AN- Thank you so much for the beautiful response to this story! Your reviews were phenomenal. Shout outs to 'SecondCharmedOne' and 'Gorgina' for catching the hidden stuff which was that my OC's are described like the characters from the VD books. And two huge thank you's to 'BornToMakeYouHappy' for recommending this fic and to 'ThisLooksLikeAJobForMe' for adding it to her community *smiles*. There's also shout outs to 'Miss . Bonnie . Booth.' , 'vampirelover14', 'kari10', 'cranberrygrapejuice', 'MissKeriBaby85', 'miss-cute-7' and 'DamonLove18'. Thank you to all those who reviewed. This chapter is out thanks to my amazing VD BETA 'Dark . Priestress', she put in a ridiculous amount of effort into making this chapter any semblance of good, she's freakin awesome *huge grins to her*.

Disclaimer- I own the plot and that's it.

~ . ~ . ~ Chap 2: Dead Heart Beating ~. ~ . ~

~ If he loves you when you're dead and gone

Kiss, kiss a killer, kitty play along

But he's crawled inside your wounded soul

He's never ever gonna let you go ~

"Hey there." The girl turned away from her friend drenched head to toe to face the guy at the bar, unknown to her the head of the raven haired vampire facing away from her shot up at her voice. He was rigid staring straight ahead wondering how the fuck he could possibly have heard her speak. "We broke down not… too… far- Oh who am I kidding? We broke down god knows where!" she placed her hand on the bar counter laughing nervously realising how ridiculous this must look, at her laugh the raven haired vampire broke his whiskey glass as shock wracked his body.

"You walked here from 'god-knows-where' with bare feet." the guy behind the counter asked amused nodding at her bare feet.

She laughed lightly "Yeah, I really love my feet and they'd divorce me if I walked through that in 6 inch heels." she nudged her head toward the door reminding the guy of the raging storm outside.

He laughed lightly his shoulders vibrating. "Right, I'll see about getting you a mechanic. The ladies' is right through there if you wanna dry off." he nodded behind her directing her towards the lavatories.

"Thank you! So, much. Really." She placed her palm on the counter and turned toward the bathroom.

Damon's emotions were running a mile a minute. He was flooded with different feelings, all of them overwhelming him. He hadn't thought about her!

Never allowed himself to! Not once! That was his rule, his way of surviving the pain 147 years ago! He'd buried her deep inside him in the darkest corners where no light could reach them. He killed those emotions! He dedicated his life to another Katherine, Katherine Pierce had been his insurance of her and the emotions surrounding her never resurfacing to the point that Katherine Pierce had become his everything! He kept her buried….

But now he heard it. Her voice. He still recognised it even though he hadn't thought about it for an eternity, he heard it bell clear through the riot of sounds his over sensitive vampire enhanced hearing could pick out in the overly packed Grill on this stormy night. Shaking his foundations as one feeling fought the other for dominance, ripping him at the seams. One feeling however raged right from the core of his being, furiously fighting to will it true, it was the feeling of hope.

At another time, Damon would have been able to control that feeling, squash it, he'd have enough arrogance to keep up his façade, he'd remain nonchalant but right now it was too shocking, too unexpected, too much! How could he be hearing her voice? Was it her? Did he want it to be her? How could it be?

'It's been 147 years, she's dead!' He thought and for the first time in his life did Damon feel immeasurable pain at the mention of death. In a hundred and forty seven years he had never once thought that she would have withered away with age. In a subconscious way he had never thought about her at all for that very reason. Despite what happened between them, he never wanted to acknowledge the fact that she was human and would've grown old without him and died. The sense of hope flared to life again, demanding his attention. 'Of course I want it to be her! But if it is then she must be a vampire, too?'

He was still in his shocked state when he caught sight of her in his peripheral vision as she walked past, still oblivious to the vampire on emotional high to her right. A vampire with raging emotions was dangerous, everything you felt when human was infinitely amplified once you were turned, it was unbelievably overwhelming. And Damon had kept his emotions switched off for so long he wasn't sure what his brother was capable off right now. A vampire on an emotional high was very dangerous, he didn't know how to control it or his actions and no one knew that better than Stefan and that's why he began walking fast towards Damon as he saw his brothers rigid form as he listened in on the conversation having heard her voice, he'd seen Damon's inner turmoil clearly displayed on his face as he tried to come to terms with all these foreign emotions. As he saw her walk in Damon's direction he practically broke into a full blown human sprint.

