I know I'm a couple of days late, again. Life is too crazy :S

Now a lot of you guys are asking if 'He' is Klaus. Well...it could be. Or...maybe Elijah...or...maybe somebody else that is not in The Vampire Diaries show. Oh also, a lot of you want Isabella and Damon to be together. That thought may change after this chapter. Sorry. I have to agree with some of you. They'd make one awesome couple.

Hope you like this chapter

Clothing on my profile

Chapter 3

A couple days later, Stefan called Elena and I to come down to the boarding house. It was time we investigate what the Lockwoods are because obviously, they weren't human. We decided to call Ric because of Isobel's re-search; she would have to come across something. Stefan, Elena and I sat on one couch while Damon sat on a chair beside us. When we heard a knock on the door and Damon answered it.

"Thanks for coming, Ric" Stefan said from the couch.

"Can I get you something to drink," we heard Damon say from the front door. "Coffee, bourbon? Bourbon in your coffee?"

"Well," Ric said as he entered the living room. "Elena mentioned you needed my help"

Damon showed him the couch across from us and Ric took a seat on it. "Yeah," Stefan said. "We were hoping you could help shed some light on the Lockwood family"

Alaric looked at all of us funny. "Now, why would I know anything about the Lockwoods?"

"Well you wouldn't," Damon said. Alaric glared at him as Damon took a seat in his chair he was in before. "But your dead not dead vampire might"

"Isobel's research," Elena said. "From when you guys were at Duke together"

"You said," Stefan said. "That she has spent years researching this town"

"Isobel's research," Alaric said. "Here in Mystic Falls was routed in folklore

and legends. At the time I thought most of which was fiction"

"Like that amazing vampire story" Damon said sarcastically. Alaric gave him a glare.

"Aside from vampires," Elena said. "What else?"

"The lycanthrope" Alaric said.

My mouth immediately dropped. "Werewolves?" I asked. Alaric nodded. "The Lockwoods could be werewolves? Oh, this is just great" I said as I fell back into the couch.

"No way," Damon said. "Impossible, way too launchy"

"Is it?" Stefan asked as he looked at him.

Damon glared at him. "I've been on this planet for hundred and sixty some odd years, never some across one. If werewolves exist, where the hell are they?"

"Damon," I said. "There aren't a lot around"

Damon glared at me. "How would you know?"

"If you forget, I use to date a werewolf and so did Justin. Actually, Justin was a werewolf because he was kissed by a mutt breed of werewolf and Mason was a pure breed-"

"Anyway! On with the story?"

I glared at him. "Anyway, Mason told me that there are three types of werewolves. The purebred, the mutts and…the lupus"

"The wolf" Stefan said.

I nodded. "I've only seen the purebred and the mutt. I've never seen the lupus"

"Why do you suspect the Lockwoods?" Alaric asked us.

"Because," Damon said. "Vervain didn't affect the Mayor at Founder's day but the Gilbert device did and it affected his son Tyler"

"And," Stefan said. "At the school carnival his uncle Mason exhibited inhuman behavior when he fought with the carnival workers. I'd suggest it's some sort of supernatural ability"

"We were hoping," Elena said. "That Isobel's re-search could…help us figure out what it is"

"Well," Alaric said. "All her things are still at Duke. I mean…her office is still there, she's technically still missing"

"So can we get access to it?" Damon asked with a smile. Alaric shook his head side to side. Thinking about what to do. "Ric," Damon said. "We don't know what we're dealing with. If this wolf man thing is true, I've seen enough movies to know it's not good. It means Mason Lockwood is a real life Lon Chaney and that Tyler punk may just very well be Lon Chaney junior which means Bella Lugosi, meaning me, is totally screwed"

XXXXX

"Are you sure you want to do this?" Stefan asked as he was sitting on my bed. I was packing for the trip to Duke.

"I'd rather pluck my eyes out then go to Duke with Damon," I said. I leaned down and looked at him. "I wish you could come"

"You know what; maybe we should wait a couple of days, huh?" Stefan said as he sat up from the bed and walked around the bed and stood in front of me. "Wait until Caroline is less of a danger and then I could go with you"

I smiled. "I could always not go"

"No, I want you to go. Elena has a lot of questions about her lineage and about Katherine and…Isobel might have some information on Isabella. Look, I'm not going to let the fact that Damon is going keep the two of you from an opportunity to get some answers"

I smiled. "I know you're just boiling deep down inside"

Stefan laughed. "Just a little. I love you"

"I love you more" I said as I kissed him. "So," he said as we pulled back. "did you find out where Harper is?"

