Author's Note: Yay chapter 8 is up…sorry for the wait guys….so bummed by the way that vampire diaries isn't on tonight! : ( Hope you like it! The next chapter will be the start of intensity!

Vanessa

Chapter 8: Telling Tales Part II

Elena took it all in, putting together all missing pieces. Her head shot up when she remembered something. "Who's Tatiana?"

Katherine smirked. "I'm glad you asked." She held her now empty glass out. "Damon…refill." Damon rolled his eyes and snatched the glass out of her hand and took it to the kitchen to get her a glass of blood. When he left the room she started talking.

"In 1270 there was a girl by the name of Tatiana Petrova. She was forced into betrothal by the age of fifteen which in that time wasn't unheard of. She had a child, a daughter when she was sixteen." Damon came back into the room and shoved the glass in her face. She grabbed it and threw a glare at his back. "She hated her life…she grew up on a farm where she had freedom and enjoyment and now she was subjected to an imperial lifestyle; propriety, high status, restrictions. She would pray for the day that something would save her. Years went by and slowly she lost her joy for life until a handsome man caught eye of her. She didn't know him…but she dreamt of him. Every once in a while she would see him hanging around the manor staring at her."

Damon rolled his eyes. "Can you get to the part where you make a long story short?" Elena shot him a look for ruining the mood.

Katherine sighed and leaned back into the chair, drinking her blood. "Fine. With little convincing she left with him. He promised her a free life, a life where propriety was non existent and she didn't have to obey her husband's wishes. She spent three years with him. He told her what he was and she accepted it, promising that one day they could spend eternity together. They were in love." She said the words with distaste.

"Something happened? Something went wrong, didn't it?" Elena asked with a frown. Katherine was telling her a story about Klaus and how everything started…but she was also telling Elena a story about her heritage and where she came from. She understood now her rebellious streak, and how she would go against the grain of what was good for her. Tatiana did it, Katherine did it and so did Isobel.

"Obviously." Katherine drawled. "Word got around quickly through Bulgaria that Tatiana had been spending her time with this Legend. A creature they all thought was a myth…and now that they knew he was real, they wanted to do something about it." She shrugged.

"The Shaman?" Damon added, partly to push the story along he was impatient.

Katherine sighed. "Yes. In around this time there were stories of rabid animal attacks. Some people were drained of their blood, and others were mauled. The Shaman came to realize that vampires weren't the only creatures roaming around, so they created a curse. Vampires couldn't walk in the daylight and werewolves could only turn on a full moon. As a way of showing Klaus that they meant business they used Tatiana as the sacrifice."

Elena shook her head. "They killed one of their own people? Just to prove a point?"

Katherine looked at her like she was stupid. "Yeah…Tatiana was an outcast now; she defied them…so she meant nothing. Anyway, the Shaman created a doppelganger as a precaution, just in case there were problems. When the doppelganger showed her face, the curse could be broken." She finished quickly, staring at Damon to tell her she was done.

Damon crossed his arms. "How old are these Originals?" he needed to know just how much he was up against.

Katherine's eyes bore into him. "You can't fight-"

"How old are they?" Damon cut her off rudely.

She rolled her eyes up. "They are all over a thousand years old, Damon. Brea and Klaus are the oldest." Her voice was bored and indignant. When Damon looked at her with his intense wide eyed stare, she knew he was waiting for more. She did the math quickly in her head. "Brea is 1230…and Klaus is 1389. Are you happy? Now you know just how dead you're going to be." She taunted looking at Elena's frightened face. "You know that no one is safe right? Klaus doesn't need an invite to get in; he can get into your dreams, Elena. Quinn can even read your mind." Elena noticed that even Katherine sounded a little scared…and that scared her even more.

Both vampires heard a noise and their heads shot in the direction of the basement. Damon calmed when he couldn't hear anything else. Katherine raised a brow at him. "It's just Stefan…he struggles sometimes."

Elena didn't hear the noise and was confused by what just happened. She didn't say anything she just back and took in everything Katherine just told her. It was so much…what were they going to do to stop this? Was she going to die at Klaus's hands and be the one to break the curse finally? Or was she going to die trying to get away? Something told her she wasn't getting out of this. She wanted to blame someone…but there was no one to blame. It wasn't Katherine's fault; she was just trying to protect herself like she was trying to do now. She couldn't blame Tatiana because well, first of all she was dead, and second because she had no idea what was going to happen to her…she was just following the fire inside her. Petrova fire. She could blame Klaus…but what good would that do? He was strong enough to flick her head right off her shoulders. She was thrown out of her thoughts when Katherine spoke.