Damon was frozen to the spot, staring straight ahead at the motionless, dreary wall. She walked his way and he smelled her. Her scent tugged torturously at his dormant heart. In his peripheral vision he saw her. The world moved in slow motion. Only she and he existed in his deranged state right now. A long blonde river of hair flowing down her petite back was what flashed through his mind instead of the drenched locks of hair that he was in reality looking at. He pictured clearly how it looked the first day he saw her.

* * * Flashback:

"Stefan it's hardly important for me to be there. Father will be much more at ease if I failed to attend, little brother." Damon told his brother as they strolled through the market area on the sunny afternoon prior to the big ball.

"Father will be most disconcerted if you were to stay at home." Stefan reasoned.

Laughing, Damon grabbed an apple from a close trolley and turned to face Stefan. "Out of love for my company no doubt, little brother?"

Catching Damon's meaning Stefan chose to change tactics. It was no secret that there was no love loss between his father and brother. "Think of mother and aunt Luisa, their special friend will be in attendance. Surely they will be eager to introduce us."

"Yes! The friend from Italy. I had quite forgotten about that." Shining the apple on his coat as they turned the deserted corner, Damon spoke. "Very well then I will attend. But only for them."

"Of course- " Stefan's reply was halted as a young maiden ran straight into Damon.

Instinctively Damon's hands reached to her arms to steady them. He peered down at the girl, she appeared to be from a family of good ranking, dressed in a lavender coloured gown with and intricate white embroidered lace bodice. She had rich deep blue eyes, the colour of oceans and lapis lazuli. She was petite and beautiful but the one thing that truly struck him was her hair. It was a soft pale gold, like honeyed blonde it flowed in gentle ripples down her back framing her face. It wasn't styled into elaborate locks like the usual hairstyle adopted by the women from high ranking families in society. Her hair was natural, in beautiful loose waves cascading freely. He could feel the softness of it in the lock of hair that was trapped where his palm connected with the warm bare porcelain skin of her arm. Another shocking feature was that despite her distraught look and the scruffy dirt that marred her face, hiding most of her features from his view she was by far the most beautiful thing he'd ever laid his eyes on.

"I beg your pardon, Sir." Her voice was simply beautiful. Bell-like. "I was being chased by a rather frightening man." She made an effort to back away from him but he held her far too firmly for her to move, his eyes intense and piercing as he gazed down at her.

"Is he still pursuing you, Miss?" his voice was firm and penetrating locking her into place. He was completely taken a back by the odd unfamiliar sense of protectiveness he felt over this girl, a perfect stranger to him.

"Oh no, no. I think I lost him when I jumped over the wooden gate of the nearby stable." She blushed furiously at her confession, her eyes momentarily grew large before she lowered her gaze to the floor nervously.

Damon was rather amused at her obvious embarrassment. It was unheard of for a woman being able to do such a thing. It was frowned upon by society for any female to indulge in such unladylike activities but he was nothing but impressed as he took her in. She had not only scaled a gate but she had done it in a gown, without ripping it no less. Damon was a known rebel and he'd never met a girl quite like her in all his 21 years. "A near by stable?"

"Well, now that I think about it, it was not very near at all. However it is the first stable one sees when one follows this path out the market area."

Damon nodded knowingly with a hard expression on his face.

"Miss, did you manage to see the face of your attacker?" Stefan questioned, opening his mouth for the first time since the exchange between Damon and the young lady had begun. Stefan's voice snapping Damon out his musings and causing him to finally release his grip on her.

"Yes Sir, I did. He was a rather burly man." Both brothers looked at her as she retold them what had transpired.

"I do beg your pardon Miss. I am Damon and this is my younger brother Stefan." Damon suavely introduced them and Stefan nodded gentlemanly at his name.

