A/N: I cannot even begin to apologize to you all, my lovely readers. I can only hope that you will find Chapter 5 worth the wait.

Chapter 5: Weekend Hideout

"Alright, you guys keep an eye out okay? I don't know if he plans on going after you two." Damon said into his cell phone. "I don't know Stefan, dammit! This fucker literally came out of nowhere and he's got little shadow puppets." Damon ran a hand through his hair. Damn his brother. He glanced up towards the other car; Sara had yet to emerge from it and it had been close to half an hour.

"He's after Sara, that's all we know for now. No, you guys should probably stay up there for a few more days till we figure things out... Yes, I called the others and they're going to be keeping an eye on things... Well I don't think it'll be that hard if they run into someone who likes you in Mystic Falls, Brother when they know you're still up at the cabin with Elena." Damon rolled his eyes as he listened to his brother talk over his fuming girlfriend in the background.

"Stefan, just do me a favor and keep Elena under control. We've got enough doppelgängers running around this town making a mess of things we really don't need to add her into the mix right now." Damon looked up to the sound of a car door slamming shut. Sara had finally come out of the car. "Gotta go." He hung up just as the car went up in flames behind the Striga.

"Jesus Crist!" Damon shouted as he got out of the car. "Tell me, do you ever go somewhere and not set something on fire?" he asked as the brunette walked over to him.

"I didn't set the boarding house on fire and besides, this way the Sheriff won't be on your case about more dead bodies dying of mysterious causes." She said as she pulled a cigarette out of her purse and lit it up.

"Well, thank you for that." Damon's voice dripped with sarcasm as they got back into his car, this time Sara was in the passenger seat. Damon started up the car and got back onto the road and drove away from Mystic Falls.

"What are you doing?" Sara asked as she blew out a puff of smoke.

"We can't go back there with that lunatic still in town." Damon said.

"So were just going to let him terrorize the town's people then?" Sara countered.

"The others are keeping an eye out and if something happens they can handle it. Bonnie's going to see if she can come up with anything about those shadow creatures, until then everyone is safer without you being in town. At least untill we find out what this guy wants with you."

"Does it really matter what he wants with me? I'm in the way of his plan or whoever he's working for."

"You think he's working for someone?" Damon looked at her out of the corner of his eye.

"He has to be. The Travelers brought him back a thousand years ago for a reason, plus Pelicarpo isn't smart enough to come up with something this big. Besides we never knew anything about doppelgängers back in ancient times." Said Sara as she took another drag and then released the smoke from between her lips and out the window.

"Hmm, what about these shadow things? Know anything about them?" Damon asked as they passed the town limits and into Richmond. Sara shook her head.

"No, but I can find out." She said as she searched through her purse for he cell phone. She sighed in frustration when she couldn't find it. "Can I use your cell phone? I must've left mine back at the house." she asked. Damon reached into his pocket and handed her his phone. Sara swiped the lock screen and started to punch in the number she needed. "Mind if it's long distance?"

"How distant?" he asked just as Sara answered.

"Konichiwa."

"Japan! Really? Couldn't have been a little more local, like say France?" Damon shouted as Sara just waved him off and talked with her contact.

x-TOPD-x

Meanwhile at the Boarding house…

Jeremy entered the living room and dropped another load of books on the floor.

"Careful!" shouted Bonnie from her spot in the middle of the floor surrounded by more said books.

"Sorry." Jeremy shrugged as looked at the mess they had made of Damon's living room. God forbid he came back before they got to clean up. "Any luck?" he asked before plopping down on the only vacant spot on the couch.

"Not yet. So far I've found a few possibilities, but nothing sounds like what Damon described. Hey did you know that there's a creature called the Ettercap, it's basically a human/spider hybrid that lives in the shadows and feeds off those that land in its shadowy web? They also keep spiders for pets and they act as loyal as dogs." Bonnie relayed the information she had just been reading, fascinated about learning more about the supernatural world.

"That's disgusting, Bonnie!" shouted Caroline as she entered the living room and took back her former spot on the floor before she had started preparing food. "Spiders as pets are bad enough, but looking like one too? Blah!"

"I'm with Caroline on that one, Bon." Jeremy agreed.

"I'm not saying I'd like to be one, but finding more about other creatures is cool." Bonnie defended herself.

"Yeah, but spiders?" Caroline said as she flipped through the next book in her pile.

"Well, that's one we can cross off of our Know-About-But-Never-Run-Into List." Jeremy suggested as he picked up a book he had taken out of the library.