"Damon…can I talk to you outside." It sounded like a question, but her voice clearly noted that it was a demand. Damon followed her outside where they seemed to be arguing. She could hear the heated conversation but couldn't make out the words.

She stood up thinking of grabbing something to drink. She glanced at the wet bar. She could use a real drink. She walked over and picked a decanter…she had no idea what was in it, but it would do what she needed. She poured a drink and put the decanter back before feeling a hand clamp on her mouth. She was being held strongly against him and could barely breathe. She couldn't see her attacker, and closed her eyes when she felt him sped her upstairs; definitely a vampire. Was this Klaus…was it another Original, she didn't have much time to think.

She felt her body slam against a wall and she moaned against the hand still covering her mouth. Her body and head sagged, but it was held back up. She lifted her head and her eyes widened. She mumbled in shock behind his hand. "Stefan?"

"Shut up!" he pushed her against the wall again, his eyes dark and focused on her neck. "I'm so hungry." He commented.

Elena tried to struggle free from his grasp but it was no use. "Please Stefan…please let me go." She sobbed, tears streaming down her cheeks. His grip on her shoulders tightened and she felt something crack. She opened her mouth the wail in pain but Stefan covered her mouth again. She wept as Stefan turned her chin up and began sniffing out her neck and chest. "Damon and Katherine are downstairs, Stefan…they're gonna find out your loose." Her voice was a little muffled and was raspy with her tears. "Damon's going to freak out, please…just let me go and I won't tell him." Elena tried to bargain with him but he didn't even hear her. "Please Stefan…" she begged. "You don't want to do this."

"Yes…I do." She claimed quietly before biting down viciously into her neck. She screamed and howled in pain as his arms constricted around her pushing her blood up to the chalice that was her neck. He must have taken four full pulls before Damon was throwing him across the room. Damon's fangs were descended and the veins popped out under his eyes. Katherine stood out of the way, her pretty face unchanged.

Damon sped to Stefan, who had Elena's blood all over his face, picked him up by the shirt and threw him against the other wall. Elena slid down the wall clutching her neck with her hands trying to stop the bleeding. She felt herself fading quickly. Her eyes closed as Damon continued to beat the shit out of Stefan, and she thought she was going to pass out until she felt something sticky on her lips.

She opened her eyes and saw her own face looking down on her. "Drink. You'll feel better." Katherine's voice sounded so far away, but she held the arm offered to her and drank. She didn't have time to think that Katherine was feeding her blood or that Stefan just attacked her and was now getting the whooping of his life by Damon, she could only drink. She felt her body start to heal itself and Katherine pulled away when she heard Elena's heart rate pick up.

Elena heard the sounds of bones crunching and looked over at the brothers. Damon had Stefan pinned to the ground and was punching him repeatedly in the face. "Damon…" She moaned out, trying to get his attention, but he didn't seem to hear her. "Damon." She said louder.

His face shot up to look at her, and he quickly sped to her, leaving Stefan bloody behind him. Damon's face returned to normal and he looked her over in concern. "Are you okay? I'm sorry; I shouldn't have left you alone. I didn't think he'd get out." He rambled. He sounded scared…she'd never heard him sound this scared.

"I'm okay, Damon." Elena said smiling slightly. She glanced at Katherine, who looked away and hauled Stefan up, bringing him back to the basement. "Katherine…she healed me. I don't know why, but…" she saw the sadness on his face. "I'm okay."

He picked her up, supporting her back and knees, and brought her into his room. Elena rested her head on his chest and inhaled his scent. He made her feel so comforted, and safe in his arms. She frowned. Did I just get attacked by my ex boyfriend? She couldn't believe that was Stefan in that room. She knew he was on human blood, but she never thought he would attack her.

Damon laid her on his bed, and covered her up with the blankets. He kissed her forehead and headed for the door. "Wait." He turned around. "Where are you going?" Elena's voice was quiet and weak despite the blood she just consumed.

Damon smiled miserably. "I'm gonna go take care of Stefan…I'll be right back." He headed out of the room and to the basement. He felt a little bad about how badly he hurt Stefan, but when he saw him attacking Elena, something inside him snapped. His protective instincts for her took over and he couldn't do anything but make him pay for hurting her. Stefan needed to be put in his place…he was on a power trip and Damon needed to show him that he was the dominant one.

Damon pushed open the door to the room Stefan was laying in beaten and bloody. The door banged hard against the wall causing Stefan to look up. "What the fuck is wrong with you?" Damon fumed in an eerily quiet voice. "You could have killed her!" his voice elevated.

Stefan pushed himself up slowly and stood face to face with his brother. "I know." There was little remorse, but Damon could tell that those words affected him. With the fresh human blood still running through his veins the guilt for what he'd done hadn't set in yet. But it would.

