Mystic Falls, 1864

"Honey, please be careful!" Pearl shouted to Annabelle. She giggled, ignoring her mother as she went to pet a horse. I walked beside her and ran a hand through the horse's mane.

"You know, Elisabeth, your brothers are both smitten by Miss Katherine." Annabelle told me with a mischievous smile.

"I know… She's making them fight over her." I muttered, running my fingers over the leather bridle on the horse.

"Well, they'll be there for a while… Let's go to the barn. You have the most beautiful horses!" Annabelle said, tugging on my arm.

"You know that no proper woman goes into a barn to see the animals, Annabelle." I told her. She looked disappointed.

"Which is exactly why we're going!" I finished. She giggled again and we hurried off together.

I woke up with a start. Why was I dreaming about the girl I hadn't seen since 1864? My phone rang from beside me on the pillow. I shook my head to get the thoughts out and answered it.

"Hello?"

"Hey, it's Elena. You were supposed to meet Stefan and me at my house like half an hour ago… Did something happen? You're not one to be late."

"I just overslept… I'll be there is a second." I hung up and went to my closet. Once I was dressed in jeans, a faded black t-shirt and boots, I darted over to Elena's house. I sped right through the door and into the kitchen.

"Whoa, you know I have an aunt and a brother here that could have seen you!" Elena said, looking around.

"Sorry." I mumbled.

"You okay, Beth?" Stefan asked me as Elena picked through a box she had on the kitchen table. I nodded silently. I was a little out of it, but it was nothing to tell Stefan about. Elena looked up at Stefan.

"So what do you think will happen if the tomb gets opened and Damon gets Katherine back?" She asked.

"I think that no matter what Damon promises, a lot of people will die…" Stefan told her. I exhaled loudly, a sound of annoyance.

"And I think that Katherine doesn't deserve freedom, Damon's an idiot for wanting her back and she'll be the one killing people." I told Elena.

"You really don't like Katherine, do you?" She asked.

"I would like to slam her tongue in a car door… Shove a stake into her chest just so that she can feel it scraping against that stone cold heart of hers… Kick her through a few walls…Set her on fire and then roast marshmallows with the flames as she burns to the ground…"

"Okay, can you not say that out loud? And when did you turn from nice and sweet to wanting to torture someone?" Elena asked, looking shocked at me.

"I was faking nice and sweet before I was comfortable around you. Now you know about vampires and you are my best friend, so I feel comfortable sharing my plans with you." I told her.

"Oh… Okay…" She said. She picked up a photo from the box and I looked over her shoulder at it. I recognized the man in the picture.

"That's Jonathan Gilbert." I told her. She set it aside and picked up a wooden box. She opened it. I recognized the device inside. A vampire muzzle…

"What's this?" Stefan looked like he recognized it too, but he said nothing as Jeremy walked into the room. Elena shoved it back into the wooden box and then back down inside the cardboard box.

"Hey, what are you guys doing?" Jeremy asked.

"Just looking through some stuff. Feeling sentimental… Dad had this old family journal from years ago. I thought I'd dig it up." Elena told him. Jeremy sat down on the kitchen counter.

"Jonathan Gilbert's journal?" He asked.

"Yeah, what do you know about it?" She asked.

"I just did a history report on it."

"Oh, so where is it now?"

"I gave it to Mr. Saltzman. He wanted to see it." He told her. Elena and Stefan exchanged a look. Jeremy motioned for me to follow him as he walked out the front door. I followed and we paused on the porch.

"I was going to the Grill. Want to come with me?" He asked.

"Um… Actually, I'll have to hand you an umbrella for a rain check… I have something I have to do. But, soon, I promise." I told him.

"Sure, of course, see ya around." He walked off. Elena and Stefan came out to join me on the porch.

"We'll get the journal." Stefan told Elena.

"How?"

"Never underestimate the powers of two vampire siblings on a mission, Elena Gilbert." I told her with a smile. Stefan and I gave a quick look around to make sure no one else was watching and then darted off towards the school. Once we were inside the school, we headed for Mr. Saltzman's classroom. I peeked inside through the little window on the door. He was loading a stake gun inside the classroom.