"Pleased to meet you, though I wish it were under better circumstances. My name is Katherine." She gracefully curtsied before them. The wind picked up slightly as she rose, gently blowing her beautiful hair back. Damon nodded and did something that he rarely ever had reason to do recently, he smiled at the angelic looking girl before him and actually meant it.

* * * End Flashback.

He lost control. All sense of rationality left him and he flew from his seat and advanced on her, grabbing tightly on her arm and spinning her to face him.

She squealed in surprise and stared at him somewhat shocked and awestruck as she slammed into his chest and stumbled back from the impact not making it very far with his hand keeping her firmly in his grip.

There she was. His eyes burned as he looked at her. Every suppressed emotion for the last 147 years hitting him 10 folds, all at once. He was petrified by it but relished in it all at the same time. He was seeing her. Right there before him. Katherine Grimaldi. Very much alive! Too alive! He realised suddenly and frowned fractionally as he tuned out everything surrounding them, confusion marred his expression stared with intense ice blue orbs. That's not possible! His mind screamed but he definitely heard it. The erratic, loud thrumming of her heart.

"Kathy?" he spoke below a whisper inaudible to her. Staring at her. How could it be? She was right here before him but he could hear her heart hammering loudly behind her ribcage. He towered over her with an unreadable expression as he tried to make sense of what he was happening.

"Er, hi? Can I help you?" she gazed up at him confused, slightly taken aback and awestruck at the guy who was holding onto her for no apparent reason.

WHAT! His eyes grew large and darkened spelling danger and confusion, masking his internal hurt totally. She didn't recognize him? Is she a doppelganger of Katherine's? How could it- "

"Damon." Stefan intervened and his vampire hearing picked up the low feral growl that Damon let out upon his intrusion, however he never relinquished his hold on her. "Hi, there I'm sorry about my brother it's just that- "

"I'm a mechanic." Damon inserted quickly with an innocent look, his lips arching into his signature crooked smirk but imploring her with his eyes, something within himself not allowing him to compel her. Stefan shot him a look clearly not expecting that and not liking where he was heading with this. At any other time being able to irk Stefan would've been enjoyable but right now he just wanted him to fuck the hell off. Damon fixed Stefan with the most threatening glare, daring him to say anything to the contrary before looking back to the girl in front of him with the most intense gaze ever imaginable, a look so strong that Stefan heard Bonnie, Caroline and Elena sucked in a breath having caught it all the way across the room from where they spied.

Catching the slip in Damon's wording Stefan realized what Damon was leaning toward and intervened. This girl had a pulse, she couldn't be Katherine could she? He'd been in Damon's position once, when he first saw Elena. He ruefully thought that fate truly did hate them. Not only had it allowed for them to turn into life sucking killers, destroyed their brotherhood, let them fall in love with a heartless vampire, and sent them a doppelganger of her to tease at their heart, it was torturing Damon in the same cruel way as it did him at the beginning of the year, a sick joke, sending the other brother a doppelganger, this time to Damon. He knew what it felt like. His brothers feeling for the girl were probably overflowing right now. Who knew what would happen if he left Damon alone with her. He wasn't fully in control of himself right now. Turning to the girl he smiled, pointedly ignoring Damon beside him. "Yes, we both are mechanics."

Damon momentarily thought of snapping Stefan's neck. Not having much choice he smiled at her arching his brow wondering why he didn't just compel her to leave with him. "Yes, that we are." There was no way he was letting his brother get in his way but he needed answers and Stefan had made it impossible for him to exclude him while getting them.

"Wow, helpful town." She smiled somewhat sceptically before shaking it off. "Great, um, I'm not exactly sure where exactly we're stuck but I know how to get back there."

As she spoke for the first time in 147 years Damon remembered what it felt like to ache.

"Katrina?"

His head snapped up at the girl standing slightly behind them. He released the girl in his arms and watched curiously as she responded to the name.

"Hey Terri, found us some mechanics. Actually... they found me." She chuckled and frowned trying to word it right.

Damon was momentarily paralyzed as he watched. Stefan however caught himself and spoke up trying not to raise suspicion. "My brother here, overheard your predicament." He shrugged his shoulders for effect and noted that they seemed to buy it.

"Lucky us." Terri smiled but still held back.

"I can show you where the car is but can we just dry up a bit first?"