Damon pinned him with a hard stare before pushing him into the chair and squeezing his shoulder so hard it broke. Stefan growled in pain. Damon casually put on a pair of gloves and picked up the ropes that used to tie Stefan to the chair. He dipped them in vervain and tied him back up, ignoring his snarls and hollering. Damon tied his feet up with chains which locked around the chair legs that were bolted to the ground. Damon locked chains around his midsection too. Stefan couldn't even move. Stefan growled and his face changed.

Damon looked at him blankly before glancing at Katherine who was looking at him too. Damon walked out and she followed. Damon put several locks on the door and the two vampires ascended the stairs into the main floor. "Thank you." He finally broke the silence. "You didn't have to do that." He said meaning he didn't think Katherine would do that at all.

Katherine knew he was talking about feeding Elena. She shrugged. "I don't even know why I did it." She said nonchalantly. "It was weird…it was like watching myself die." She trailed off not saying anymore.

"Thank you." Damon repeated looking at her seriously.

"Don't mention it." She was uncomfortable so she quickly changed the topic. "You can't leave him like that forever. If you want him to get better you can't keep him locked up." She scolded.

Damon rolled his eyes. "I know." He went to the bar to pour himself a drink and saw an abandoned one there. He frowned but took it anyway. "I'm hoping that once her blood is out of his system, he'll understand what he did…" he guzzled the drink down. "It might make it easier to get to him if he flicks the switch." Damon stated talking about Stefan's humanity.

They were both silent for a while before Katherine spoke up. "Well, I'm gonna leave…you seem to have you're hands full here." She looked upstairs. "Remember what we talked about." She said before walking out the front door.

Damon sighed, closing his eyes before going back upstairs. He chuckled to himself. He had and Angel upstairs and a Devil in the basement.

When he opened the door to his room, he saw the Angel sleeping peacefully as if none of today had just happened. He smiled. She was so beautiful…so pure and amazing. How lucky of him to have her in his bed. Of course he wouldn't be in it with her…but still it was an appealing sight. He quietly pulled his comfy leather chair over to the bed, and got settled. He propped up his feet on the end of the bed, and watched her sleep, before falling asleep himself.

She was running. She didn't know why, just that she couldn't stop. Branches tugged on her shirt and hair but she kept going. Roots from the tree trunks kept catching her feet, causing her to stumble. She was panting hard and had to force herself not to look back. The woods and trees seemed endless and there was no place for her to hide. She made the mistake of looking back and tripped falling to her knees. As she pulled herself back up, she noticed she was no longer wearing her usual attire. The skirts she was wearing were full and heavy and the corset made it hard to breathe, but she pushed herself to keep running. She held up the skirts to make for faster dashing but stopped when she saw the silhouette of a figure up ahead. Was this what she was running from? She turned around and there he was; she couldn't make out his face before he picked her up by the neck. He ignored her struggles and chuckled darkly, throwing her. She rolled a few times, her body hitting the ground hard like a bouncy ball. She was sure her bones were broken. She slowly lifted her head and opened her eyes, squinting at her surrounding. The Boarding House? She was in the parlor…how? She gingerly sat up and looked around. She saw Damon…laying to her right. His skin was ashen and a large piece of wood protruded from his chest. She tried to scream but nothing came out. She pulled herself over to him and jumped back when his head lolled towards her and his lifeless eyes looked back at her. "You killed me." He rasped but his lips weren't moving. It was like it echoed throughout the whole house.

"What?" she asked in shock. She pushed herself to her feet and looked around again. The walls were fading away and she could see the woods fall into place. It kept flashing back and forth between the two as if it couldn't make up its mind. She saw the figure that grabbed her in the woods run at her with a large sharpened stick, and moved out of the way. She turned around to see Damon's tortured face as he clutched his chest and fell to the floor. She watched the grey creep up his arms and neck. She looked on in horror as his lips moved, speaking the same words she heard only seconds earlier. "You killed me." The grey crawled up his face and into his hairline, freezing his face in an agonized expression.

Elena's eyes popped open and she sighed in relief when she saw Damon asleep in the chair beside the bed. It was just a dream.

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Klaus chuckled to himself, proud of the fear he surely put in her heart. He walked off the driveway in front of the Boarding House and made a leisurely walk back to the mansion. She was so easy to control, her fears were easy to manipulate and he was excited for the games to begin.

Author's Note: wow that took me all day! I know the dream sounds confusing but what dream isn't? lol anyways I hope you liked it and please review! If there is anything that's unclear let me know so I can explain it to you...unless it's all a part of my evil plan not to tell you and let you figure it out later!

Thanks guys enjoy!