"Amen!" the girls agreed as they continued their search for more information about the shadow based creatures.

x-TOPD-x

"Ah ha…Really?... That simple?... But dangerous, okay...Well, this sucks…. Any new information on the… oh I see…well keep me posted…yes this number is fine…okay darling…bah bye now." Sara hung up Damon's phone and handed it back to him. "Send me the bill." She said as he took it from her hand.

"Don't worry about it, what did they say?" he asked, between the mixture of Japanese and English he got a headache in the first 5 minutes of listening in on the conversation and figured that it was best to focus on the road than that of what was being said.

"Well the creatures that we're dealing with are just what that, Shadow People. Been around for centuries, but not something to mess with especially where it seems they're either A. being controlled by Pelicarpo or B. working with their own ulterior motive. Basically they bring death, in fact some believe that when they kill a person they wipe all existence of the person from the earth and rewrite history. How much of that is true I don't know. However, if they're with him and apart of this whole thing somehow it's not good." Sara explained.

"Great. Anyway to stop them?" Damon asked.

"Not that anyone is aware of." She admitted.

"Fucking great."

"But there is more, they don't exactly travel through the shadows as we thought…"

"No they just are the fucking shadows!"

"Oh don't be so dramatic, Damon." Sara groaned as she rolled her eyes. Why were vampires always so dramatic? "At least we know what to look for. Any weird shadows we see we can figure it's them. And they can't perfect an objects shadow. They're too big. They're better at hiding in the larger shadows like trees or houses than that of say a person or a piece of furniture. Mobile things they can't stay in or they'd be seen due to the erratic movement. But let's not count anything out for now."

"So why do you think they're involved?" asked Damon. She had mentioned that they could have their own agenda and he was curious as to what that could possibly be.

"My theory? They have the ability to possess people in their sleep and if Pelicarpo and the shadow people are linked to this thing with the Travelers as I fear and they're after us…"

"You think they're capable of possessing the doppelgängers?"

"I don't know. They can possess humans, I don't know about supernatural creatures. But I don't want to find out." Sara bit her lip in worry and in thought. This really did not bode well for them at all. Damon stepped on the gas as they passed through the outer limits of Richmond and into the city. They really needed to come up with a plan and fast.

x-TOPD-x

"Are you sure we shouldn't head back?" Elena asked for what seemed the millionth time since Stefan had hung up the phone with Damon.

"I'm sure Elena. The others can handle themselves for a few days plus we're all keeping in touch with one another. If we don't hear from someone then we can head back, but until there is a reason for us to go back we are staying here." Stefan said as he chopped up some vegetables for their dinner.

"How do we know that Sara isn't working with these things, hmm? I bet she had something to do with it." Elena grumbled as she sulked on the couch.

"C'mon Elena. Sara seems nice and besides from what Damon said she and this Pelicarpo fella are not on good terms, so I don't think we have to worry about her teaming up with him." He said remembering what Damon had said about Pelicarpo though he didn't go into great detail.

"So Damon says because she said." Elena said as she walked in to the kitchen and refilled her wine glass. "She was in love with him at one point."

"Yeah and she also said she was cursed. Maybe he had something to do with it, I don't know Elena. Sara said he died a long time ago. But I trust Damon and he said that they tried to capture Sara, practically chased them out of Mystic Falls. So right now she needs our help as much we need hers."

"Who said we need her help?"

"Elena, be serious. She a 2,000+ year old creature who Damon says we clearly want on our side. Could you at least try to be nice to her. Show a little respect, she is your ancestor after all. She really has done nothing wrong so far. Don't give me that look." Stefan stopped preparing dinner and looked to Elena as she glared at him. "She really hasn't. Yes, she took Jeremy and that was wrong, but she was just trying to find you and warn us. And desperate times call for desperate measures, Elena."

"Fine, you win." Elena said with a sigh. Besides it was getting to be to exhausting for her to keep hating Sara, though it wasn't hard. She took her brother and was basically stealing her friends, but whatever. "Do you think Damon's spending too much time with her?" she asked as she wrapped her arms around Stefan's waist and place her chin up on his shoulder.

Stefan laughed at what she was hinting at. "I don't think we have to worry about Damon." He said as he went back to making dinner.

"It's not Damon I'm worried about." She said as she walked off into the other room.

"Elena." His tone told her to drop the subject.

