Thank you for all the positive feedback. It helps keep me motivated to finish the story. It may be reaching a climax but it is far from over. Here is the newest chapter. I am working on the next one now. Please continue to let me know what you think.
~Meg

I don't own the vampire diaries and I don't own the characters.
This takes place after they find the cure and do the spell on Elena. I'm not sure if I'll continue it but I've had it stuck in my head for a while so why not give it a shot?
The main POV's will be Damon, Elena, and Stefan. You might get it from Jeremy or Caroline every now and then.
Enjoy.
Feedback is appreciated.

Damon's POV

We've been at this for almost an hour. I've got a knife in my hand to keep up a steady flow of blood, a map on the table that is supposed to show me where Elena is, and all I see is a fucking blob of blood over Mystic Falls. "This witchy juju is not working Bonnie."

"Okay, try picturing Elena in your mind, maybe it will help. She's got to be in town somewhere." I glare at her but she is the witch so I'll go along with it.

I close my eyes and start to picture Elena. Her long beautiful brown hair that smells like strawberries. Her gorgeous big brown eyes that seem like they can see straight into my soul, which now according to Ms. I've got the power Bonnie, they can. Her soft, perfect skin that smells so sweet, just like her. The way she kisses me, like every time is the first time. The way she touches me and it sends electric sparks everywhere throughout my body. The way her perfectly round, perfectly plump breasts fit so snug in my hands, as if they were made just for me. The way she moans 'Damon' and 'I love you'.

"I think you're doing too good a job. Do you need a cold shower, dick? That's still my sister."

I open one eye and glare at Jeremy. I raise my hand and slap him in the head. "You ruined a perfectly good picture of Elena for me kid. Shut your mouth." Bonnie is laughing; I open my other eye and look at her. "So did it work?"

"No." She sighs. Not a good thing.

"I'm done with just sitting here! I need to know where she is and I need to know now!" I didn't mean to yell that loud but damnit Elena is gone and I need to find her!

"I'm right here Damon." I whirl around so fast that I get a little dizzy. It's her. Elena!

"Elena! Thank God!" I rush over to her and grab her so tight that if she were human she definitely wouldn't be able to breathe. "Are you okay? Where have you been? How'd you get here?"

"Slow down. I'll explain it all but I want you to meet someone. You need to sit down though okay?"

"Sit down? Elena I've been sitting for almost a fucking hour. Who do I have to meet?" There's something that's making her nervous I can tell.

"You'll over react. Bonnie can you do a spell that will keep him from leaving the living room?" She grabs my hand and pulls me back in the room with Jeremy and Bonnie who just nodded to Elena. She drops my hand and heads for the door. I shake my head and go to follow her. I can't get through. She can, but I can't.

"Elena what the hell is going on?" I need to know now! She just turns and shakes her head.

"You won't believe me if I tell you so I have to show you and you have to hear it from him. Jeremy, Bonnie, he might get a bit upset so it's up to you if you want to stay on that side of the barrier or this side." Jeremy moves to go with his sister.

"I can handle him Elena." Bonnie just sits down on the couch.

Elena heads out the door and I listen very carefully. There are two people.

"Asher, he's inside. I had my friend Bonnie put up a shield of sorts, he tends to overreact. He needs to hear it all from you, he won't believe me." Who the hell is Asher? What does he have to tell me?

"Travis, maybe you should just stay here. He's not as…tolerant of werewolves as I am." I growl as I run forward only to be kept back by the damned barrier.

"Elena fucking Gilbert you are out there with a werewolf! Get your ass in here now!" I yell but I know she can hear me.

"Damon calm down." She's back in the house and her eyes look fearful. She's scared. "Please Damon. Travis helped rescue me, so did Asher. But you need to meet Asher, Travis will stay outside. Please don't freak out until you hear everything from Asher, okay?" Those eyes, how can I tell her no, I can't. I nod my head. I trust her, I love her, I'd do anything for her, even stay calm and let some stranger tell me fucking story. She stepped outside and stepped back in with, holy shit.

My hair, my eyes…kind of, what the shit?! "What the hell?!" I launch forward only to meet the damn barrier again. "Who the hell are you and why are you with my girlfriend?!"