"He's a vampire hunter. Awesome. You play bait; I'll take the other door." I whispered to Stefan. He nodded. I silently went around the corner towards the other door leading into the classroom. I saw Mr. Saltzman shot the stake gun at Stefan, who easily caught the stake mid-air. I darted forward while Mr. Saltzman's back was turned and grabbed him by the throat.

"You shouldn't have done that." I grabbed his shirt and flung him backwards into the desks. He landed on his butt in the midst of several knocked over desks. He scrambled to his feet.

"Have a seat." Stefan suggested, picking up the gun that Mr. Saltzman had dropped on the floor. When he didn't sit, I pointed to one of the chairs in an insisting way. This time he sat at one of the desks.

"What is this? Compressed air? Did you make this yourself?" Stefan asked, examining the gun. He shrugged and tossed it aside. He sat down on the desk in front of Mr. Saltzman.

"Who are you?"

"I'm a teacher." He answered. I walked around behind Mr. Saltzman and put my hands on his shoulders. I could feel the tense muscles underneath the skin.

"Are we gonna have to do this the hard way?" I whispered in his ear, just to scare him. Stefan gave me a 'knock it off' look. I rolled my eyes.

"Well, I was just trying to help speed this along. Fine, I'm done." I walked over to the overturned desk beside the one Stefan was sitting on, hooked my foot under it and swung it upright again with my leg. I moved it over a bit and then sat down on the desk, my shoulder touching Stefan's.

"I'm also a historian… And while researching Virginia, I… I made some interesting discoveries about your town." Mr. Saltzman said.

"So you show up like Van Helsing? Come on. Tell us the truth." I urged.

"My wife was a parapsychologist. She spent her life researching paranormal activity in this area. It was her work that led me here."

"Where's your wife?" Stefan asked.

"Dead. A vampire killed her!" He snapped.

"Easy, there, cowboy. This will end badly for you if this turns violent." I warned. His eyes flickered to me. I raised an eyebrow, warning him to make a move.

"Where's the Gilbert journal?" Stefan asked.

"What do you want with it?"

"Where is it?" Stefan repeated.

"It's on my desk." I looked over my shoulder. All I saw was school papers and a desk lamp. I turned back to look at Stefan and Mr. Saltzman.

"No it's not." Mr. Saltzman looked over me (not hard with my height, even if he was sitting down) at his desk. He looked back at us as I took out my phone. I half listened to them as I typed a text. Despite being born in another century without phones, I was a fast texter.

Mr. Saltzman doesn't have the journal. Someone took it.

I sent the text to Damon.

"It was on my desk." Mr. Saltzman was saying when I looked up.

"How long have you been aware of me?" Stefan asked.

"I learned just recently… What about your brother?"

"You met Damon." Stefan said with a nod.

"Who do you think killed my wife?" Mr. Saltzman was getting snappy again.

"Are you sure it was Damon?" I asked, my voice just as snappy.

"I witnessed it!"

"If you're here for revenge against my big brother, this is going to end very badly for you!" I started to stand up but Stefan pushed me gently down again.

"I just want to find out what happened to my wife."

"You just said Damon killed her!" I protested, folding my arms across my chest. Was he stupid or had a short-term memory problem?

"I saw him draining the life out of her. He must have heard me coming… He just…disappeared. So did her body. They never found her."

"Damon can never know why you're here. He'd kill you without blinking." Stefan warned him, getting to his feet. I stood up too.

"I can take care of myself." Mr. Saltzman said, standing too. I scoffed.

"No, you can't, cowboy." I told him. Stefan shot me a look and then turned back to Mr. Saltzman.

"I can help you, if you let me." My phone rang and I backed away to answer it, seeing it was Damon.

"What? I'm busy." I snapped as I answered it.

"You care about Jeremy?"

"Yes. Why? What happened?"

"There's a girl who might have Jonathan Gilbert's journal. She knows Jeremy. If she wanted the journal and could steal it right from under the history teacher's nose, she might be a vampire. Do the math, little sis. And get to the Grill. Now." I hung up and looked back at Stefan.

