Audrey squinted her eyes at Rose. Was this girl serious? Audrey got up with a smirk of disbelief on her face.

"Are you seriously saying that you ran away from some original super vampire for 500 years?" she was laughing right now. "I mean come on. Even as a human I'm braver than you could ever be." (Look at the gif, that's Audrey saying this)

Rose sped over to Audrey, but the 17 year old girl didn't even flinch. She held the same smile she had held when she said that. Audrey sucked in her cheeks and raised her eyes to Rose's victoriously cocking her head.

"Did you even see what Elijah did to Trevor? Elijah!" Rose yelled to Audrey. Her short spiked hair was messed, and she looked like she was crying. Audrey looked away to her side and inhaled. She quickly moved her brown eyes back to Rose's blue ones.

"You can't kill me Rose or else you'll run another 500 years."

Audrey took three steps back and sat back down to the sofa. Rose looked at Damon who shrugged and clapped his hands together once.

"Alright, we're shaking. You made your point Rose," Damon said and Elena got up. Stefan looked at Elena almost starting to panic.

"Where are you going?"

"School," Elena said and walked over to Audrey, looking down on her and offering a hand, "we're late."

"Let me grab my stuff, I'll go with you," Stefan said and Elena shook her head gently. Audrey got up but listened carefully the next words Elena said.

"It's okay, I know where it is."

Audrey scoffed silently and grabbed her bag, swiftly looking at Elena. Audrey looked at the bag, dug it and tried to find something. "Uh, I left my math homework home. I need to go and grab them. You go, I'll be right behind you."

"Okay," Elena nodded and turned on her heels, walking out of the door. As she left Damon and Audrey shared a small moment between them. Audrey frowned; why did she feel like a little spark ignited in her.

"She's in denial," Damon whispered to Rose.

"Shut up, Damon," Stefan sounded pissed off.

Audrey looked ahead of her. It was time to start the first phase of her plan.

Audrey was carrying a bag full of stuff that she needed right now. It was a huge black bag but it wasn't really a struggle carrying it. Caroline was walking besides her, clearly nervous. Audrey raised her eyes from the ground.

"What is it Caroline?"

"I just can't believe I'm agreeing to this. I'm a terrible liar," Caroline brushed her hair with her fingers. Audrey sighed and kept on walking. It wasn't long anymore.

"Keep Stefan and Elena busy. Especially Stefan," Audrey swallowed and bit her lip. "I don't want them to think I'm risking my life."

"I'm even worse at duplicity and you know this," Caroline threw her hands in the air and searched for something in Audrey. She didn't flinch.

"Caroline," Audrey stopped for a moment and looked her in the eyes. "As my friend, do you promise to not to tell anyone? Not even Damon."

"You had to break out the girlfriend code. Okay. I promise." Caroline's smile made Audrey smile. She liked Caroline more now. Audrey dropped her bag and pulled Caroline into a hug. They hugged for a while and Audrey whispered a thank you to her. When they drew from the hug Audrey picked up her bag and they continued walking.

"Why don't you want Stefan to know?" Caroline raised her brows.

Audrey sighed and they walked under the church ruins. "Because though he is fixated with Elena, I guess it's enough that I look like her."

Audrey stared at the door and placed her hand on her waist. She looked at Caroline and nodded. The blonde walked over to the door, grabbed it with her vampire superpowers and moved the door aside.

"Katherine?" Audrey sang and looked at Caroline. "It's okay Care, I'm going to be just fine."

Both of them jumped a bit when they heard a noice coming from the tomb. They looked intently the door entrance and finally Katherine dragged herself to the entrance.

"Isn't it my favorite descendant? Hello Audrey. You come to watch me wither away?" Katherine asked sarcastically and moved her eyes to Caroline, "Goodbye Caroline."

Audrey moved her eyes from Katherine to Caroline, nodding to her as a sign it was okay to go. "It's okay Care, she can't hurt me."

Caroline nodded and sped out of the church ruins. Audrey walked closer to Katherine and she seemed intrigued by why Audrey was here. Katherine had narrowed her eyes at Audrey as she dropped the bag on the floor.

"Does Damon and Stefan know you're here?" Katherine asked as she dropped herself down on to the floor.

"I brought you blood, blankets, clothes in exchange for info on Klaus," Audrey smiled as she opened the bag and took everything else out to Katherine, except the blood. Katherine cocked her head and still held a smile on her face.

"Hmm, you've been busy..."

"Yeah, I have. I don't know if you can smell it but I'm not a vampire anymore," Audrey said with a faint smile. She grabbed an old book from the bag, the one she had grabbed from Elena's room. "I also brought you this. It's your family history. Says the family line ended with you, but we both know that's not true."

Katherine raised her brows with disbelief. "You think that if you brought me some family keepsake that I'd open up?"

Audrey sucked her teeth and shook her head. "I think this," Audrey said and grabbed a bottle of blood, showing it to Katherine. Katherine sped towards the bottle, with the mere sight of blood. The magic wall kept her out to which Audrey responded with a smirk.

