FOUR

It was Monday before Bonnie left me a message saying she wanted to talk. I went to her house sometime around noon and was half surprised to find it was just her. She stepped back to let me in and we both stood in the foyer, unsure of what to say. She motioned with her head that she was going to sit in the formal living room. She was biting her lip, trying to find the right words. "Look, I'm sorry I didn't tell you earlier."

"It's not like we haven't been talking almost every day."

"I wasn't sure how you would take it."

I nodded and relaxed against the couch. "How long?"

"Since Christmas." She saw my mouth open to say something, but she rushed on. "We haven't...We aren't..." she sighed in frustration. "We're not at that level yet. I told him we would wait until you knew."

"Alright. I'm listening."

She took a deep breath and figured out exactly where to start. I moved to the opposite end of the couch so I could refrain from entering her mind. "We had a week off in the fall and I came back to see my parents. I was out shopping with Caroline one day and I got some really good deals and I drove to the boarding house to show you. I felt like an idiot when I realized half way there that you weren't going to be there. Instead of going home, I just kept driving. You and Damon said the boarding house was open to everyone if they needed somewhere to go and I just wanted to be alone for a little bit. I pulled up and when I walked inside, I saw Stefan and Tyler just playing video games." She stopped to smile and shake her head at the memory. "They had junk food all over the place and cans galore. They were so into the game they didn't even hear the car. They nearly jumped out of their skin when I cleared my throat."

I laughed along with her. "I really wish you had gotten that on video."

"Right?" she said and smiled as she relaxed in her seat. "I just watched them play for a few more hours and then Tyler left. Stefan and I started talking, mostly about you because you were only talking to me. I'm not really sure how it happened, but some time later, he kissed me. Instead of saying anything, I just left and avoided him for the rest of the week." She paused and took a deep breath. "Then Christmas Break came and I started working at the Grill again with Matt. Stefan came in every day until I gave in and talked to him. It started out with just lunch or movies at the boarding house and then it became dinners and..."

"Kissing?" I supplied and her dark cheeks flushed. I smiled lightly. "I get it, it escalated from there."

She nodded, "Caroline and Matt told me every day that I should cool it and tell you before anything happened so that's what I did. I feel like I've broken some major rule here."

I laughed and put my hand on hers. "Caroline's dating Matt; my ex. You're dating Stefan; my other ex. I'm seeing Stefan's brother. None of this is exactly following the usual rules of friends."

"So you're okay with this?"

I hesitated before I answered. "Um, give me time to get used to it, but I promise to try and not let it be awkward."

She moved closer to me and hugged me. "Thank you for understanding. I mean, if Stefan really had done all those things last year, I would have never-"

"I know that," I said and pulled away from her. "Just don't ask me to double date."

She laughed really hard at that thought and I joined her. "Oh, I would never do that to you."

When we were able to not break into laughter by looking at each other, I decided to fill her in on everything. After I told her about Europe, promising she could have the camera after Matt, I told her about the incident in Dublin. "It was definitely Roarke."

She nodded, but she wasn't really listening to me. "What did you say Klaus said he was? An Original? What the hell does that mean?"

"I asked Damon and he gave me some snarky comment about how the Original is exactly what it implies," I said and rolled my eyes as Bonnie gave me almost the same look Damon had given me.

"Back to Roarke, you said in the dream, Katherine had swapped blood with him before leaving him there, right? So it could be possible that Klaus watched and killed him afterwards, making him a vampire."

"Of course it's possible and I've thought of that too, but why would he do that? He didn't even want to turn Katherine." We were both silent, trying to think of something, but came up with nothing. "Hey, when was the last time you were at the boarding house?" I asked.

"Friday morning before work," she said and then her eyes widened. "Why?"

"We came back Friday night and both Damon and Stefan's rooms were torn apart. Things were still settling in Stefan's room when we opened the door and Katherine's picture was on the table."

"I thought you said that was missing?"

"It was. There was a bullet hole in her head and fresh blood was smeared on the bottom into words. It was a foreign language, but I'm pretty sure the message was something about death and I don't think it was directed towards Katherine."

She nodded as she let in sink in. "I'll ask Stefan about it when I see him."

"Okay. I'll call you later alright?"

I opened the door to leave, but she caught me. "Hey, you know Alaric might know about the Originals. He went through all of her research when he found out what happened to her. Maybe she had some information on them."

"Maybe I should just find those damn journals," I muttered.

"Just talk to Alaric first and go from there," she said with a small smile and checked the clock on the wall. "School will be out soon."

I had to do a double take because I was a little startled that I had been here for a few hours. "I'll head over there."