"No, I've left a bunch of messages on her phone. Mom and Dad say she's not in New York and they said they'd let me know if she walks in…This is my fault"

"No, its not-

"No it's true" I said cutting him off "I shouldn't have gotten mad at her like that. She probity left town. Probity went to do some vampire slaying" I said with a smile.

Stefan patted the back on my head. "Hey," he said as he grabbed my face and turned my head to him. "She'll show up. Maybe not today, maybe not tomorrow. She'll come around"

I smiled. "I hope so" We heard a honk coming from outside. I rolled my eyes. "That's Damon" I said as I grabbed my bag and walked out of my room. Stefan followed. I walked up to Elena's room and knocked on the door. "Elena! Come on! It's time to go!"

Right after I said that, the door swung open and Elena stood there with her bag in her hand. "Ready" she said.

Stefan walked downstairs, Elena followed him and I followed her. At the bottom of the stairs, Jenna and Alaric were talking. Stefan walked pass Jenna and Alaric followed Stefan. Elena and I went to the bottom of the stairs but stopped when we saw Aunt Jenna looking at Alaric with a funny look. "Hey," Elena said. "Are you ok?" "Yeah," Aunt Jenna said. "Just…men and their baggage" she said with a laugh.

"Hey," I said. "Aunt Jenna," she looked at me. "Can you let me know A.S.A.P if Harper happens to come here. I'm getting worried about her""

"No problem" she said. Both Elena and I told her goodbye and walked out the door.

We walked to Alaric's car as we walked up, and there was Damon. Leaning against the car with his arms folded across his chest. He started talking to Stefan. "Sorry you can't come too, Stef" Damon said.

Elena jumped in the back of the car and took her seat while I shoved my bag in the back while glaring at Damon. I then turned around and looked back at Stefan. Stefan looked at Damon before turning back to look at me. "Call me if you need anything" He said.

"Oh," Damon said. "I'll take really good care of her" I gave him one last glare before I grabbed the back of Stefan's neck and pulled him in for a kiss. After we pulled back, I gave him a smile before Damon pushed off the car. "Ok, time to go" he said as he walked around and opened the front passenger door. Stefan opened my door and I got in. Alaric then drove off.

XXXXX

We were on the road for an hour already. In complete and utterly silence. I was still mad at Damon. Harper may not be home and she may be fine with being what she is but I wasn't. During the drive, Damon turned around and looked at me with a smile. "How you doing back there?" He asked. I glared at him, rolled my eyes, cross my arms over my cheats and looked back out the window I was looking threw earlier. "You know, all this pretending to hate me thing is getting a little silly"

Alaric let out a laugh. "I don't' think she's pretending. You did kill her best friend"

"There is a huge asterisk next to that statement: she came back as a human…a half human"

"You know what's funny," I said with my arms still folded across my chest. "You knew she had Isabella's blood in her system but yet you still, out of you own arrogant ways, snapped her neck making her dead"

"Alex how are you sure I even knew she had Isabella's blood in her system"

"Stefan told you"

"No, I hadn't seen Stefan at all that day"

"Surrrre" I said as I grabbed my headphones and started blasting my iPod.

XXXXX

We pulled into Duke and parked right in front of the building Isobel use to work in. "So," Alaric said as we walked threw the front doors of the building. "Isobel was officially employed by the anthropology department given that most paranormal phenomenon has rounded in folklore," we walked into a room where there was a girl digging threw a filing cabinet. "Excuse me, hi. I'm Alaric Saltzman," The girl turned around and looked at all four of us. "I called earlier"

"Yes," she said. She walked up to Alaric and shook his hand. "I'm Vanessa Monroe, re-search assistant compared to folklore," she looked at Damon, Elena and I with a funny look. "Uh, let me just grab Isobel's keys"

She moved back before Alaric spoke up. "I'm sorry, these are my friends. "Alex, Elena and Damon. I hope this isn't too much of an…incision"

"Oh please," she said as she walked behind the desk beside her and dug into the desk. "Isobel's office is right through there. Isobel was one of my first professors. I'm a grad student. She was brilliant and one of the reasons I went into folklore. Uh…I have to ask, has there been any news?"

"No, I'm afraid not"

She gave Alaric a nod. "Right, it's this way" she said as she got up from the desk she was sitting on and opened the door in front of us. She opened the door and we followed her in. The office was filled with about everything you can think of. Accent artifacts, old worn out papers the only thing that was from this century was her computer. "I'll grab the light," Vanessa said. "Feel free to look around. It's fascinating, isn't it?"