"Sure. We'll still be here." Stefan pointed to the table that Damon previously sat at and smiled at the girls who turned to leave. Damon stood frozen staring after her for a while longer before Stefan's hand on his shoulder shook him out of it. "Come on. She'll be back." Damon was still not in control of his feelings, the only emotion that worked it's way to the surface however was confusion. He walked toward the table and seated himself across from Stefan but remained lost in his inner musings. "Damon it can't be her…"

His eye's flashed lethally and darted up to meet Stefan's empathetic gaze. "What?"

"It's not her Damon… It can't be… We both heard her pulse. I wish it were her as well Damon but it just can't be. She's identical to her I'll admit that but she's a dop-"

"Don't say doppelganger Stefan!" Damon's voice was lethal. "She is not her look-alike, she's not her doppelganger! I don't know how it's possible either, but that is my Katherine!" he hissed.

Stefan caught the claim in his words but said nothing. Part of him hurt for his brother and wanted to reason with him but another part stifled that feeling. It thrived on the fact that Damon claimed this girl to be his instead of the vampire Katherine who destroyed all semblance of his brother.

For the sake of the girl however Stefan tried again. "Damon she'd be well over a hundred and sixty three years old."

"When you first saw Elena, you were confused. You heard her heartbeat and knew it wasn't Katherine Pierce." Damon shook his head rejecting Stefan's words. "But right now when I touched her, I felt my Katherine! Katherine Grimaldi. I know Katherine! That's my Kathy! The second I heard her voice she consumed me. The moment I touched her and I knew her immediately! I recognised everything about her! She. Is. My. Kathy!"

Stefan knew better than to argue this with him. "Well looks like we'll find out soon enough." He and Damon relaxed their stance and began speaking midway through a conversation about football.

"Sorry about that." The girl said as she approached the table.

"Totally." The girl that was with her, Terri said. "We just had to dry off a bit.

"Not a problem at all." Damon piped. "Can I get you two something to drink?"

"No thanks, we have to be getting back. Two of our friends are still in the car waiting." Terri said and Damon hid his look of annoyance.

"Of course. Let's get to it then." Damon stood grabbing his keys off the table. "My name's Damon by the way and that's my little brother Stefan." Damon introduced earning him an eye roll from Stefan at the little brother quip.

With a breath taking smile the girl stuck out her hand and shook Damon's. The electricity was back at the contact "Katrina." She said and Damon's gaze intensified at her name and she looked at him unsurely before continuing. "And this is my friend Teresa."

"Please call me Terri." the girl said with a smile as Damon took her hand next to keep up his façade.

Thankfully, the storm had let up as they walked out. Stefan walked slightly behind them sending Elena a look to say he'd explain later before he disappeared through the doors. Once outside his gaze stayed fixed on Damon who was staring at Katrina with deep concentration.

She had a different name but it was still far too similar to Katherine's and the feelings that she evoked in him with her touch was simply impossible to ignore. This was his Katherine, Damon knew it. "It's the car over here." He walked ahead of the girls towards his black Ferrari unlocking the doors with the remote. He smirked when he heard their footsteps falter.

"Holy!" Terri exclaimed. "That's a-"

"… 2005 Ferrari 612 Scaglietti! No way!" Katrina spoke animatedly causing Damon to smirk as he opened the driver's side door and pulled aside the seat for her to get in. Only then did he realize she knew the year of the car.

"I was gonna say, awesome car, but yeah that too!" Terri laughed as she ran her hand along the body not caring at all that the car was wet.

"You know about cars?" Damon asked somewhat impressed as Katrina walked towards the door he held open.

"Not details, but I can definitely recognise a car like this. You're really a mechanic?" Katrina's excited gaze never broke away from the car.

"As a sideline." Stefan answered opening the door for Terri to jump in.

"Her brothers own a garage back home." Terri explained as she hopped in and Stefan took his seat on the front passenger's side.

"Where to ladies?" Damon threw the full force of his charm into his smirk as he stared at Katrina through the review mirror.

"Straight down the street, then make a right at a bookshop. I can't remember the name but I'll know it when I see it." She directed slightly blushing under his gaze.

