A/N - Hello. I have now also uploaded this story on AO3. I have also been trying to come up with a better name because honestly, "How to be Human" is not very good and I finally came up with a new name. Sometime tomorrow I am going to be renaming this story "The Pierce Way". So, when you see that, this is that story.

Thank you to pegazus16 for reviewing.

"Will you go to the founder's party?" Stefan had asked his girlfriend. Of course she had said yes, and now here they were, walking up to the lockwood mansion, dressed up in fancy clothing which was probably making both of them slightly uncomfortable. Elena was wearing a red dress that flowed out at the hips, creating a flow of fabric that looked like a waterfall to her knees, and only wrapped around on shoulder. She had her hair straightened and Stefan had to admit he was a little starstruck.

She took his arm as they headed into the house. There were people everywhere. Stefan spotted his brother standing to one side, talking to the Sheriff. Matt and Jeremy waved at him so he headed over to meet his friends, Elena following right behind him.

"Hey man, how are you doing?" Matt asked, patting Stefan on the back.

"Well, if you guys haven't noticed, I have a girlfriend now." Stefan turned to Elena. "Elena, this is Matt and Jeremy," Stefan pointed to each as he said their names, before addressing his friends. "Guys, meet Elena Pierce."

Jeremy stuck out his hand. "Nice to finally meet you Elena."

She took it and shook, before doing the same with Matt. "The pleasure is mine."

Stefan turned to his girlfriend and again held out his hand. "Would you like to dance with me?"

Elena smiled and took his hand, heading out onto the dance floor. Stefan put his hand on her hip, and took her hand in his other. They started swaying back and forth to the music. "This is nice, Stefan."

He looked down at her questioningly. "What is? Dancing?"

She nodded. "Dancing with you. Being your girlfriend. Doing something normal."

"Do you usually do things not normal?" he asked, half joking, but also a little curious. He could tell there was something different about her. They way she had acted the first night he had meet her, her reaction to him meeting her twin, and maybe even what he had seen happen to her face after they kissed, although that was probably just his imagination. But the things she said and the way she said them told him that she was not really as normal as she acted. Stefan didn't want to push it, but he wished she trusted him enough to tell him whatever she was keeping from him.

Elena never answered his question.

The song came to an end and he stepped off the dance floor. "I'm going to get us some drinks."

Elena nodded and Stefan left her, headed for the kitchen. He passed by his brother and couldn't help but feel a bit curious. Ever since that mysterious phone call about the plant, his brother had seemed to be acting different. It wasn't anything in particular, but I just seemed like he had suddenly gotten a new obsession.

Damon and the Sheriff were heading into a smaller room to the side the was closed off to the party. Stefan wasn't sure why, but he decided to follow his brother. He stood outside the room in the hallway, which luckily was empty, and pressed his ear to the door.

"Did you bring it?" said the Sheriff. There was a silence as Stefan assumed Damon pulled out and handed to her whatever she was talking about. "Good." she said. Another pause. "Damon, you know you can't tell anyone about this right? The council was created to keep this town safe from vampires and that is what we are going to do, but if anyone found out, who knows what would happen. People would think they were crazy or there would be a riot in the street. Either way, it doesn't end well." Stefan couldn't think. She must have been out of her mind. Vampires weren't real.

"I know." Damon answered. "I'm not planning on going around telling everyone I meet."

Stefan had heard enough. His brother must have been just as crazy as she was. Or maybe Stefan had heard them wrong. Maybe they had said "deadly liers" or it was a metaphor for something. Whatever the case, Stefan knew he didn't want to get caught listening in, so he continued on toward the kitchen. He grabbed two drinks and started heading back toward his date, the strange conversation already out of his mind.

Elena was standing next to the display of the first founder's party registry, staring at the paper.

"Hey, what are you looking at?" he said as he approached.

Elena snapped back to attention. "What? Oh, nothing. Come on, lets go over there and say hi to Caroline. She looks lonely. She just broke up with her boyfriend a few days ago"

Stefan nodded and started to head toward Elena's friend. But before he walked away from the table he glanced at the registry. It was a quick, split second act, but it made all the difference. Elena was already walking toward her friend, oblivious to the fact that Stefan wasn't right behind her. Stefan scanned the list and two names popped out at him. Elena Pierce and Katherine Pierce.