We all walked to different bookshelves to look around. Elena and I went to the same bookshelf to look. "Where did she go?" Damon asked.

We heard footsteps quickly approach us. Elena and I looked at each other with a funny look before turning around to see who was coming toward us. Around the corner, Vanessa came around the corner and pointed a crossbow at us. Both Elena gasped as I quickly steeped in front of Elena. Vanessa shot the arrow. It almost hit but all of a sudden, Damon stood in front of me and I heard the arrow hit his back. Damon groaned in pain and then fall to the ground. Elena quickly bent down and tried to help Damon. I looked up and saw Vanessa get pinned to the wall by Alaric. Why would she do that?

XXXXX

"Pull it out," Damon said and he groaned. I was holding on to the arrow in Damon's back. Alaric and Elena took Vanessa out of the room while I stayed behind and helped Damon get the arrow out of his back. I don't know why I was doing it. "I can't reach it Alex. Just pull the damn thing out. It hurts"

"Oh it hurt," I said. "That's great to know" I said as I pushed the arrow a little deeper into his back. Damon groaned in pain. He turned his head and glared at me. I glared back and without looking, pulled the arrow out of his back.

"Ooo! Ah!" Damon said as he shook it out of him, literally. "That bitch is dead" he said as he turned around and started walking to the door behind me.

I took a step in front of him. "As much as I'd like to strangle her for pointing an arrow at my cousin and I, you're not killing her"

"Watch me" he said with a smile. He then walked around me and walked to the front door.

"Damon, I swear to god, I'll never talk to you again if you kill her"

Damon turned around and gave me an odd look. "What make you think that has any power over me? Because I took an arrow in the back for you? You're so overestimating yourself" he said as he put his arm on my shoulder.

I quickly pushed it away. "Why do I even bother? You'll never change" I said as I pushed pass him and walked out of the room. I opened the door and saw Vanessa sitting in the chair with Elena and Alaric standing in front of her.

When I walked up to them, Elena turned around and looked at me. "I already told her who I am" she said.

"What about her!" Vanessa said as she pointed at me. "Isabella Giordano died in 1863"

I looked between Elena and Alaric. They both gave me a nod. I then looked back at Vanessa. "My name is Alex Russo. Isabella was…I guess…my ancestor and the person you just shot," I said as I touched Damon's shoulder. "Is Damon Salvatore"

"I'd be extra nice to me right now" Damon said.

"Look," Elena said. "We need your help. We need to see all of Isobel's re-search. Anything related to Mystic Falls"

XXXXX

We were all back in Isobel's office. Damon was in the other room looking threw some stuff. Alaric was sitting at a table, reading a bunch of books while Elena and I were looking at some stuff on another desk.

"This," Vanessa said as she carried and box and placed it on the desk in front of us. "Box checks Katherine's arrival to Mystic Falls in April of 1864" She said as she started looking threw it.

"Is that all there is about her?" Elena asked.

"All that I'm aware of"

There was a box of vervain in front of me and I passed a little bunch to Vanessa. "Here" I said as I passed it to her.

Vanessa smiled. Looking down at the vervain and back at me. "Does vervain really work?" she asked.

I nodded before Damon said, "Nope, not at all"

"Can he hear us?" She whispered.

"No, that would be creepy" I pressed my lips tightly together and nodded.

"Can he read minds too?"

"You know," I looked up and saw Damon turn around and looking at us. "If you want to see me naked, all you have to do is ask"

I let out a sigh. "No," I said. "He's no Edward Cullen"

Elena laughed. "But," she said. "he is very capable of being a first rate jackass" Both Elena and I burst out laughing while we gave each other a high five. Vanessa let out a laugh while stuffing the vervain in her vest pocket.

XXXXX

Later on, Alaric found an old legend in one of the books. Vanessa told us that the legend was about an old Aztec curse that was 600 years old. A shaman placed a curse on the vampires and the werewolves making vampires slaves to the sun and werewolves servants to the moon. The werewolves and vampires became enemies. Vampires killed off werewolves and now there are little left in the world, which I already knew. We then found out the most biggest event of the legend, a werewolf bite could kill a vampire. Right after I found that out, I quickly phoned Stefan. After I talked to Stefan, I went back inside and kept looking threw the old books with everyone.

Elena stopped at one point and started talking to Vanessa. "Hey," she said. "Have you done any re-search on doppelgängers?"

I stopped reading and looked up at Vanessa. "Well," Vanessa said. "The word means a lot of different things to different cultures but typically a doppelgänger is a living, breathing double of one self"

"Did Isobel have anything that explains the link between me and Katherine?"