"What's wrong kitty Kat?" she cocked her head with a devious smirk. "You look a little pale."

Katherine stared intently at the bottle of blood and swallowed.

"So remind me how long is it before your body shots down, vein by vein, artery by artery? Is it 10, 20 years? Must be painful to desiccate and mummify. I cannot even imagine," Audrey said and sat down. She hummed silently while opened the bottle of blood and poured blood in a small cup. Audrey looked up at Katherine who had also sat down, and was now leaning on the cave wall.

Audrey took a stick from the ground and pushed the small cup over to Katherine's side. Katherine grabbed it and poured it down. Her skin started to get some color on it and she banged her head gently to the wall.

"You have the Petrova fire," she whispered and put the glass down and pushed it as far as she was able, so Audrey was able to take it back. "It's a long story, Klaus and I. It goes all the way back to England, 1492, after I left Bulgaria or was thrown out."

Audrey poured another cup full off glass and pushed it to Katherine.

"You were thrown out?"

"My family, your true ancestors, they disowned me. My indiscretions were not tolerated at that time. I had a baby out of wedlock. The shame," Katherine shrugged and drank the blood yet again, placing it on the ground.

"It was kept secret?" Audrey arched her brows fascinated. Katherine nodded and swallowed dryly.

"Mhmm. My baby was given away. I was banished to England and I had to learn to adjust so I quickly became English. It was there that I caught the eye of a noble man name Klaus. I was taking with him at first until I found out what he was and what he wanted from me and then I ran like hell.

"I ran through the woods near his mansion, when I suddenly fell and hid behind a tree. Elijah and some of his men were right after me, until Trevor stepped in and made them go in a false direction. When I tried to leave Trevor told me where to go. To a cottage."

Audrey frowned gently and pushed the blood filled cup back to Katherine.

"Why did you run? What did Klaus want?"

"The same thing that he'll want from you. He wants to break the curse," Katherine whispered and downed the blood glass again.

"By sacrificing the Petrova doppelgänger," Audrey whispered in realization. "But there's two of us now."

"He wanted to drain every single drop of blood from my body," Katherine continued and shrugged. "I don't know how it works when there's two. I doubt he needs to drain both of you, so my suggestion is to get the hell out of this town as soon as possible."

Audrey bit her lip and cleared her voice. "I would never do that to Elena."

Katherine smiled deviously and looked down on the ground. Audrey had pushed a new glass of blood. "Okay," she inhaled deeply and lifted the cup to her lips.

"What does the Petrova blood line have to do with Klaus?"

"It's really tedious but..." Katherine drink the blood and crushed the cup, letting it drop to the ground. She looked almost normal. "The curse was bound by the sacrifice of Petrova blood. Witches are crafty with their spells. The doppelgänger was created as a way to be able to undo the spell. Once the doppelgänger reappeared, the curse can be broken."

"And before he was able to kill you, you ran," Audrey commented and clicked her tongue.

"Something like that…" Katherine said and moved her eyes to the top of the cave.

"When I arrived to the cottage and pleaded for help, an old woman opened it, saying she couldn't help me. But when I name dropped Trevor, Rose arrived and let me in. She gave me water and food, but when I showed her the moonstone I grabbed from Klaus, she got scared. She told me she'd give me to Klaus and beg for her forgiveness. She put me in an empty room to wait for my demise."

"Obviously she didn't take you to Klaus then."

"No, but not because she had a change of heart. I cut myself with a knife that was inside the room, to make her feed me her blood. Of course she just thought I was killing myself, but I'm not stupid. After an annoying conversation she fed me her blood and made my wounds heal. As Trevor arrived and Rose went to him, I noticed Rose had left a rope for me. So when Rose-bun was too busy arguing with Trevor, who thought he loved me, I tied a knot around my head and hang myself."

"You say this like it was an easy choice," Audrey blinked and tried to keep a few tears away. After all Katherine's life hadn't been easy.

"Yeah well, it was. Klaus needed a human doppelgänger. As a vampire, I was no longer any use to him," Katherine explained and looked at the bottle in Audrey's hand; it was almost empty.

"But it didn't work. Klaus has hunted for you your entire life," Audrey whispered changing her position into a more comfortable one.

"I underestimated his peered for vengeance but living in a suitcase is better than dying so you can have your blood spilled over some silly little rock." Katherine looked at Audrey intently. Audrey didn't seem well, she was looking at the ground; blinking rabidly.

"What's wrong? Afraid I'm right? You don't want to die? There's another way out," Katherine cocked her head and cut her wrist with her nail. "Better hurry. Your opportunity is going, going, going and gone."

"You forget that I was a vampire… Kind of," Audrey said looking at Katherine, zeroing her expression. "But thanks to Elijah it was just some kind of spell."

"Yeah well, I made the other choice."

"When I woke up Trevor and Rose were all up in my face. Trevor was really mad, and so was Rose. Then Rose tried to kill me. She rushed over to me with a stake, but I caught the old lady who opened the door for me earlier. Rose accidentally stabbed her and I drank her blood. Then I sped away.

"Trevor died the other day, after running away from Klaus for 500 years with Rose."