"Elena? I'm sorry you had to find out that way," she said as I stepped onto the patio.

"It's okay. I'm glad you told me," I said and waved before I sped my way to the school. I got there just as the bell for the beginning of the last class rang. I walked down the familiar halls, unable to stop the memories washing over me. When I made it to Alaric's class room, I hesitated before pushing the door open. I was surprised to see that it was just him at his desk. "No students?" I asked.

He smiled when he saw me and I sat in one of the student desks near his. "This is my prep hour now. What are you doing here?"

"I wanted to catch you before you went home. I have a few questions, but I don't want to ask them here."

He nodded, "Alright, help me grade these and we can go." He handed me a somewhat small stack of papers and the answer key. It took me five minutes to grade fifty papers due to my ability to speed read and handed them back to him in the time he had graded two of the exact same paper. "Okay, that's not fair."

I smirked, "You can't just go now?"

He nodded as he started assembling his desk. "Let's go," he said and then paused at the door. "On second thought, we should probably wait. I think they would get the wrong impression if they saw me leaving with a former student."

"Are you allowed to leave during your prep hour if your work is done?" I asked and he nodded. I extended my hand to him. "Do you trust me?" He looked at me for a second before he nodded and took my hand. In under thirty seconds we were standing in front of his car near the back of the staff parking lot. He took a step back and looked around in awe. "No one saw a thing," I assured him and winked as he unlocked the car and opened my door for me.

"That was definitely a strange feeling," he said as he started the car and began driving.

"Tell me about it," I muttered.

"Now that we're out of the school, what did you want to ask me?"

I tried to figure out the best way to ask without it sounding awkward and sighed when I couldn't. "Do you have any of Isobel's research from when she was human?"

I noticed his hands gripped tighter on the wheel at the sound of her name, but he did nod his head. "When she disappeared, I read through her computer and her notes. I have everything still. It's how I learned how to kill vampires."

"Mind if I take a look at it?"

He nodded again as he pulled up in front of his townhouse. I followed him and he opened the door. I stopped at the threshold due to the invisible barrier that prevented me from coming inside. He realized I wasn't following him and turned around. "Sorry. Come in," he said and I shut the door behind me. "It's in here," he added and I followed him to the back of the first floor and into the den. "What exactly are you hoping to find?"

I gave him the condensed version of my "memories" about Katherine's past and when I mentioned Klaus and the Originals, he began sorting through his files on the computer and rolled his chair to the side so I could take a look. There wasn't much to read. From the lack of information I could tell that Isobel had been working on this before she was turned. It basically told me what I already knew, but confirmed Damon's theory that it meant Klaus was one of the original vampires. There were legends of them but no one was sure how many were around, who they were, or anything else about them. "She doesn't have much information on it."

"It was what she was working on it before she...left," the last word was in a lower voice and he looked away from me.

I nodded and stepped away from the computer. "That's what I thought."

We were both silent for a moment before he blurted out something that I was not expecting. "She was different when she was human. One day she was the Isobel I fell in love with and the next...she was obsessed with vampires. I think it had something to do with Katherine."

"What do you mean?" I asked as I crossed my arms.

"There was a day she came home and told me a distant relative had tracked her down and wanted to meet her. They set up a lunch date and when she came back, she was different."

"Different how?"

He shook his head. "I can't explain, but she wasn't as energetic as she should have been. I think Katherine compelled her to be that obsessive. I think she gave Isobel the way to contact Damon."

I nodded, trying not to think about that. Then I remembered the portrait and the foreign letters. "Hey, would you be able to recognize a written language?"

"Possibly. Why?" I explained the portrait and his brow rose. "Do you have the picture with you?"

I shook my head and extended my hand to him for the second time. "I don't think I need it. Trust me?"

A light smile touched his face. "Eventually that question is going to get us in trouble," he said as he put his hand in mine. I closed my eyes and concentrated on the portrait as hard as I could. I then pushed the image and felt him tense the moment I entered his thoughts. "It's German," he said and didn't sound at all surprised.

"Alright, so Damon and I will go to Germany and start asking."

He was laughing at me. "Going to Germany to ask about a man named Klaus is going to get you nowhere. Klaus is the German equivalent to John."

I sighed and couldn't help but laugh as well. "Good point. I'll think of something. Thank you for letting me look at this."

"Any time," he replied and walked me to the door.

I smiled and waved before taking off back to the boarding house. When I got close to the property, I could sense something was wrong. I moved faster then I had ever moved before and the moment I walked through the door I cried out. The living room looked like a tornado had run through it and in the middle of everything was Damon. His skin was turning that ash-grey and his body was riddled with wooden bullets.