"Fine!"

x-TOPD-x

"Yeah, you guys go ahead and stay there till we get back. Better to stick together, we still don't know what exactly these things are after. Oh and if you guys see Katherine, tell her to get her ass back at the boarding house. I don't care if you have to shove vervain down her throat and lock her in the basement; it's not safe for her to be alone. Alright, talk to you later Jeremy." Damon hung up the phone after filling Jeremy, Bonnie, and Caroline in on what they had found out.

It had long since started raining and they were currently sitting out in the parking lot of a cheap roadside motel on the other side of Richmond. Damon figured it best that he keep Sara away from town for at least untill tomorrow to give things a chance to die down. He turned his attention to Sara as she watched her come running out of the office and back to the car.

"What's up? Is there space available?" He asked, rolling down his window as she had come to his side of the car despite the rain.

Sara nodded. "There is, but…"

"But what?"

"Just play along." Was all the warning he got before she pulled him out of the car and towards the office. "Here he is, Mrs. Silverman. I'd like you to meet my husband, Damon." She said with a smile at the old woman in the office, who was now smiling at her. When she had first come into the office she had scowled at her in disapproval.

"My, what a catch you got yourself there, Deary." Mrs. Silverman said with a wink at Sara.

"Thank you." Sara giggled as she linked her hand with Damon's and placed a hand on his chest. "Honey, we're in luck. Mrs. Silverman says she still has one room available. Isn't that right?" she said as she turned her gaze to the woman behind the desk.

Mrs. Silverman smiled. "That's right and a good thing too it seems. I just had this other young couple in here looking for a room, but I'm an old fashion woman and they we're not married. And with only one bed in the room I refused to rent it to them and sent them on their way. Now, it's Mr. and Mrs.?"

"Ah, Salvatore." Damon said as he wrapped his arm around Sara, quickly catching on to their game. "And indeed what luck we have for running into you, Mrs. Silverman. We've had quite the busy day." He said, unsure of what Sara had already told the woman.

"Oh I'm sure, what with running away and getting married an all. But you can't help true love. Though I do hope you get this lovely young lady of yours a ring."

"Oh I don't care about the ring…."

"Fear not, Mrs. Silverman. She will be getting one shortly. I have an excellent job lined up in Arlington and the love of my life only deserves the best." Damon said as he planted a kiss to Sara's temple.

"How very sweet, dear. Now, one night or two?" she asked as she prepared to give them her last available room.

"One please, we still have more traveling to do tomorrow I'm afraid." Sara said as the woman handed her the key.

"How much do we owe you, Ma'am?" Damon asked as he moved to get out his wallet.

"It's on the house Deary. I insist." She added when she saw they were about to argue. "It does this old woman's heart good to still see such true love in the young these days. I just ask that you try not to disturb the neighbors around you, but seeing as you are on the end it shouldn't be a problem." She said with a wink before disappearing into the back.

"Oh..ah thank you, Mrs. Silverman." Sara said as they made their way out of the office. The two made their way to the very last room on the end and Sara unlocked the door and then relocked it as they went inside. "Well that was…"

"Did she really just…" The two looked at each other before they burst into laughter. "Husband? Where the hell did that come from?" Damon asked her as he flopped onto the bed.

"I overheard her talking to someone on the phone about the other couple and well I told her that we'd just got married and were looking for a room for the night." Sara said with a slight blush on her cheeks.

"Ran away and got married you mean?" Damon corrected her with what the woman had said.

"A tragic love story of two young loves to be torn apart by their parents only to run away and get married." Sara laughed.

"Romeo and Juliet?"

"It was playing on the tv in the office." Sara laughed as she admitted to her inspiration.

"Surprised she didn't catch on. Oh well." Damon shrugged and toed off his shoes. "You know they died at the end right?"

"Damon, I knew Shakespeare. Who do you think inspired his Juliet?" Sara called from the bathroom.

"Seriously?" Damon asked just as there was a knock on the door and Sara turned on the shower. Damon opened the door to see Mrs. Silverman.

"Mr. Salvatore, sorry to interrupt dear." She said with a smile.

"Oh that's alright Mrs. Silverman. Rest assured you weren't interrupting anything." He said as he gave her one of his devilish smiles.

"Well, I just brought you two this tray of food from the kitchen and this bottle of wine for you two to celebrate with." She said as she pushed the cart into the room.

"Oh Mrs. Silverman, thank you. Now I insist that you at least let me pay for this." Damon said, feeling slightly sorry that they had tricked the old woman.