"That's all she had on Katherine, unfortunately," I looked at Damon who was looking at Elena and I. When he noticed me looking at him, he quickly went back to reading. I looked back at Elena and Vanessa. Vanessa then leaned forward. "I can tell you that doppelgängers usually torment the people they look like. Trying to undue their lives. It's not exactly uplifting"

"Well," I said. "Don't' we already know that" I said as I read more of my book.

"It's just," Elena said. "I want to know why we look a like" I looked up and saw her holding a portrait of Katherine.

"Head scratcher," Damon said. "Isn't it?"

"If you know something," I said. "Speak up or shut up"

"Well," Damon said as he walked up to me. "If I know anything, I'm not going to tell you. Not with that attitude"

I turned around shook my head. "You know, you're trying to hard to be my friend but it's never going to happen. You know why? Because if you were a true friend, you would know that friends don't manipulate friends" With that, I walked by him, hitting his shoulder with mine and walked out of the room.

XXXXX

I leaned against the car waiting for Alaric to be done inside. Damon was talking to Elena by the front doors and gave her a book on Katherine's past life. When she was human. He told Elena that Katherine's real name was Katerina Petrova. It then hit me when Damon reviled Katherine's true name. That was the name the woman said the night Juliet visited the house

"Because…if…'He', find out that this is 'Her' house. We're all doomed. Plus, if Katerina comes here…it'll just attract more to come here and they'll see that the stories we're real. Katerina did have a child in 1490" "So…If 'He' finds her…" "We might as well put a stake threw our hearts...but don't worry, I won't let that happen…"

The woman said that if Katherine came her, it would invite more danger to come. There was somebody Katherine was scared of. The woman mentioned 'He'. Who was 'He'? And if 'He' came, all hell would break loose, wouldn't it? I couldn't tell anyone this until we were sure. Not Stefan, not Justin…not even Damon. Especially not Elena. She's upset about Katherine being here already.

Elena walked back inside to go look for Alaric. Damon walked down the steps of the building and walked up to me, still leaning against the car. "That was nice what you did for Elena" I said.

Damon gave me a funny look. "You heard all that?"

I tucked my hair behind my ear and reviled my bat ear. "It's an old spell. It can give you the hearing of a bat" I said after pulling my wand out and pointing it at my ear making the bat form disappear.

"Well," he said. "That's not the end of the good deeds for today"

"What do you mean?"

Damon opened the passenger door and picked up a big, olive green, old looking book. "Here" he said as he handed it to me. I took it from his hands and read the cover in gold writing reading,

Giordano

My eyes popped out of my sockets. "Is this-" I said before Damon cut me off.

"A book about Isabella's family? Yup"

"Were did you find it?"

"Well…While Isabella was on her break from watching Katherine, I decided to keep a watchful eye on her…"

The Day before

I knocked on the door of the Biaanchi house. I waited there for a bit before the door swung opened and relived 31 year old Brandon. I quickly gave him a smile while holding my arms in front of me. "Hi," I said. "My name is Alex Russo…I knew your sister, Torri. Your great…something grandfather was my great…something uncle"

"You're the girl, Torri phoned me about," Brandon said. "The...day she died," There was a long pause. I wasn't sure what to say to that. "Can I help you with something?"

"Uh…yeah. Your sister told me that her and your mother did a lot of re-search on the Giordano family and I was just wondering if I could take a look at it"

"Uh…sure. Come on in" He said as he swung the door open all the way and backed up. I looked down at the base of the door and slowly took a step in. When I knew it was safe to enter, I looked back up and walked in quickly, following Brandon. He led me to the study where his sister and his mother spent useless hours trying to find what happened to me in 1863. "How's your dad?" I asked as we looked around.

"Oh, he's fine. He's just at the cemetery with my step-mom. God, he's a mess. First he loses my mom and now…sorry"

I smiled. "It's ok" I looked at the bookshelf and saw the name pop up in gold writing. "There's what I'm looking for" I quickly walked up to the book shelf only to be stopped by Brandon standing in front of me.

"Why in such a rush?" he asked. "It's not like you want to destroy it. Am I right…Isabella"

The blood immediately rushed to my eyes. My fangs quickly appeared and I grabbed Brandon by the neck and pinned him against the wall, hard. "How'd you know?" I asked, sternly.

"I told you," he said gasping for air. "Torri told me about that Alex girl. She wasn't the only one looking into our family's dark past. She told me Alex Russo was an exact copy of you"

"Well, Torri should've learned to keep her mouth shut. That's what go her killed in the first place"

Brandon glared at me. "What are you saying?"

