400 REVIEWS! THIS IS AMAZING! Please keep them coming everyone, we never thought we'd get this far, and we appreciate each and every review so much. Before you read the chapter, we just have something to clarify. We started writing this story, and planned it all the way to the end, during VD season 1. Unfortunately, some of season two contradicts our storyline, i.e. if we take season 2 into account, Katherine would have tried to capture Elena and get word to Klaus as soon as she saw her. If any of you have ever written a time travel story, we're sure you know how much work has to be put into every little detail to make sure it all works out. Bearing this in mind, trying to incorporate the season 2 plot would pretty much ruin this story, so we're just going to proceed as if it were still season 1 and we'd never heard of curses, werewolves, Klaus, or doppelgangers. Hope nobody minds this too much. Now onto the chapter! We hope you enjoy it, and please, please review! It only takes a second and will make our day :)

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1864

Elena POV

My mind raced as Katherine pulled me towards the gates to the Salvatore property. How much had she overheard? She knew that Damon and I had been the ones behind the break in, that was obvious, but did she know why? She'd most likely heard us discussing the watch.

I was trying my hardest to be brave, pushing away the fear that threatened to engulf me. Katherine would gain nothing that I could see from hurting me. She most likely just wanted to talk, to find out what I knew about the Council, as well as why Damon and I had broken in. She'd threaten, of course she would, but she couldn't seriously hurt me without risking me exposing her….right? I felt the perfume bottle in my pocket bump against my leg as we walked, and felt slightly comforted.

I expected Katherine to stop before we reached the gates, but instead she pulled me straight through. Apparently we actually were going to walk though town, something that I took heart from. Town meant closer to people, who would be able to hear any pleas for help that became necessary – although hopefully they wouldn't. Then again, I realised as a new thought occurred to me, she could be taking me directly to the mayor to turn me in. She had the journal as evidence, after all.

Ironically, the very second this thought occurred, Katherine stopped, jerking me to a halt with her. We were just outside the Salvatore property, with no one in sight. I wondered if there was any chance at all that Damon had been able to follow us, but disregarded this, remembering Katherine's sensitive hearing – which, no doubt, was the reason why she felt safe enough to stop here, despite the fact that we were out in the open.

'So.' Katherine started, looking right at me, her hand still clamped around my arm. 'Not only did you ignore my instructions to leave Damon alone, last night the two of you broke into Jonathan Gilbert's house. Don't try to deny it,' she added sharply as I opened my mouth. 'Haven't you realised yet that you can't lie to me? I am always going to know. I know everything that you do, Elena. Everything.'

'I wasn't going to,' I said as steadily as I could, despite my pounding heart and shaking palms. I could not let her see how much she was getting to me. 'There wouldn't be any point. You already know all about last night, don't you? Who was your little minion?'

'You don't get to ask questions,' Katherine replied smoothly, her grip on my arm tightening just the tiniest bit. 'You're just going to tell me why, exactly, you broke in last night.' It wasn't a question so much as a command.

'So you don't know that already? So much for knowing everything I do.' My heart lifted – she obviously hadn't heard that much of my conversation with Damon.

'From your discussion with Damon, it seems that your story about you got here was true after all,' she said, her eyes narrowing. 'That doesn't explain what you were doing in that house.' Her lip curled slightly as her eyes flicked ever so quickly to the journal in her hand, and I remembered that it had nothing whatsoever about the watch in it. No wonder she had no idea why we'd broken in.

'My story was true,' I lifted my chin. 'I've been telling you from the beginning. My coming here was an accident. I just want to go get home.'

'Then why are you still here? You know how to get home now, yet you show no signs of trying to get to the watch.' Katherine demanded. Then her eyes flicked downwards, focusing on my necklace. I breathed a silent sigh of relief that I'd remembered to eat another vervain stalk that morning.

'I wonder…' said Katherine thoughtfully. Then, without warning, she reached out and gave the necklace a sharp tug, jerking my neck forwards and snapping the chain. Despite the fact that I'd been half-expecting it, I couldn't help crying out in pain as the chain dug into my neck before giving way. A second later, I heard a hiss as her fingers brushed against the locket, and she dropped it as if scalded.

'I knew it,' she hissed. 'You had to have that herb somewhere on you. Let's try this again.'

She leaned towards me, staring directly into my eyes. 'Why haven't you gone home?'

'I didn't know how the watch worked,' I replied without breaking eye contact, trying to sound dazed, trying to act as though her compulsion was working. I had to get her to believe me. 'Now that I know, it's just a matter of getting the watch. I'll be leaving as soon as I can.' There were ten days until the massacre. Surely I could make Katherine believe I needed those ten days to get the watch.

