Chapter 4: Fighting Amongst doppelgängers
AN: Hey guys, SOOOO sorry this is so late, please do not yell at me. I got so stuck with how to do this chapter and there was so much that I wanted to do that I had to break it up into two chapters, so keep watch for chapter 5 soon. I'm also back to school and balancing 5 classes, a part time job and internship takes up most of my time, so here you have it: Chapter 4.
Elena sat in the living room of the Salvatore Boarding house next to Bonnie chatting while their boyfriends played a game of darts.
"Okay you guys. I got the good stuff." Caroline chimed as she came into the living room with a bottle of wine and a couple of wine glasses.
"I see you found Damon's good stash, Caroline." Stefan said as he threw the dart straight at the center of the board.
"Damn you Stefan! Elena your boyfriend cheats!" Jeremy whined as he plucked the darts from the board and tallied up the scores between the two. So far Stefan had managed to hit the bulls-eye nearly every time and was winning by a landslide. Elena just laughed before her attention was brought to that of the figure in the doorway.
"Well isn't this just cozy." Katherine said as she leaned against the wide door frame taking note of who was missing from their little group. "Where's Damon?" she asked.
Elena's gaze hardened before quickly snatching the wine glass Caroline was filling out of her hand and downed it. After arguing with Jeremy in the middle of the town square, the three of them had gone back to the boarding house where the others had quickly joined them, trying to diffuse the tension between the two siblings. They had spent the last couple of hours here hanging out while Damon was still out with Sara. Stefan had tried calling him a few times, but every time he had been forwarded to voicemail after just a few rings.
"Hey!" Caroline whined before filling another glass.
Katherine just nodded at Elena's actions. "Ah, so he's with her then." She said as she walked further into the room and too snatched a glass from Caroline.
"Okay the next person to take my wine is going to get it and I mean it!" Caroline threatened with a huff before she began filling a third glass. At this rate neither she or Bonnie would be getting any wine and they both needed considering Elena was still sulking about Sara.
"Oh poor Caroline, someone is always taking your wine huh? Hurts don't it?" Damon said as he walked in and jacked the bottle from her hand and peered at the label. "Why Caroline, I believe this is my wine."
Caroline just rolled her eyes. "Learn to share, Damon." She snapped as she made a grab for the bottle, but Damon pulled it out of her reach. "C'mon Damon!" The blonde vampire whined as she tried to get the bottle back from the older vampire.
As the two vampires bickered over the wine, Katherine took notice that Damon didn't come home alone. "What the hell is she doing here?!" Katherine hissed as she glared at Sara. Everyone turned their gazes on the oldest doppelgänger in the doorway.
"Hey Sara!" Jeremy greeted with a wave while Elena glared at her, but not before shooting one at her brother.
"Sara, Hey! You want some wine?" Caroline asked as she finally grabbed the bottle back from Damon while he was distracted and poured another glass.
"Hello Caroline and no thank you." Sara declined with a smile as she walked into the living room and stood near Damon. As far as she could tell only Damon, Jeremy and Caroline seemed to like her, Bonnie and Stefan seemed to tolerate her though she didn't really care about what Stefan thought of her, and Elena and Katherine were dead obvious seeming as they hated her.
"Damon?" Stefan questioned his brother as he moved to stand next to Elena. Damon knew Elena didn't like Sara, why the hell would he bring her here?
"So ah here's the deal everyone, Sara's going to be staying here for a while due to the fact that the hotel she was staying at caught fire and her room and things were destroyed." Damon told them all the while throwing a knowing glance in Sara's direction.
"Oh, that's terrible." Caroline gasped. "Hey, we'll have to go shopping! The mall has all kinds of sales!" she said as she grew excited about their pending shopping trip.
"Caroline!" Elena shouted at her best friend. "How can you help her? She's probably the reason the hotel caught fire in the first place!" Elena hissed as she glared at the Striga while Sara just shrugged at the accusation. "See? She's not even denying it! Damon, how can you just let her stay here?!"
"Because Elena, there isn't one person in this room who hasn't killed or hurt someone in this town and yet you have no problem with them being here. Yes, Sara did kidnap Jeremy, but she did not hurt him and she brought him back in one piece. For fuck's sake Elena, Jeremy doesn't even hold a grudge against her like you do and he's not even a direct descendent of hers. Katherine's done more harm to him, to you, and yet you can at least stand next to her!" Damon yelled, defending Sara. As strange as it was to him she really hadn't done anything wrong in his eyes, besides he didn't like Elena's attitude towards her.