"Gotta go. You can have a moving, soulful conversation with Mr. Saltzman." I told him. I darted out of the school and to the Grill. I spotted Jeremy with a black haired girl at the pool table. Then I saw Damon at the bar and I hurried over. He saw me and grabbed my shoulders. He moved me a couple steps to the side so I could see the girl's face. I sucked a breath in.

"Annabelle's here." I whispered. Then I growled and started to move forward, but Damon caught my arm and pulled me back.

"Whoa, I know you don't like vampires around the little Gilbert, but we can't let her know we're here. We'll follow her after she leaves, find where she's hanging out and snatch the journal from her." He whispered in my ear. I shook my arm loose from his grip.

"Fine. But I'll kick her butt too. She was my best friend and I thought she died in that church. Then I thought she's stuck in the tomb. No, she's been alive all this time!" I snarled.

"Someone doesn't like betrayal, jeez." Damon turned to take a shot at the bar. I gave him a meaningful look that I knew he saw.

"No. I don't. Especially from the people I love…"

We followed Anna after she left the Grill, keeping a safe distance behind her. When she walked into her motel room, I darted in after her and slammed her against the wall, wrapping my fingers around her throat. She grabbed a hold of mine, choking me a lot more than I was choking her.

"Okay, I give. Okay!" She released me and I released her. I stumbled back a few steps as Damon darted into behind me. He saw me coughing and looked over at Anna. He cussed under his breath.

"I forgot you were older… You're a strong little thing, aren't you?" She looked between the two of us before fixing her eyes on me.

"I was wondering how long it would take for you to find me."

"How long have you been here?" I asked her, straightening up. I was physically two years older than her, so even being vertically challenged I was an inch or two taller than her.

"I've arrived about half-past comet, watching Damon screw up every chance he had at opening the tomb." She turned to Damon, daring him to say something.

"How did you know about the spell?" He demanded.

"I didn't talk much back then, which means I heard everything."

"So if you've been here the whole time, why are just now crossing paths?" I asked, moving to stand shoulder to shoulder with Damon.

"Ah, tag-teaming me. Trying to intimidate me… You know, I always knew that you, Elisabeth, and Damon were much closer than you and Stefan. To the outside world, you and Stefan were the perfect siblings, born only a year apart. Close as can be… But I knew you were always just one of Damon's fangirls. That's a word they use now, by the way. It's pathetic, but I kind of like it. Anyway, to answer your question, I like to use others to do my dirty work."

"Like Logan Fell?" Damon asked.

"Yeah, thanks a bunch for that one. Little jerk-face shot me…" I muttered.

"Logan was an idiot." Anna agreed.

"We slipped him some blood when he started going all poser slayer with that compass. I needed his family's journal; I couldn't let him die." She added to answer Damon's question.

"What did you want with the Fell Journal?" I asked.

"I thought it contained the location of the witch's spellbook. I was wrong. According to her journal, Honoria gave the grimoire to Jonathan Gilbert. And according to this-." She pulled the Gilbert Journal out of her bag. "He gave it to your father. So now you're going to help me find it."

"Why would I help you?" Damon asked.

"Cause you and I both want that tomb open." Damon grabbed the journal from Anna and read the page she'd flipped to. He closed it and put it on the counter beside him.

"Sorry I work alone." He told her. He darted out of the motel room. I gave Anna a smirk and darted after him. I caught up with him at the grave yard, by our father's grave. I'd been here before. Sometimes to apologize for being the monster he always hunted but more often to rub it in that I was still alive after all these years. Well, more or less alive.

"Well, what do you know?" Damon asked as I caught up to him. Stefan and Elena had dug up the coffin and had the grimoire. Stefan was holding the grimoire and was closest to us. Elena stood on the far side of the grave.

"This is an interesting turn of events." Damon snarled.

"I can't let you bring her back. I'm sorry." Stefan told him.

"So am I… For thinking for even a second that I could trust you!"

"You're not capable of trust. The fact that you're here means you read the journal and you were planning on doing this yourself!"