"I'm Asher Montgomery. I helped rescue Elena. I know who you are; you're Damon Salvatore, born in Mystic Falls in 1845 if I'm not mistaken, correct?" Shit, he knows my history. Why does he look like me? I nod, for once I'm too shocked to say anything, and this is a fucking first. "You were turned in 1864 by Katherine Pierce, or Katerina Petrova. You spend a century looking for a way to get her out a tomb that she lied about being in, met Elena and fell ass over head for her, am I still on the right page?"

"I'll ask one more time, who the hell are you?" He knows too much.

"I told you, Asher Montgomery." He steps towards me now, stupid move bud. "I'm you're doppelganger. Yes, your family line has them too, but I'm the 3rd doppelganger." He stops right on the other side of the barrier, smart man.

Wait, 3rd doppelganger, Elena is the 3rd Petrova doppelganger before her was Katherine and the original was Tatia. Wait, if he's the 3rd and looks like me then "I'm a doppelganger?" I stumble back and sit on the coffee table. He crosses the barrier. I don't move.

"Yes. The first was someone named Henry, he killed himself. Damon, I can explain why we are doppelgangers. Do you want me to?" I look at him. Is he fucking serious?

"Does a vampire eat people?" He looks back towards Elena. "It's sarcasm. Yes kid, explain." I motion towards a chair and he sits. I notice Elena sit on the step halfway in the barrier and halfway out. She gives me a beautiful smile, which says trust him, so I do.

"Well the Petrova's were created to break the hybrid spell, which you know. Well we were created at the same time, well our line of doppelgangers were. I guess we are kind of like a side effect of the spell. We have a purpose though as doppelgangers, each one is different though. The witch I spoke to said there would only ever be 3 in our bloodline, unlike the Petrova's who would keep producing. Each one of the 3 would be looking for 1 thing, and they would only find this one thing with one person, care to venture a guess who?" I look towards Elena and she nods.

"A Petrova doppelganger." I sigh, shit.

"Yes. One would be looking for family, one would be looking for love, and one would be looking for death. It's weird I know but it fits with everything I've heard so hear me out. I did some digging and found out the first one Henry, was alive when Tatia was, shortly after the spell was cast he found her and found out she was a vampire."

"Tatia is a what? She's dead. The Originals drank her blood and she is dead." What does he mean she's a vampire?

"No, she's a vampire. She hides well and keeps to herself but back to the story, I'll tell you what I know about her after I finish explaining." I nod and he keeps going. This sounds like one weird fucking story, but given my life, weird is pretty much normal. "From what I found about Henry is he lost all his family and he was all alone. I guess he hated being alone because when he found Tatia he literally begged her to kill him, she didn't. I'd venture to guess after hearing the stories I've heard about her that she wanted to turn him so he killed himself. He, the one, found death. Next there was you, you met Katherine. Then it turned all soap opera, so I'll summarize. She turned you; you thought you loved her, you now hate her. You had found the doppelganger and found neither family nor love. It had me confused, until I found out that you had met Elena, the next doppelganger. You fell for her, you found love and I bet for the first time in your life you felt like you were whole, right? Not a single piece missing from life."

Still looking at her I answer, "Yes." Damn witches, they picked who I'd fall in love with. Yet I can't be mad at them. I love Elena, I'd love her no matter what, and so instead of internally cursing them I find myself thanking them. "So I guess you found family? How'd that happen?" I'm curious now.

"I met Katherine. I sought her out and I cornered her. She became a…friend, then we found out that we actually got along once she stopped trying to act all queen of the world. Then today I met Elena and she's a pretty cool chick, you did good man. But now, I've met you and it feels like nothing else is missing. I know this is all very twilight zone, but it's real. But it's not the entire story either. I'm human, but I'm different." Where is he going now?

"Okay…what are you a hunter like little Gilbert over there?" I jerk my thumb towards Jeremy who is now sitting next to Elena with his jaw hitting the floor.