"C'mon Elena, Damon has a point. After all it's his house." Bonnie pointed out. Till now she had been silent, but seriously, Elena needed to see that Sara wasn't all that bad. Katherine would sooner turn on them than Sara would, that much she could tell about the Striga.
Elena was almost speechless, almost. "Well it's Stefan's home too so he should have a say in this as well." She sneered as she nudged Stefan in the ribs.
Stefan didn't quite understand Elena's intense hatred for Sara, but he knew his girlfriend didn't like the older doppelgänger hanging around here. Stefan's gaze drifted from his brother to Sara who for the first time since she arrived was looking him straight in the eye. Though her face was blank, her eyes showed pain. Judging by what she had told them about the Silas doppelganger she had known, he could sense the struggle she was dealing with just by looking at him. "She can stay." Stefan shrugged before looking away from Sara.
"Stefan!" Elena gasped.
"What do you want me to say Elena, that there's no room? This is a boarding house. There are plenty of unused rooms, it's what this place was built for. Besides Damon has a point and this way we can keep an eye on her." Stefan tried to reason with his girlfriend, but he had a feeling it was doing no good. Elena wanted to argue, but she couldn't find any other excuse except for the fact that she just didn't like Sara and that seemed childish.
"Well if she's staying then I'm outta here." Katherine said, half hoping someone would say Sara couldn't stay.
"Whoa, wait a minute." Damon interrupted, giving Katherine some form of hope causing her to sneer at Sara with a look of triumph of her face. Damon looked between Sara and Katherine before his gaze stopped on Sara. "You're live-in Katherine Pierce Repellent? Oh she's definitely staying now!" Damon said with a grin as he wrapped his arm around Sara's shoulders. The others laughed while Elena and Katherine glared at Damon, even Stefan had cracked a small smirk.
"You're an ass Damon." Katherine snapped before she went up to her room and packed her things. She quickly came back down to the main floor with a bag packed behind her.
"Katherine, you can't go. We're supposed to stay together." Caroline pointed out. She may not like Katherine, but they were supposed to stay together to defend against this new evil.
"Please Caroline. There are other better places I could stay at in this dreary little town." Katherine huffed as she flipped back her hair across her shoulder.
"So why do you keep coming here?" Damon asked her from his position next to Sara, his arm still wrapped around her. Katherine sneered at Damon before walking out of the boarding house and using her vampire speed to go off to where ever it was that was better than the Salvatore Boarding House.
"Well, then. If that's settled how about some wine everyone?" Caroline asked as she held out the bottle.
"Ah thanks Caroline, but I think I need something a little stronger than wine at the moment." Sara stated as she moved out from under Damon's arm, though what she really wanted was a cigarette.
"No problem. Damon has plenty of bourbon." Caroline stated as she moved towards the liquor cabinet.
"Hey!" Damon shouted as he scowled at the blonde.
"Now, Damon we've already talked about your little sharing issue so there's no need to make a scene. Though it's kind of what you're good at." Caroline said as she poured Sara a glass of bourbon, muttering that last part under her breath.
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The kind, accepting chatter that was taking place between her friends that was in favor towards Sara was really pissing Elena off so while the drinks were served she marched herself up towards Stefan's room with him in short route behind her.
"Elena…"
"How on Earth could they do this? How could Damon honestly think that bringing her here was a good thing!" Elena shouted as she paced through Stefan's bedroom.
"Elena, stop!" Stefan shouted as he grabbed ahold of her shoulders. "Why do you hate her so much?" Stefan questioned. "She's done nothing wrong."
"Nothing wrong? Nothing wrong!" Elena growled as she pushed Stefan away from her. "She kidnapped Jeremy! She's killed innocent people! She set the hotel on fire! How can you say she's done nothing wrong?!"
"Elena, she brought Jeremy back unharmed. Jeremy doesn't even hold a grudge the way you do. And we've all killed people, innocent or not. It's how we survive Elena! We're supernatural creatures, it's what we do!"
"Why are you defending her?"
"Why do you hate her? Damon has a point, Elena. Katherine's done worse things and yet you can at least stand next to her."
"I don't want her to take you away from me!" Elena cried.
"What? Elena, I don't think you need to worry about that." Stefan said as his voice softened.
"Katherine's tried. She will too." Elena moved closer to Stefan and wrapped her arms around him, burying her face into his chest. "I don't want her anywhere near you. Who knows what she's capable of? She said so herself she could compel vampires. I don't trust her to be anywhere near you."
