A/N: Thanks to all the kind reviews! I'm glad you think it's a great story because I got a little discouraged because no one was reading :( I know I am not the best writer but I love it and I'm trying to get better. I need to write though. I get all these ideas and I have to get them out. On another note any of my faithful reviewers, do you have any tips for how to get more views for my story?

The next few chapters will be focused on the vampire story line and I will give a hint that I will be following quite closely the actual events of the vampire round up but with my own little spin and of course with the inclusion of Elena. I'm sorry also if my portrayal of Stefan is quite mindless and he's in the background a lot but to be honest he's just not my favorite character and I will guiltily confess that at times I have nicknamed him Stefanie (Stefan fans please don't kill me) haha. Anyway please enjoy the chapter.

PS: Two character will pop up this chapter that I honestly did not plan on including but on a whim I decided to ;)

Elena POV

I brushed my dress down trying to make myself presentable as I stood outside the apothecary. It had been a challenge to convince Damon to stay at the estate but eventually he had agreed. I wanted to speak to this Pearl woman. I walked inside. This time I looked around appraising the items. Jars and bottles of unknown substances lined shelves and herbs and roots hung suspended from the ceiling. None of the herb I was looking for though. I looked to the counter and was disappointed to see that Pearl was not there. Her daughter was though. I approached confidently.

"Hello, I am looking for Miss Pearl?" I asked keeping my voice pleasant so as not to frighten the slight girl. She met my gaze easily and I was taken aback by the wisdom I found in her eyes. A shock rushed through me. How could I have been so blind? I had become so used to being around humans that I had not bothered to sense out any other vampires but this child was definitely one of us. She smiled at me in a guarded way.

"You must be the other doppelganger. Mama has wanted to meet you for some time. Katherine and she have been good friends for a long time." Once again her youthful look threw me off as she spoke her words in a tone of a woman.

"I apologize I was not aware that there were more of us here. And I'm sorry I did not catch your name?" I wanted this girl to trust me enough to reveal information about her mother to me. She smiled kindly at me.

"My name is Annabelle, but I prefer Anna. You're Elena, yes?" I nod carefully, still unsure if I could trust her completely.

"It's nice to meet you Anna but it would help me greatly if you could fetch your mother for me."

"I'm sorry Elena but she is not here right now. She's on an errand. What is it that you need?" I warred with myself. I did not know if I could trust this woman-like-child but then again what other choice did I have? I needed to find out about the vervain.

"I was out feeding the other night and the man I was feeding on was full of vervain. I wanted to know if your mother was aware of this and knew who was providing the humans with it." Anna looked alarmed by this news, which meant she had not been aware of this at all.

"This is some terrible news. Mama and I have come to enjoy our lives here in Mystic Falls. If there are humans in possession of vervain, that could jeopardise everything. Thank you for bringing this to my attention. I will speak to my mother as soon as she gets back. Where can she call on you?" She spoke so calculated and calm, almost soldier like. It was incredibly off-putting.

"She can find me at Veritas Estate." Recognition lit up on Anna's face.

"Of course. How silly of me. Mama told me that Katherine was staying with the Salvatores. I will make sure she contacts you as soon as possible." As I left the store I felt a little better. The girl had been completely polite but she still made me feel uneasy.

I soon caught the scent of fresh blood in the air. My head snapped in the direction of a narrow alley and I used my vampire speed to zoom over to it. The scene before me was clear instantly. There were two vampires. One male, one female. They were feeding on a man. By the sounds coming from the man it was clear they had not compelled him. That was incredibly stupid of them. I sped over and pushed them both off. The male was harder to subdue meaning he must be just about as old as me but the female was clearly new. I approached the bleeding man, thankfully finding a pulse, and held out my own bleeding wrist for him to drink. I met his gaze darkly.

"Leave and forget this." I watched the two vampires, who had their backs to me as the man scrambled away. When they turned around, my heart leaped into my throat. I couldn't stop myself from rushing forward.

"Jer! Oh my god, I've missed you so much!" I held him in my arms for the first time in over three hundred years and I felt like I had come home. I could hear the surprised happiness in his tone as he squeezed me back.

"Elena? Oh God, I never thought I'd see you again." By now tears were streaming down my face. I finally pulled away and the smile on my face just would not go away. He was smiling too but he was not the same boy I had known. There was the tell tale signs of a life full of blood and murder in his eyes.

"What are you doing here, Jer? Not that I'm not happy to see you." I was hoping he had somehow found me and was coming to find me. I would be disappointed though.

"Didn't you know? Mystic Falls in a pretty big vampire hotspot right now. There's tons of them here. Including you it seems." Was I really that oblivious? I was a little angry at Katherine now for not telling me. She had just said it would be fun to go somewhere quiet. Well apparently it wasn't as quiet as she seemed to want me to believe. We were interrupted by our reunion by a loud clearing of their throat from the female vampire standing to the side. Jeremy laughed slightly as he held out an arm to her and she walked and leant into him instantly.