"No, I'm kind of like you. But not completely." Not possible. You can't have a vampire-human hybrid. I'm shaking my head, as he talks again. "I'm like Bonnie too. I can do magic. I don't know what it's called exactly. I can run as fast as you, I'm just as strong as you, I can do spells like Bonnie, I don't age, but I'm 100% human." This time it's my jaw that hits the floor. How the hell is this possible?

Stefan's POV

My brother locked me in the basement with Caroline, of all people. She doesn't talk so that's a good thing. I'm laying there with my eyes closed when I hear Elena come in. She's got people with her; I strain to hear their conversation. I listen to it all and my mind is spinning. Surely, I heard most of that wrong. My brother cannot be a doppelganger, and there is no such thing as a human-vampire-witch. I muse over all this in my head and come to one solution. My life, everyone's lives in Mystic Falls, is fucked up. Nothing is normal and nothing will probably ever be normal. Hell, they should have named the town Mystical Falls, the place where everything you think will never happen ACTUALLY happens! I don't realize I'm smiling until Caroline speaks to me.

"Something amusing about this Stefan?"

"Nope." I pop the P. "Just thinking. So you're compelled to huh? Klaus finally get tired of you rejecting him so he decided to compel your affections?" I laugh to myself.

"No. It's not Klaus. It's her." I sit bolt upright.

"Her? Her, who Caroline?" It can't possibly be the same vampire controlling me.

"I don't know her name. I haven't seen her really, just an outline. She always says I can't know who she is and I can't look at her."

I pat the cot beside me as I sit and make room for her. "I think it's the same person. I've never seen an outline though. Damon was asking me all these questions but I couldn't answer any because I'd never seen her. I've just heard her voice."

"I can try and describe her." I nod and she continues. "She's about as tall as me. Long hair, I don't know what color. She dresses kind of like a tomboy. Loose fitting jeans, t-shirts not loose but not super tight either, I always see her shoes so I know she prefers Vans or Converse."

"That's not a lot to go on." Something is there in my mind. I close my eyes and let my head fall back against the wall. Caroline keeps on talking, I think she's tired of the quiet, I don't mind.

"I didn't want to hurt Elena. I didn't want to hurt anyone. She said she'd kill me, and I don't want to die. I know that sounds selfish, but I don't. I know that I shouldn't do what she says; I knew I shouldn't have yelled at Elena that Damon didn't love her. I know I shouldn't have said that he wasn't capable of love because I can see it in his eyes, he loves her and he's crazy about her. I know that I shouldn't have been spying on Bonnie to see how powerful she is getting and then report it all back to her. I know that I shouldn't have tried to kill Jeremy earlier but I needed to get to you and she said do whatever it takes, I knew that I didn't want to hurt him but I knew Damon wouldn't let me so I did it. I hate myself Stefan. I want to tell her to go to hell and leave me alone. All she wants is Elena. Everything I hear is, Elena this, Elena that, or even once or twice Katherine this, Katherine that. It's so annoying!" It clicks.

The gear in my head clicks and my eyes pop open. I know who she is! "Damon!" I go to the door and I'm yelling for my brother. "Damon I know! Damon I know who it is! I've put it together!" He's at the door in record speed. I can see that Elena is behind him along with a boy, "Holy mother Mary he does look like you." I shake my head and Damon looks behind him.

"Yes, I know. He's pretty cool though."

"Damon I know who it is. Caroline was talking and I figured it out. I heard your conversation…"

"Eavesdropping little bro? Not very polite but go ahead."

I roll my eyes. "Only Originals can compel vampires. Caroline said she's seen an outline of the person compelling her and said she has long hair and is about as tall as her, dresses in loose jeans with t-shirts and vans or converse. Damon, we both know that the only vampires who can compel another vampire in town right now are Rebekah and Klaus. Klaus is a guy, and Rebekah always wears skin tight jeans with dressy tops and stilettos or high heel boots. Kol is dead, Finn is dead, and Elijah is…"

"In Barbados." Damon finishes. Apparently they must be pen pals or something now.