"Nonsense dear, the food would've been thrown out in just a bit anyway and someone left that bottle of wine behind so it's no skin off my back." She said before she quickly headed back to the office.

"Thank you!" Damon called after her before shutting the door and locking it. "Crazy old bat." He muttered under his breath.

"What's that?" Asked Sara when she came out of the bathroom.

Damon turned around to see her come out of the bathroom wrapped in a towel with another in her hand to dry her hair. It took a minute till the blood reached the correct head. "Ah, Mrs. Silverman brought us some food and wine to celebrate our nuptials." He said as he reached for the wine bottle to inspect it. "Who the fuck forgets a $130 bottle of Cabernet Sauvignon!" Damon exclaimed as he tore off the cover and grabbed with cork screw off the tray.

"Someone with more on their mind than just wine." Sara said as she peered at the food choices. It seemed the wine was the only descent part, but seeing as they got all this for free she wasn't going to complain.

Damon quickly poured two glasses and handed one to Sara. "Mrs. Salvatore." He said with a smirk on his lips as he winked at her.

Sara smiled as she took it from him. "Thank you, Mr. Salvatore." She laughed as she moved to sit on the bed. "There's still hot water if you want to shower." She said as she took a sip, a small moan escaping her lips. "Damn, that's good wine." She said as she took a larger sip than the first.

Damon was currently wishing she had used all the hot water. "Yes, well I'm going to get in the shower then. Don't eat all the food and don't drink all the wine." He threatened half heartedly before he shut the door behind him.

Sara just shrugged it off as she moved to pour herself more wine and once again peered at the food. A good half hour later Damon came out of the bathroom with a towel wrapped around his waist to find Sara lying in the bed under the covers with her tank top back on. If she was wearing anything else, he couldn't tell. He also noticed she had the tv on.

"Anything good?" he asked.

"Nothing worth watching." She said as she flipped through channels trying not to stare or drool over Damon. In all her years she didn't think she'd ever seen a more enticing specimen of the male form.

"Bummer. No Pay-per-view?" he asked as he grabbed some of the food.

"Seeing as how we're not paying anything, I decided against it." She answered, settling on some cheesy horror movie.

"Touché." Damon said as he moved to occupy the vacant side of the bed with a plate of food in one hand and his glass of wine in the other. "Damn this shit is gross." He said as he spat out what he attempted to eat and discarded his plate of dry chicken and soggy fries on the night stand.

Sara nodded in agreement. "Left over food, a forgotten bottle of wine, and that's not all she gave us." She said as she hinted towards the cart.

"What?" Damon said as he looked from her to the cart. Sara just nodded towards it again, clearing wanting him to look for himself. Damon got up and walked over the cart.

"Lift the cloth." Sara instructed. Damon did as told and found what she was referring to.

"You've got to be shitting me." He said as lifted out the half-empty box of condoms that also contained a small bottle of used lubricant. "Seriously?" he said as he looked back at Sara who was trying to contain her laughter.

"Helpful old thing, isn't she?" she smirked.

"Jesus Christ." Damon groaned as he stood and threw the box into the trash before disappearing into the bathroom once more. Sara wondered if it was the way he was holding his towel or if he was actually getting a rise out of all this.

x-TOPD-x

An old coffee table smashed into several pieces as someone threw it against the wall. "Dammit!" shouted Pelicarpo as he picked up a chair. "We were so close!" he shouted as he threw the chair. "Curse you Selephia! I will get my hands on you and you will not stand in his way." He promised as a figure came into view with some of the others in the room.

"I thought she was already cursed?" asked one, who was quickly shushed by the others.

"Shut up!" Pelicarpo snapped. "Any word?"

"The former witch, Vampire, and Hunter are all staying at the Salvatore Boarding house. The Gilbert Girl and her boyfriend are still at her parent's cabin and there is still no sign of the other doppelgänger. Word is she left the boarding house."

"And Her?" Pelicarpo said through gritted teeth.

"She and the older Salvatore Brother are nowhere to be found."

"Fuck!" Pelicarpo shouted as he punched the wall next to him. "You can't hide forever, my dear. I'll make sure of it." He seethed while the Shadow People returned to the dark corners of their abandoned hide out.

A/N 2: And that is chapter 5. Please, please, please review you guys. I am begging here. I know I've made you wait a long time, but if you review I will try to have chapter 6 up this weekend. Promise, Promise, PROMISE!