"Elena." Stefan sighed as he wrapped his arms around her. "What if I stay at your house? Damon can keep an eye on her here and I'll be with you and Jeremy so you won't have to worry."
Elena looked up at him with a smile on her face. "That's a great idea! I…I mean…I'd like that." She said with a blush as she stood up on her tip toes and placed a kiss to Stefan's lips. When they broke apart it was Stefan's turn to smile.
"I thought you might." He said and together they got Stefan packed to stay with Elena for a little while, Elena packing up what few things she kept at the Boarding House as well.
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A few hours later Sara walked into the living room where Damon stood by the fire place with a glass of what she assumed was bourbon in his hand. Her brown hair hung in wet ringlets around her face as she had just gotten out of the shower wearing a pair of Damon's sweat pants and t-shirt seeing as all her clothes had gone up in the fire along with everything else at the motel. Her only set of clothes she had with her, those she had been wearing when she arrived, were currently being washed.
"Thanks for the clothes Damon." She said as she moved towards the fire.
Damon nodded as he turned his gaze in her direction. "You're welcome. Elena usually keeps a few clothes here, but she must've taken them all home when she and Stefan left."
"That's alright; I doubt she would've been too thrilled if I had borrowed them anyway." She said with a smile. Now she probably could've gotten away with wearing some of Katherine's clothes had she left any here, but she knew her older descendant wasn't as welcome here as the younger one. However, Katherine had taken what little she had brought with her to stay when she left the boarding house just a few hours earlier.
"Yeah probably not, man she does not like you." Damon said as he moved to pour her a drink.
Sara just nodded "Well I did kidnap her brother. I understand it, but I think there's more to it." She said as she took the drink offered to her by Damon who scoffed.
"Like what?"
"Well for starters there's Stefan. You mentioned Katherine used to have a relationship with the two of you back in 1864 and that she's often tried to get back with him. I wouldn't be surprised if Elena thought I wanted him as well. I mean why else would she have wanted him to come stay with her while I'm here?" Sara suggested, though the mere thought of being with Stefan made her skin crawl.
"You may be onto something there. I also wouldn't mention the fact that you've also had a kid or else she really really won't like you." Damon warned her.
Sara just nodded sympathetically. "I take it she wanted to have a family and now with her being a vampire she can't."
Damon nodded before realization hit him. "That seems to be something you doppelgängers have in common, bearing a child." He commented while Sara snorted.
"And out of wedlock and being disowned by our families. At least Elena needn't worry about that." Sara stated before taking a sip of her bourbon, the feeling of it burning her throat was well welcomed as it hit her stomach.
Damon simply nodded before taking a sip from his glass. "Why do you suppose that is?" He asked.
"What, having a child out of wedlock?" Sara answered with her own question.
"Having a child at all? Three out of four of the Amara doppelgängers have had a child, only Amara herself and Elena have not." Damon noted.
"Well I suppose it's because the doppelgänger line had to continue on somehow, but there have plenty of those who haven't had children and the doppelgängers still appeared in their line. Remember Amara was a distant aunt of mine and she never had children. If we were to trace Katherine's linage back to mine, you would see that our connection it through my father's brother, Cato. But now that Amara and Silas are gone, the whole reason being for the doppelgängers was to create balance, perhaps there won't be any more."
"Wouldn't that be nice, although the world would've lost such a beauty." Damon mused as he looking into his now empty glass of bourbon causing Sara to giggle.
"That would only happen if the three of us were to die off, though the compliment is still appreciated." Sara grinned while Damon finally realized what he had said aloud and quickly fused over the fact that he was out of bourbon while also cursing said drink.
"Yes, well… say are you hungry?" Damon asked as he moved to the kitchen, intent on changing the subject.
"I could feed." Sara said with a shrug as she followed after him.
"That's not exactly what I meant." Damon called back causing Sara to laugh as she leaned herself up against the door frame to the kitchen.
"I know." She giggled. "I could use some food though. I haven't eaten much lately." She said while her stomach confirmed it with a growl.
"Really? Seven people weren't enough?" Damon chuckled as he filled a pan with water and set it on the stove to boil.
"Oh enough for the monster inside, but the human aspect still requires some nourishment." She said as she moved into the room. "May I offer assistance?" she asked.
"That depends, how are you're sautéing skills?" he asked as he pulled out a cutting board.
"You're asking this to a person who rips hearts out for a living?" Sara said with a raised eyebrow.
"Uh, yes?"
"Damon, I've been alive for over 2,000 years. Born in a time when the only thing a woman was taught was how to cook, well that was outside of caring for children. I know my way around a kitchen." She smirked while she reached into the fridge and pulled out some vegetables and brought them over to the cutting board while Damon handed her a knife.