"Yeah, so what if there is an Original that was accidentally created? One, who loved two brothers, loved them enough their mother who was a witch used her as a sacrifice to make them vampires, but something went wrong and she didn't actually die. She became a vampire like them, she's kept her existence a secret but what if now seeing those two brothers, one of whom is falling in love with Caroline and one who is a good friend to Elena, move on is bringing her out. What if she wants to make her existence known now? He said it. He said that Tatia is alive. What if she's been watching Klaus and Elijah all this time and seeing Elijah find a friend in Elena, her doppelganger, and seeing Klaus slowly fall in love with Caroline is making her want to hurt them? You know everything is heightened as a vampire, so is jealousy. What if it's Tatia?"

I can see the understanding on his face as he stands there and listens to everything I say, so I continue. It's like I'm just putting a puzzle together and I can't stop talking.

"She would know that using Caroline, Elena's best friend and the object of Klaus's affections, would be a way to get to both of the brothers at once. Klaus would want to save Caroline whenever Tatia figured it was time to let him in on it. Elijah would come to help you and I save Elena if we asked, you know that. But then using me, I get it now. She's been watching Elena too. Everything she told me to do was to make sure Elena was left alone, unprotected. That's why she wanted me to kill you. She is planning something bigger than just revenge on two brothers. She wants Elena, Damon."

"She wants Katherine too." Caroline speaks up and comes to stand next to me. "I heard something once. She was talking to a witch, something about now that all of them are vampires only one can live or something like that. But from what I heard the witch say Elena, Katherine, and Tatia all have to be together and they first have to unbind them, whatever that means."

I look at her and look back at Damon. He's pale. He opens the door and motions for us to go upstairs. He's letting us out, but why?

"I've got a plan Stefan." He's pacing. He has his cell phone out and it typing a message furiously in it. "You won't like it." He turns to look at Bonnie. "Remember that spell I told you Emily used once back in 1864 on a man I saw at our house once?" She nods at him. "Well she was de-compelling him, and making it to where even without vervain he wouldn't be compelled again. I saw it, it was painful for the man he looked like he wanted to die at some times, but it worked. He was never compelled again. So…" He grabs Caroline and me and shoves us in the living room; with one motion to Bonnie she quickly mutters words.

"What the hell are you going to Damon?" Caroline is scared. She tries to run but she hits a barrier. There is no way out of the living room. "Damon, Bonnie, Elena, what is going on?"

I grab her arm and she looks at me. "Bonnie is going to do to us what Emily did to that man in 1864. She's going to take away the compulsion and make it to where no one can compel us again. But then what brother?"

He looks up at me. I know that look, that's his most dangerous look. "I won't let her hurt Elena. I won't let her take her again and I won't let her compel my brother again. So once you and Vampire Barbie are thoroughly de-compelled, you will go and pretend to do her bidding then tell us what she tells you. Don't shake your head Caroline. Elena is your best friend and I know you'll do it just like I know Stefan will. We will find Tatia's weakness and then we will kill her. If it's true only one doppelganger can live, well I'm sure as hell going to make sure that's Elena, no matter what I have to do."

Just then I hear the door open and Klaus walks in. He looks around and looks first at Damon, Elena, and Asher, then at Jeremy, Matt, and who I can only imagine is the werewolf Travis, before he finally looks at Caroline, Me and Bonnie. "Well well well. It seems like I've missed a lot these past few days from your text message Damon. Tell me what kind of test do you need me for?"

"Caroline and Stefan were compelled. Bonnie is going to do her witchy juju and de-compel them and make it impossible to compel them again. That's where you come in. I want you to try and compel them when she's done." Damon is laying all his cards on the table; does he want a truce or something?

"I see and why would I help you Damon? You made it to where I can't make hybrids again when you gave Elena a cure that was supposed to make her human but only took away a silly bond. I'm quite busy trying to find a way around that at the moment so if you'll excuse me." He starts to walk away and I see Damon's fists clinch.

"Tatia. It's Tatia who is doing this. She wants Elena dead, and I'm sure after that she'll have no problem killing Caroline."

This makes Klaus stop dead in his tracks. I know he would never let anything happen to Caroline or Elena, but most of all I know he still holds a place in his cold dead heart for Tatia. He turns around and I can see the confliction in his face. He looks at Caroline and I know what he's going to say before he says it.

"Okay Damon. I'll help you. I'll make Caroline safe, no one will hurt her."