For a second, she merely stared at me, and I felt hope stirring in my chest. Had it worked? Then a smile flicked across her face, causing my stomach to plummet. Anything that made her smile could not be good.

'So if all you need is the watch, I'll just go and get it right now,' she said lightly. 'It shouldn't be too hard to convince Jonathan Gilbert to lend it to me. Then I'll bring it back here and you can go home. Right now.'

'No!' The word slipped out involuntarily, before I could stop them, and I could have kicked myself. Still, I couldn't leave now. I had a plan. And….Damon. I couldn't leave him without saying goodbye.

'Aha,' Katherine said smugly, stepping backwards. 'I thought so. Not telling me the whole truth yet, are we? You've ingested vervain, then?' I didn't reply, simply staring her down. I didn't trust myself to speak. What on earth was I going to say now?

Katherine lifted my arm up so that if was in front of my face, using her other hand to catch my index finger in an excruciating grip, holding it so hard I thought it might break. 'Why did you break into Jonathan Gilbert's house last night?'

The pain was making me hazy, but I managed to hold her gaze. I'd have to tell her the truth as far as I could.

'To find out how the watch worked.' I answered, determined not to let the pain show on my face. 'We thought it would be in the journal.' I nodded at the book, now tucked underneath her arm.

'There's nothing about the watch in this journal.' Her grip tightened, as she twisted my finger slightly, stopping a millisecond before it snapped, and I couldn't hold back a gasp of pain.

'That's…the wrong one.' I stuttered. Her grip loosened again, and I continued, letting out an involuntary gasp of relief, 'That's last years. The current journal…Damon had it when whoever you compelled came in. I had been looking through that one and he must have assumed it was the current one.'

'You were in the house?' Her voice was sharp. 'But you didn't see him?'

'No.' I said shortly. It still annoyed me that we hadn't. 'We were hiding.'

For a second, I thought I saw relief on her face, and she released my hand. I couldn't help cradling the injured finger against my chest.

'You still haven't told me what it is that's keeping you here.' She looked thoughtful. 'Damon? Is he enough to make you want to give up your life in your own time?'

Again, I didn't reply. I had no idea what I could say. Possibly, the best thing I could do was allow Katherine to believe that my relationship with Damon was all that kept me here.

Suddenly, Katherine stiffened, then turned away from me. I blinked, and she was gone – but the journal was lying at my feet. I stooped to pick up my necklace, then reached for it, wondering what on earth had just happened. Why had Katherine left? Why hadn't she destroyed my necklace?

'Good morning, Miss Pierce. Out for a walk?'

Recognising the voice, I spun around. Jonathan Gilbert was walking towards me. Silently cursing, I curtsied, subtly moving as I did so that I blocked the journal from sight. How on earth was I going to talk my way out of this one?

'I'm sorry to hear about the break in at your house, Mr Gilbert.' I said politely, hoping to stall him, although I wasn't exactly sure why. A small part of me hoped that Damon would show up and once again manage to remove the journal from view, but this really wasn't likely.

'Thank you, Miss Pierce,' he said heavily. I noticed the dark shadows under his eyes, and felt the guilt rise up in my stomach. What he was going through was my fault – mine and Damon's.

'Was anything stolen?' I asked cautiously, wondering if he would be willing to telling me.

'Nothing very valuable,' he replied. Although his tone was casual, I could sense the tension in his body. It occurred to me to wonder whether or not the Council knew that vampires could only enter a human dwelling with an invitation. If they didn't, I was possibly a suspected vampire and a suspect in the break-in. Great.

'Just some old…writings…of mine,' Jonathan Gilbert continued. 'No value to anyone but me, really, I can't imagine why anyone else would want them.'

'That does seem strange,' I said lightly, wondering if I could convince him to take a walk with me and lead him away from the journal behind me. 'Maybe someone thought your drawings would be valuable.'

He started. 'How do you know about my drawings?' he asked sharply, and I flinched. Crap. I couldn't believe I'd made such a stupid error. He took a step closer, staring at me intently, and then his face froze, causing me to feel as if a cannonball had slammed into my gut.

'What's that behind you, Miss Pierce?' he asked, stepping around me. When he caught sight of the journal, the expression on his face changed, to a combination of shock and anger, then he turned back to me.

'You…' he breathed. 'You broke in?' He was backing away now, looking terrified.