"I know the one." Damon said as he backed out the parking space, burning rubber as he took off in the direction of Mystic Fall's Antique Book Merchandiser, the only book shop on this side of town.

~.~.~

Damon pulled up next to the cherry red 1970 Chevelle SS in record time and let out a low whistle. "Nice ride. Didn't expect to see this." he said as he stepped aside and let Katrina out.

"What, you mean for a 17 year old girl?" she laughed as Damon and Stefan eyed the car. "Was a heap of junk when my eldest brother first bought it. They had to rebuild most of it. Turned out pretty awesome, didn't it?"

"I'll say." Stefan smiled genuinely as Damon popped the hood.

"Took you long enough we were about to come looking for you." Damon, who had been very aware of the two heartbeats inside the car, heard a female say as she opened the passenger door. The hood however blocked the new arrivals from his view and by the time Stefan had walked over to the driver's side and got in, the girls had already jumped out the car not allowing him a look either.

"We had to walk for ages before we found a place that was open." Katrina replied. "Thank god we found a mechanic."

"Start her up Stefan." Damon called to Stefan and the engine roared to life.

"Wow that was quick. How much do I owe you?" Katrina asked grabbing her bag and rummaging for her purse.

"No charge." Damon smiled ensnaring her as he let the hood drop. A loud bang echoed through the night as Stefan simultaneously shut the car door having stepped out the car. The noise seemed fitting, like a warning for what they were about to see. Beside Katrina was a petite, curly red haired girl with deep brown eyes and beside her was a catlike looking blonde with short hair and bright green eyes. Both brothers stood frozen trying their hardest to appear normal given they were staring at the ghosts of their past.

"No please I insist." Katrina said pulling out her purse.

"No charge for newcomers to the town." Stefan spoke on autopilot his mind in two places at once.

"That's really sweet of you, thanks a lot." Katrina smiled tucking her hair behind her ear. "Hey girls this is Damon and Stefan. Damon, Stefan, this is my not so identical twin sister Carly and my best friend Ivy Travolta." She pointed out the blonde and redhead respectively.

* * * Flashback:

"Miss Katherine, I do insist you accompany us back to our home. It is not too far from here. It would be most terrible of us to leave you be in your current state. At the very least one of the maids can clean out your gown for you before you make your way." Damon implored her.

"Oh no. It is very kind of you to offer but I couldn't possibly burden-" she made to decline but Stefan cut her off.

"It is no burden at all we assure you. Our mother would be extremely disconcerted if she knew we had not assisted a lady."

"Very well then. Thank you very, very much Sirs." Katherine curtsied once again.

"Please call me Damon." He interjected with a smile and slight bow of his head. "Shall we?" he held out his arm for her and she took it after hesitating for merely a second.

They walked the way to the house before stopping at the gates. The girl looked troubled realising they had stopped at the first house they had come across whilst walking away from the market.

Unconsciously she gripped Damon's arm a bit tighter and something tugged at his heart. "This house belongs to us Miss Katherine." He informed her trying to settle her nerves. "Rosetta could you please tell Derrick that Master Damon requests his presence at once. And Harriett, please attend to our guest." Damon spoke to the maids who let them into the mansion.

Harriet moved quickly towards Katherine. "How do you do Miss? Please come this way." She lead Katherine up the stairs to a room where she could freshen up whilst Rosetta scurried away to get Derrick the blacksmith that attended to their horses.

Damon waited impatiently for the burly dirty man to appear, losing some of his control at the sight of him Damon brought his fist hard into contact with him dropping him to the floor. "I want him locked up never to see the light of day!" He ordered the officers who Stefan had called for and they nodded before dragging the culprit away.

"What's going on?" a timid voice asked.

Damon and Stefan both directed their attention to the doorway. Reigning in their harsh facial expressions they smiled warmly at the petite red haired 16 year old girl, Evelyn Travolta. They stepped forward to greet her but stopped as she gasped and looked at the stairs diverting their attention. "I thought you were going to the market place?" she questioned.

Damon followed her gaze, to a beautiful freshened up Katherine who had just re-emerged from the upper floor, wondering how they knew each other. His breath hiked as Katherine smiled slightly catching his gaze. "I did but I ran into some trouble along the way." She said worry marring her expression as she replied to Evelyn.