Katherine chuckled darkly, "I never thought he would have lasted that long."

Audrey looked at Katherine from head to toe and rubbed her head with a sigh.

"I was looking out for myself, Audrey. I will always look out for myself. If you're smart, you'll do the same." Katherine turned to herself and opened the Petrova book that Audrey gave her.

"So that's why you came into town. You had Mason Lockwood to get you the moonstone, and I'm thinking Caroline has something to do with it, for you killed her so she would turn. You had Mason, but when Damon killed Mason you had no werewolf so you triggered Tyler's werewolf curse. It's all because you want to be forgiven by Klaus," Audrey realized and licked her lips. "This was all part of your plan, well except getting stuck in here."

"Hmm, you are a smart little girl," Katherine smirked and looked at Audrey with her head cocked. "Witches and their spells: so many ingredients, so many people to sacrifice."

"The vampire; why Caroline?"

"It could have been anyone I suppose but I like the poetry of Caroline," Katherine explained and leaned back on the wall.

"So you were gonna just hand us all over to be killed?" Audrey seemed shocked, truly. She never thought this of Katherine. Sure everyone told her she was a terrible bitch and manipulative, but she had never thought she was like this.

"Better you die than I," Katherine whispered as she got back up and walked back inside the tomb.

Audrey threw the empty bottle in her bag and closed it, picking it up. She turned on her heels and directed her way out. Before she was even able to step on the first step, Stefan came down. Audrey squinted her eyes at him and took a few steps back.

"What are you doing here?" Audrey asked from him. Stefan crossed his hands over his chest.

"I could ask you the same question," Stefan pursed his lips together and raised his brows. Audrey drew in a deep breath and rolled her eyes.

"Did Caroline tell you?"

"No, she kept your secret but it didn't take long for me to figure out what was that important that you'd have to keep it from me."

"Mh, I'm surprised that you even care what I do. Is Elena up there, waiting for you?" Audrey teased and stared at Stefan with a pout.

"Listen to me Audrey. Whatever she said to you is a lie. Do not listen to her. She's a liar," Stefan ranted to Audrey. Audrey frowned and shook her head.

"Stefan you didn't hear what she said," Audrey gestured towards the tomb opening. Stefan took a step forward, his green eyes worriedly scanning Audrey.

"You don't have to worry, I'm not gonna let anything happen to you," he seemed convincing. Audrey looked at his eyes; they were so pretty. So green and, caring…

"Mm, don't let me interrupt love birds," Katherine had reappeared to the entrance of the tomb. "There's nothing you can do, Stefan. I haven't even told you the best part of the story."

"1492 in Bulgaria, when I had fled from Klaus I went back home. First I saw people dead outside, I ran inside my former home. Then I found my father stabbed with a sword to the wall, he was hanging from it. Then I found my mother's body lying on the bed, stabbed in the heart. I cried over her body.

"He killed them, my entire family, just to get back at me for running. Whatever you do to escape Klaus, he will get his vengeance on your friends, your family and anyone that you've ever loved," Katherine articulated and leaned on the wall. She ran her hand up and down the stones.

Audrey blinked so her tears wouldn't block her view. She swallowed while looking at Katherine and bit the inside of her cheek.

"No, look at me. No, do not listen to her, okay?" Stefan tried to convince Audrey, but there was nothing he could do.

"Always the protector but even you must realize that she's doomed. There's nothing you can do to stop it unless of course you have this." Katherine showed them the moonstone. She played with it on her fingers.

Audrey chuckled and wiped her face. "Don't bullshit me Katherine. I always know when people are lying. I know when you are lying."

"It's the ultimate lie, isn't it? You spun this whole thing so that we would have to get the stone from you, didn't you?"

"I didn't spin anything, Stefan. It's the truth."

"No, let me guess. You want to trade that stone for your freedom, you manipulative, psychotic bitch," Stefan attacked Katherine with words, but she didn't flinch.

"My freedom? That's where you're wrong, Stefan. I don't want my freedom because when Klaus shows up to kill us all and he will, I'll be in the tomb, where no vampire will enter because they can't get out. I'll be the safest psychotic bitch in town."

Audrey and Stefan glared at each other before Katherine opened her mouth again.

"I don't know how to say this, but I need to," Katherine looked at Stefan and Audrey. "The reason I wanted to meet Audrey so fast is because I have seen the birthmark she had on the back of her left shoulder."

Stefan frowned strongly and took Audrey by the shoulder, ripping her long sleeved shirt open from it. He saw a birthmark, shade lighter than her skin, it looked like a triangle. Stefan stroked the skin around it and turned his look back to Katherine. Audrey got shivers; it was starting to get cold.

"My twin sister had the exact same mark. She died young because of the plague hence no one knew about her except me and my family. Audrey's body was capable to be a vampire and come back as a human. I've never heard of anything like that. Audrey needs to stay alive, even more than Elena," Katherine smiled sourly and looked at Audrey. "I think she's a reincarnation of my sister."

A/N: Do you want me to continue this story in this book or make another one? :) thanks