'No!' I stuttered. 'I was with Damon Salvatore all last night, you can ask him.'

'Then why is my journal – the one that was taken from my house last night – on the ground behind you? Did you drop it when you saw me coming?' Jonathan's voice was cool and steady, but his eyes, frantically searching around us for a sign of anyone else, gave him away.

'I've never seen that book before, I just found it here! I was about to have a look through it when you turned up.' I said, fully aware that I wasn't presenting a very convincing story.

I was racking my brains furiously, trying to think of something I could say, something I could do, that could alleviate at least some of the suspicion on me, but nothing was coming. Jonathan Gilbert was still staring at me, but now there was fear on his face as well as anger.

It was the fear that gave me the answer. If I couldn't prove that I hadn't broken into his house, I could at least prove to him – and indirectly, to the whole Council - that I wasn't a vampire.

'Really, Mr Gilbert,' I said, trying to sound calm. 'After you left me at the apothecary yesterday morning, I spent the rest of the day with Da-Mr Salvatore. We didn't go anywhere near your house. I didn't even spend that long in the apothecary – I only bought a poultice for my arm and this perfume.'

Plunging my hand into my pocket, I pulled out the perfume bottle, holding it out to him.

The effect was electric. Jonathan stared from the perfume to my face and back again, looking thunderstruck. Relief washed over me. For a second, I'd been worried that not all of the Council members knew about the vervain products, but apparently this was not the case. Being in possession of this perfume would have to clear me of at least some of the Council's suspicion.

'Might I…see that, Miss Pierce?' Jonathan asked hesitantly, not even bothering to make up an excuse in his eagerness to check if the perfume was indeed what he thought it was.

I handed it over without a word. He examined the bottle quickly, then pulled the lid off and lifted it to his nose to smell it. As he did so, he thumb brushed the nozzle, spraying perfume on my arm. It was well done – it could easily have looked like an accident to anyone not expecting it.

His eyes widened slightly when I didn't react in any way to the perfume touching my bare skin, and he handed the bottle back with a muttered apology.

'That's all right, Mr Gilbert,' I said with what dignity I could muster. 'And I'm very sorry that someone broke into your house last night, but it wasn't me. I've never seen that journal before in my life. Whoever the thief was, they must have decided they had no use for it and dropped it here. Here – you should take it.'

I picked it up, pushing it into his hands, wanting to get away as soon as possible, before it occurred to him that I hadn't offered any explanation for knowing about the –

'How did you know about my drawings, Miss Pierce, if you've never seen my journals before?' he enquired. Crap. I hadn't been fast enough. The reason I knew about his drawings, was, of course, that I'd seen them in 2010, but obviously there was no way I could say that.

'I – someone mentioned that you like to draw, that's all. I don't remember who, I've met so many people since I came here.' I was pulling at strings now, silently begging him to believe him.

'Elena!' The shout came from behind me, and I turned in relief. I had never, ever been so happy to hear Damon's voice before. He was sprinting towards me, but slowed when he saw my companion.

'Mr Gilbert,' he said, politely enough, although I'd seen him noticeably flinch when he saw the journal in Jonathan's hand.

Unfortunately, it looked like Jonathan had seen it too. His answering greeting was courteous enough, but I didn't like the calculating look in his eyes as he looked Damon over. He looked uncomfortably like he was putting the pieces together. Damon, however, didn't seem to have noticed. He had noticed my bright red, swollen finger, still cradled against my chest, on which bruises were already forming, and fire flashed in his eyes.

'Miss Pierce just had the good fortune to find this in the road, Mr Salvatore,' he said, holding up the journal. 'It went missing from my house last night.'

'I heard about the break-in – I'm so sorry.' Damon was still panting slightly from his run. 'It's good that you found that.'

Jonathan didn't reply, only stared at the two of us, suspicion back on his face.

'I think we should probably be going,' I said quickly. 'I'm sure lunch is almost ready by now. It was good to see you, Mr Gilbert.'

'You too, Miss Pierce, Mr Salvatore.' He bowed to me, then turned and left.

'Elena? What happened? How did he get the journal? What happened to your finger?' Damon was frantically questioning me, but I didn't reply. All I could think of was the look on Jonathan Gilbert's face when Damon had turned up. I could hear my own alibi ringing in my ears. 'I was with Damon Salvatore all last night.' I'd known about the drawings, but hadn't been able to explain how, or who had told me about them.

Jonathan Gilbert now knew that I wasn't a vampire, and had seemed to believe that I hadn't broken into his house. Had I accidentally shifted suspicion onto Damon?

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