"Alright then, impress me and don't make me regret handing you that knife." Damon said with a lasting gaze before he began pulling out spices and other ingredients for their meal.
"Come now Damon, you can trust me." Sara smiled has she began chopping carrots and peppers. Their witty banter continued while they comfortably cooked side by side.
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Meanwhile on the other side of town where a vacant and foreclosed house was loaded the gold dodge intrepid from the motel was parked. Inside the abandoned house was a tall man with short sandy blonde hair and pale skin and several other men all dressed in black like they were out of some ninja movie.
"The Striga is staying at the Boarding House with the elder Salvatore brother while the younger is at the Gilbert Doppelgänger's house." The man relayed into the cell phone. His boss was not thrilled. "Yes, I know this is bad. Look it's not my fault the bitch intervened! She has allies in high places and someone leaked her information about the travelers concerning the doppelgängers." The man grew agitated with his boss; he was being blamed for the failing plans because of Sara. It was her fault, not his! The bitch would pay; he would make sure of it. "Yes sir, I will take care of things, do not worry." He spoke as he hung up the phone as someone entered the house. "Well?"
"The Gilbert girl and vampire are planning to go away for the weekend." A talk, muscular man all dressed in black informed him.
"Perfect. With two of them gone for the moment we can focus on the Striga. She's our main problem right now. We attack this weekend, rest up men this female is no damsel in distress."
"Yes sir!" rang out several voices from the other men in black as they recessed into the shadows of the building, disappearing.
"Look out Selephia, I'm coming for you and this time you will not get away." The Sandy Man let out a maniacal laugh before he too recessed into the shadows. The Striga would be his.
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A few days later and Damon and Sara walked around the town square. Damon had showed her all the sights of Mystic Falls over the last few days since she'd been staying with him. As they walked around Damon's gaze fell on the form of his brother.
"Hey look, there's Stefan." He said as he waved at his brother to get his attention. "I thought Elena said they were spending the weekend up at the Lake house?" Damon asked as he watched Stefan talk with a group of men.
Sara looked in the direction Damon said he saw Stefan, her gaze landing on a male that appeared to look indeed like Stefan causing her eyes to narrow. Stefan and Elena were at the Gilbert's Lake House this weekend and weren't due back till tomorrow night.
"Ah Damon, I don't think that's Stefan." Sara said as she stared at the man who clearly looked like Stefan, but something about him was different and not in a good way.
"What are you talking about Sara, of course that's Stefan." He said as he looked at the doppelgänger like she'd grown two heads.
Sara watched the Stefan look-a-like as he noticed the pair of them and began to make his way over in their direction, the men he was talking to right behind him. "Well for starters he's getting closer and I don't have the intense urge to suck his face off like I usually do."
"And that's a bad thing?" Damon asked, raising an eyebrow at her.
"At this moment in time, yes." Sara stated, her eyes never leaving the face that had haunted her throughout her entire existence.
The look in the Stefan look-a-like's eyes made her blood run cold. Damon soon saw what Sara was talking about as the man who looked like his brother and the group of men he was with were coming right at the two of them.
"Run!" Damon shouted as he pushed Sara back in the direction they had come from towards his car.
"Don't let them get away!" Shouted the Sandy Man, who indeed sounded just like Stefan. The men in black quickly gaining on the two supernatural creatures.
"I thought you said there were no more Silas Doppelgängers?" Damon shouted as they ran.
"I didn't think there were, though there was no evidence of Tatia's …I mean… I figured it was just safe to assume!" came Sara's response before their escape route was cut off by the figures in black as the came out of the shadows made by the trees.
"Who the fuck are these people?" Damon exclaimed as he grabbed Sara's hand and changed directions.
"Don't you mean what?" Sara corrected as they were intercepted again, quickly becoming surrounded by the shadow figures and the Sandy Man.
"Come now, Selephia why all the running? Aren't you happy to see me?" The Sandy Man spoke with a shady grin. Sara's gaze hardened as the man used her given name.
"Who are you?" she hissed with a death glare. This man could not be who she thought he was, it was impossible.
"My, my. They say memory fades with age, but I would think you would've remembered me. All the memories we made, that night we shared all those centuries ago."
"What? Who are … how can you be…this is impossible!" Sara stuttered. This man couldn't be Pelicarpo.
"What the fuck?" Damon growled as he glared at the man in front of him claiming to be the man Sara had once been in love with.