"Elena I'd like you to meet Victoria, Vicki, the love of my life." I appraised her with my eyes. Her face was quite pretty though it had the signs of a harsh life prior to turning. Her hair was in a simple bun and her dress was quite expensive looking, in its fine burgundy silk. There was something in her eyes though that I did not like. I smiled at her politely though.

"It's nice to meet you, I'm Elena Jeremy's sister. Where are you staying Jer and how long have you been here?"

"We just got in today. And we haven't really decided yet but we saw a little tavern that has rooms to rent. Where are you staying?" I felt a little embarrassed to confess my lodgings because Jeremy and I had grown up without much of anything, always hating the richer folk.

"Katherine and I are staying with the Salvatore family at their manor." I spoke carefully and I hoped he would not be upset with me. Vicki's eyes lit up at the mention of the mansion and I narrowed my eyes at her inconspicuously. I did not trust her. Jeremy looked angry though and I immediately geared up to start apologizing but this was not why he was angry.

"Katherine? You're still with her? Why Elena? She tried to kill me!"

"I know she did and that's why I stayed with her but now it's like...I don't know but it's like she actually cares about me. I think that if she knew you were here she wouldn't try anything again." I tried and I was surprised to hear myself defending her but after the things she has revealed recently I had felt closer to her. He still looked unconvinced but he sighed.

"Okay let's not argue about this anymore. Vicki and I are going to go settle in but we'll catch up soon Elena." He gave me a quick hug before releasing me to put his arm around Vicki and leading her away. He should be wary of her. I groaned as I realized that in the excitement of finally seeing my brother again I had forgotten to berate him for feeding so carelessly.

I walked through the doors of the estate and I walked in the direction I heard voices coming from. I entered the dining room and I realized it was lunch time. As I entered I heard a collection of gasps and I frowned at them. Katherine looked only slightly alarmed, she looked a little angry though. Stefan looked concerned and Damon was already on his feet rushing over to me. Giuseppe was watching me with distrust and suspicion. I did not understand what was going on.

"Elena what happened! Are you alright?" Damon spoke fearfully and I gave him a confused look.

"I'm fine why wouldn't I be?" He frowned in confusion but grabbed a little of the front of my dress.

"Elena, you're covered in blood!" he whispered anxiously and I looked down finally. Oh dear. Jeremy and Vicki's messy handy work was all over the simple pale cream dress I wore. No wonder everyone was so dismayed. I looked like I was attacked or worse had killed someone. I forced a shaky laugh. Damon looked at me like I was crazy.

"Really I am fine. I went to the art store today to look for some new supplies and I knocked paint all over myself. I'm sorry if I scared you all. If you would excuse me I must go change and clean up." I rushed out of the room hastily, wanting to clean up quickly.

As I entered my room I was relieved to see Emily there. She had wanted to discuss dress option with me for the founder's ball. I asked her to draw me a bath instead and she set to work on it. Once I had bathed, I wrapped myself in my amazingly comfortable silk robe, which was a gift from Katherine for my three hundredth birthday. I did not know how she remembered it but she had presented it to me one day taking me by complete surprise. I heard a knock on my door and I quickly told Emily to discard my soiled dress. I did not want it anymore. I opened my door hesitantly. I should have known who would be on the other side. He did not give me the chance to shut the door again as he pushed past me into the room. Of course it would have been all too easy to stop him if I wanted to.

"Elena what really happened? I'm not stupid; I know blood when I see it! Did someone hurt you? Or did you hurt someone?" he said, muttering the last part a little hesitantly and I could see how frantic he was. I placed my hands on his face to make him look at me.

"I'm fine really. No one hurt me and I did not hurt anyone. Something really great happened actually. I ran into my brother!" I couldn't help my grin and I saw his shoulder relax considerably. He soon smiled at me.

"I did not know you had a brother? Is he like you?"

"He's a vampire, yes. I haven't seen him in three hundred years and I've missed him so much. I don't trust the vampire he was with though, she seemed incredibly shifty." I frowned slightly remembering my brother's 'friend'. There was just a glint in her eyes that I did not like. Damon placed a comforting hand on my shoulder and I smiled up at him gratefully but my mind still kept flashing to her.

"So what happened when you spoke to Miss Pearl today?"

"I didn't get to speak to her but I spoke to her daughter, Anna and it turns out she has no idea about the vervain whatsoever. Whoever is doing this is incredibly careful and that is worrying. I just still cannot believe the way Katherine is acting about it. It's as if she doesn't care!" I began to pace a little and Damon stood in front of me with a placating look.

"Maybe she is just trying to be calm about it. You've told me that she is many years older than you so maybe she knows she can handle it." I knew he was just trying to calm me down and I smiled at him to show that I accepted what he said as I let him pull me into his arms but as I rested my head on his chest, I could not help but wonder if Katherine had something to do with all of this.

A/N: Okay guys hope you liked it! The Jeremy/Vicki thing will be a subplot and I will hint that Vicki is definitely going to start trouble as is usual. I hope my portrayal of Jeremy was accurate. I was so glad they brought him back for next season. Next chapter Giuseppe decides to complicate things even more. I think there will be one more chapter before the founders ball. Please review!