"Oh my god, Katherine! Are you alright? Mother is going to kill me!" Evelyn exclaimed bringing her hand worriedly to her forehead and ran up the stairs to stand by Katherine.

"Oh don't worry about it Ivy, I'm perfectly alright I promise you. These gentlemen assisted me and have been very kind ever since." She smiled and gestured to Damon and Stefan before turning back to Evelyn. "Did you manage to find Carlotta?"

"She most definitely did sister." A young girl aged about twelve, with darker blonde hair, a catlike face and lovely green eyes stepped through the doorway and into view. "Are you certain that you are alright?" she questioned worry evident in her voice.

"I most certainly am thanks to these two very courteous gentlemen." Katherine smiled and Damon and Stefan bowed their heads slightly in acknowledgment of the little girl.

Evelyn beamed placing her hand on Katherine's and bringing her down the remaining steps to face Damon and Stefan. "This is my best friend from Italy, Katherine and her younger sister Carlotta, the daughters of Amelia Grimaldi, the best friend of our mothers'." Evelyn wasted no time in continuing. "And Katherine, these are the two endearingly inseparable brothers I spoke of. My cousin's Damon and Stefan Salvatore, my Aunt Gabriella's sons…"

* * * End Flashback.

Damon and Stefan stared shocked at three girls from their past standing before them very much alive.

"Now, what are the chances of it not being her rabbit-boy?" Damon asked rhetorically, low enough that only Stefan could pick it up with his vampire hearing. "Either we're fate's favourite two vampires and its fucking gone doppelganger crazy or that's my girl from 1863 standing next to our cousin and my girl's little sister whose been upgraded to twin."

"I'm at least paying for the gas for driving us here in the middle of the night." Katrina's voice partially snapped Damon out of it. She pulled out some bills and put it into his shirt pocket not wanting to give him a chance to refuse. If it were possible Damon's heart would've been pounding right now.

"Who should I make the receipt out to?" Damon asked looking at her intently grabbing a scrap of paper out his pocket as a makeshift receipt.

"Katerina Grimaldi." she smiled beautifully to him and turned to stuff her bag back into the car.

He smirked at the last name and his gaze darted quickly to a perplexed Stefan as if to say: 'I told you so'. "Right, and you're staying where?"

"A house on Forest Drive, number 17." Her brows furrowed together and she pulled her lip between her teeth as she thought hard about the exact address.

"I know it." Damon smiled wickedly burning the address into his memory.

"Really? Do you mind directing us there." Carly piped in quickly.

"Actually we were headed in that direction." Damon's smile grew. "Weren't we Stefan?" he asked without sparing a glance at his brother.

"Uh… Yes." not having much choice, Stefan agreed. Curiosity controlled his agreeability. Part of him knew that these were the same girls from 1863 but what he didn't know was how it was possible. "We'll lead the way."

"That would be great thanks! Are you sure you don't mind?" Katrina let out a relieved breath.

"Oh trust me I don't mind at all." He said in a sincere voice before dropping his gaze to her and continuing. "It would be my pleasure, to take you to places… any where you want to go." his voice was a hundred different shades of suggestive and he smirked at her as a familiar blush worked its way to her cheeks. She did a double take wondering if she heard right, and stammered something unintelligible under her breath not realizing that she was staring at a vampire with extraordinary hearing before walking towards her car.

Damon's smirk grew at the 'Holy shit' she cussed before she walked away.

"Told you so Stef." He quipped over his shoulder as he walked towards his car.

He wanted her. She was his. He just had to make her fall in love with him again. And no one was stopping him. She belonged to him. He wasn't letting her go this time. No way in hell, he was letting her go this time.

~.~.~ Continue? Review and let me know ~.~.~

End note- As most of you realized by know, Katrina is Katherine Grimaldi. She just doesn't remember jack about Damon or the 1800's which is the same case with her twin 17 year old Carly (who was 12 year old Carlotta in 1863) and Ivy (who was Damon's cousin Evelyn in 1863 nicknamed Ivy). You'll find out why they can't remember soon. Their pics are up on my profile under the story name. I don't own them I just imagined that they'd look like this. Much love.