"Of course I was going to do it myself, because the only one I can count on is me. You made sure of that years ago, Stefan!"

"But you… you had me fooled." Damon told Elena.

"So what are you going to do now? Because if you try and destroy that, I'll rip her heart out." Damon told Stefan, still staring at Elena.

"You won't kill her." Damon nodded, knowing Stefan was right. He vamp-sped over to Elena and grabbed her in a chokehold.

"Damon!" I protested.

"I can do one better!" He bit into his wrist and fed Elena his blood, managing to get some in her mouth despite how she was struggling.

"Give me the book, Stefan, or I'm snapping her neck. Then you and I will have a vampire girlfriend."

"Let her go first!" Stefan demanded.

"The book!"

"I'm not going to give this to you until she is standing next to me!"

"Problem is, I no longer trust that you'll give it to me!"

"You just did the one thing that ensures he will!" I reminded him. I grabbed the book from Stefan, holding it out in an offering to Damon, but far enough away he couldn't grab it.

"Okay…" Stefan said, nodding to me. I put it down on the ground. Damon shoved Elena away. She jumped over the grave and into Stefan's arms. I kicked the book to Damon and he caught it. Damon darted off once he had it. I turned to Stefan as he cradled Elena in his arms.

"Really?" I motioned towards the dug up grave.

"I thought we were on the same side?" I asked.

"You're working with Damon!"

"I was being you little spy! I was trying to help you! I am tired of being used by both of you! You guys want to kill each other over Katherine? Again? Fine! But for once, leave me out of it! I'm done!" I darted off, heading for the boarding house again.

Once I was at the boarding house, I slammed the front door behind me and then sat down on the stairs head to the second floor. I put my head in my hands and thought back to 1864.

Mystic Falls, 1864

I pulled my hair out of my braid and smoothed it out as I prepared for bed. Then I heard shouts from the hallway. I hurried out, wondering what could be going on. Damon and I ran into Stefan's bedroom.

"No! Don't take her!" Damon cried as two men carried Katherine out of the room, a muzzle around her mouth. Father slammed him against the wall to hold him back. I grabbed Damon's arm to get his attention.

"Do you know what they'll do if your branded as a sympathizer, Damon? They'll kill you!" I reminded him. He shoved father away and grabbed me by the shoulders to stare me in the eye.

"Then let me be killed."

I looked up again at the empty room in front of me, ignoring the tears running down my cheeks. I brushed my hair out of my eyes, thinking over later that night.

"Damon! Damon, stop!" I cried as I ran after him. The men loaded Katherine into a cart and drove off. Stefan grabbed Damon to stop him from running after them.

"Stop. I'll help you. We'll get her back!" Stefan told him. Damon shoved him away just as I caught up. Stefan stumbled back into me, almost knocking me over. I caught myself on Stefan's arm.

"Help me?! Don't you think you've done enough? You promised you wouldn't tell him!" Damon yelled.

"I didn't think this would happen!" Stefan protested.

"You did this! This is your fault!" Damon ran off, leaving Stefan and me in the middle of the road, alone. I looked at Stefan.

"This… This isn't your fault!" I tried to convince him, though my voice shook, giving away my true thoughts about the matter. It wasn't all his fault... He did it with good intentions. He looked at me, slowly, deep in thought.

"Yes it is. Damon will hate me, no matter what happens tonight."

"I know… But I won't!" I tried to think of some good news. He nodded to me, a small smile replacing the grim look on his face, though it faded quickly.

"I know that, Elisabeth. And I believe that father will hate us after this night as well. It's just the two of us now… We must stick together." I nodded as I took Stefan's hand in my own.

"Always."

"Get back to the house. I have to do something to help."

"But-."

"I'll be back. Go."

I snapped out of the memory. That was the night that Stefan destroyed Damon's trust, but also the night that we forged our 'always' promise. We'd only been separated once or twice since 1864, when Stefan played human and went off to some war. During that time, I would always stay with Lexi and we'd both celebrate his return soon enough… I got up from the stairs and silently went to my bedroom. I collapsed on my bed, crying into my pillow. Finally, I fell asleep once more.