"Can't you put two and two together? I killed her"

"How, witnesses say she was hit by a car?"

"Yeah and I compel the driver to do my dirty work"

"You…You fucking bitch! I'll kill you"

"Ha! Good luck. Did you forget? I'm a vampire…and you're just a wizard...Feel that, Brandon? You're powers draining away from your body slowly. Soon, you won't have enough power left" Brandon then started panicking and squirming. I smiled. I then leaned into his neck to take a bite.

"Drop him!" I stopped and turned my head and saw a blonde woman pointed her wand at me. I let go of his neck and Brandon fell to the ground, coughing. "Now leave" she said sternly.

"Oh yeah," I said. I took a couple of steps towards her, inches from her face. "And…what are you going to do if I want to stay?"

"I let me think about it…I know. There's this great vampire killing spell that sends thousands of tiny stake to any direction you want it to go. Kills a vampire in .39 seconds" she said with a smile. Mine disappeared. "Now leave" she said. I walked around her. Backing away slowly out of the room and vanished.

"After she left, I compelled the wife to let me in and grabbed the book and left" Damon finished.

I slowly gave him a nod. "So," I said. "Isabella wanted to destroy it?"

"Yup"

"But…why?"

"Well, obviously she didn't want you to find out about it. She probity thought you'd go back there for more answers on your family history"

"Thanks…for this" I said. I opened the back door and went to get in but Damon stood in my way. I glared at him. "What?" I asked.

"You have every right to hate me, I understand…but you hated me before and we became friends. It would suck if that was gone forever. So…is it? Have I lost you forever?"

There was a short pause as I thought about it. I wasn't sure what to think about his apology. "I'll think about it" I said. Damon gave me a nod and backed away from the door. I hopped into the back and Damon closed the door behind me.

XXXXX

We pulled in front of the house. Both Elena and Alaric went inside. Alaric had to deal with something but he wouldn't tell us what. Both Damon and I got out of the car and walked up to the front door. "Road trips work well for us" he said as we walked along the porch.

I stopped when we reached the front door, turned around and looked at him straight in the eyes. "I thought about it," I said. Damon's smiled disappeared and relived a worried look. His eyes looked sympathetic. "Did you really mean everything you said back at Duke?"

"Yes, every word" he said.

"Ok…All I ask is one thing. Then we can go back to the way it used to be. We can be friends again. Forget that everything happened. All I want from you is…to know if you're sorry about what you did to Harper. I mean…I can't stay mad at you for this forever. Harper will get use to it and by her leaving, she's probity adjusting. So..."

I looked at him. Damon took a deep breath in and out. "I am," he said. "Truly sorry about what I did to Harper. I was just upset and angry at Katherine, Isabella and…it got to me. Can you forgive me?"

I gave him a smile and nod. "Yes" A big smile appeared on Damon face. "Thank you" I said as I gave him a hug. I then back away seeing the shock look on Damon face. I laughed. "See you tomorrow?"

Damon smiled. "Sure" I opened the front door and walked inside.

"See you tomorrow"

I heard the front door creak open and close tight. I was leaning against the Grey SUV in front of the Gilbert house. With my left foot on the ground and my right foot leaning against the car. My arms were crossed over my chest. Damon walked down the steps of the house all merrily and happy. It was revolting. When he saw me, all that happiness disappeared along with his smiled. I glared at him

"What are you doing here?" he asked

"You were following me?" I asked. Ignoring his question.

"How do you know? I hid quite well and the only person I told…was Alex"

I gave him a smirk before glaring at him again. "How many times do I have to tell you? I. Have. My. Ways. When are you going to get it threw your thick head"

Damon glared at me. "I'm not dealing with this" he reached for the passenger door handle but I immediately grabbed his arm and twisted it back. Breaking it. Damon groaned in pain as he fell to the ground. I stood over top in, still holding onto his arm.

"I'm not finished with you," I said. "Let me get one thing straight. Don't you ever follow me or plot anything against me because I will take you down. The next time I find out that you're following me, I'll kill someone surrounded by Alex's life. Maybe her mom, dad, brothers, cousins…or even your brother and I won't hesitate to do it. Got it?"

"Got it" Damon struggled to get out. I let go of his arm and walked down the pathway before running out of the area.

How was that? Did you guys like it?

Question time! What do you think Isabella means by "I have my ways"? Did you guys like the Alex and Damon scenes at the end. Do you think Damon should be with Alex or are you guys still routing for Isabella and Damon? And what do you think the Giordano book will revile? Let me know in the reviews.

Review if you like it