The Sandy Man grinned while the shadow figures continued to close in on them. "Anything is possible my dear sweet, naive Selephia especially when magic is involved." He snickered.
"But I killed you! Ripped your heart right out of your chest." Sara murmured. The fact that this man was insinuating that he was Pelicarpo was insane. How could he have been brought back, by who? When?
"Yes you did and that hurt by the way." Pelicarpo said, pretending to be hurt as he mockingly rubbed his chest.
"Good. I'm glad." Sara growled as she glared at him.
"Yes I'm sure you were quite proud of yourself, though it was such a shame your triumph was short lived. Calisaya did quite the job on you, though she did manage to preserve your eternal beauty when cursing you, didn't she?" He chuckled.
"How dare you!" Sara said through gritted teeth.
"Man what the fuck is wrong with you? Haven't you done enough to her? You destroyed her life! How the fuck are you even here?" Damon question as he glared at the form of Pelicarpo.
"It's quite simple Damon, the Travelers are very good when it comes to reviving former doppelgängers and placing them in the bodies of newer ones."
"That's means…."
"That's why there was never any record of the Silas doppelgänger in Tatia's time, he never died." Sara whispered. "They placed Pelicarpo's soul in his body bringing him…."
"Back to life and in better condition than that of my former body, no thanks to you dear Selephia. Now enough of this chit-chat, get her!" Pelicarpo ordered and the shadow figures lunged for Sara.
"Sorry, but like you Pelicarpo, I too am in better condition with a few tricks up my sleeve." Sara grinned before she took hold of Damon's hand and the two of them quickly erupted into a cloud of black smoke, appearing next to Damon's car.
"How did you…"
"No time, just get in!" Sara shouted as she got into the driver's side and started the car. Damon quickly climbed in the passenger seat as Sara threw the car in Drive and speed off.
"What? No!" cried Pelicarpo as he watched the blue mustang drive off. "Don't just stand there, after them!" he shouted as some of the men disappeared into the shadows while others ran for their vans following in hot pursuit of Damon's car.
"How did he…how did you…what did you?" Damon couldn't form a coherent sentence.
"The Travelers have away to switch bodies. It's ancient and forbidden magic, but everyone knows the Travelers follow their own rules. If he's back then this plan has been brewing for a long time, longer than I expected. Whoever this person is, he must mean big business."
"And be old as dirt!"
"I'm old as dirt, Damon. There is nothing on this planet that is as old as I am since Silas's and Amara died, but that's besides the point."
"So why bring your ex-lover back?"
"That's the question." Sara said as she drove through town, several large black vans came after them from different streets, hoping to block them off. "Where do they keep coming from?"
"The bastard sure is persistent, isn't he?"
"He never used to be, but what the hell do I know? Everything I thought I once knew about him was a lie."
"Good point." Damon said as he turned his gaze from the back of the car to the front just in time to see a few of the shadow figures appear out of the road. "Sara, look out!"
"Shit! Hang on!" Sara said as her eyes turned solid white and she, Damon and the entire car burst into black smoke just as they would've hit the creatures in the road. The wind disbursed the smoke causing Pelicarpo and the others to lose their trail. A few miles down the road, the car reappeared with a rough landing causing its passengers to be knocked around inside.
"Holy shit! How the hell do you do that?" Damon asked, still holding on for dear life. Next to him Sara groaned as she tried to gather her control.
"Must…feed…" Sara moaned as her gaze shifted to Damon, her eyes were still white and he could see her fangs had elongated.
"Sara?" He asked, concerned. "Are you okay?"
Sara was able to gain enough control to quickly compose herself. "I'm fine. Traveling like that takes a lot of energy when it's just me. Adding in another person and then an object such as a car, well…"
"You need to feed." Damon said as Sara nodded before she noticed a single car coming towards them in the opposite lane. She could sense the multiple souls that were inside, an ample feeding source.
"Damon."
"Yeah?"
"Get ready to take the wheel."
"What?" he said just as the car passed them and he and Sara were once again dissolved into smoke. This time when the reappeared, Damon was in the driver seat and Sara was nowhere in the car. "Whoa!" he shouted as he grabbed the steering wheel, trying to regain control of the car as he slammed on the breaks. Damon quickly pulled the car off to the side of the road while he noticed the car that had passed them had done the same. His vampire sense of hearing picked up on the screams coming from inside the other vehicle. Damon sighed as he leaned back in his seat while he threw the car in park and waited for the Striga to come back once she finished feeding. "That is the last time I let her drive." He said as he let his head fall back against the head rest, waiting for his breathing and undead heart beat to return to normal.