It was to weird. To much of a coincidence. Stefan's mind whirled, trying to find an explanation but it kept coming back to the same word. Vampire. He already knew Elena was different. She said she didn't like blood. Her face had changed into something he couldn't explain. She had been worried about his physical safety when she knew he had been with her sister. And she was registred as one of the original members of the founding families in 1864.

Stefan didn't want to believe it. He didn't want to jump to conclusions. But he didn't want to be with her either. Calmly, he put his cup down on the table and started walking toward the door. He heard Elena call his name, but pretended not to as he headed out the door and headed for his car. He had to know more. He had to know for sure before saying anything to her

Normally Caroline loved parties, but this year, she just wasn't up for it. Caroline was normally the girl who always had a date and always had everything figured out. But having just broken up with Tyler so recently, she didn't much feel like dancing or partying. The founders party was only the first of sure to be many more in the next few weeks, so she didn't feel too bad about leaving earily.

She stepped into her car and put it in gear, driving away from the Lockwood mansion. She couldn't help but let her mind wander back to Tyler as she drove. She didn't understand how he could have done that to her. There had always been little things, things that she knew he did, but tried to ignore, but he had gone to far this time. Not only had he cheated on her, but he had done it with his best friend's sister.

Caroline shook her head, trying to blink away the tears that were threatening to overtake her vision.

She wasn't paying attention to where she was and found herself suddenly at a turn that was sharper than normal, and she was going a little too fast. She jerked the wheel to the right, trying to turn, but she only made it worse. She felt her back wheels lose traction and skid out to the left. By this point she had no control over her car. She was sliding sideways at 50 mph, and with terror she noticed the tree trunk a second before she hit it.

Caroline felt her body jerk as the car crushed against the tree. She felt something snap and she blacked out for a few seconds. She couldn't focus, but she knew, somehow that there was going to be absolutely no way that she was going to be walking away from this crash.

As her vision faded in and out, she noticed what looked like a girl walking toward her. But Caroline decided she must have been hallucinating as the girl raised her own wrist to her mouth and bit down on it. Caroline squeezed her eyes shut and counted to five before opening them again. The girl was still there. She walked toward the car and then did the last thing Caroline expected. She put her bleeding wrist to Caroline's mouth. Caroline attempted to struggle, but she wasn't able to move much at all.

After a few seconds, the girl stepped back and braced herself as she pulled the driver's side door off it's hinges. Now Caroline Knew she was hallucinating. No one was strong enough to do that. The girl reached in and pulled Caroline from the wreckage, carrying her in her arms. Caroline felt her eyelids grow heavy and the last thing she remembered was the sight of the pavement moving beneath her before she passed out for good.

Katherine knew she had just happened to be in the right place at the right time when she had overheard the conversation Stefan had had with his brother on the phone. She knew that the council must have still been around and she wasn't going to let it get in the way of anything. She needed someone on the inside.

That was why she was currently standing in the middle of Damon's bedroom as he walked in, tired from the party and his first council meeting.

Damon was obviously confused. "Elena?"

Katherine smiled. She found it so amusing that she was so easily mistaken for her sweet, caring sister. Other than their looks, the two sisters couldn't be any more different. Katherine had a feeling that Elena had no idea that her new boyfriend's brother was on the founder's council and had access to a rather large amount of vervain, and Katherine was going to use that to her advantage. "Nope. Guess again."

"What?" Now Damon looked even more confused then when he had walked in to see, who he thought was his brother's girlfriend, standing in his room. Katherine was okay with that. He was kind of hot when he was confused.

"I'm not Elena. I'm Katherine, her sister."

"Okay . . ." Damon said, obviously expecting her to continue. She still hadn't told him why she had just shown up in his room.

Katherine walked up to him, studying his face. "Sometimes I really wonder what my sister is thinking. Why didn't she go for you? You really are quite hot. Why your brother?"

Damon was obviously flattered, but he seemed to be trying to hide it. "So what if I am hotter than my brother? Why are you here?"

Katherine inspected his body, checking for vervain. Finally she spotted something sticking out the pocket in her shirt. Gritting her teeth, she grabbed it and threw it to the other side of the room.

"Hey!" he protested, then noticing that it had burned her his eyes went wide. "You're a vampire."

Katherine had to admit she was quite entertained by this human. She had expected him to run or at least tense up in fear when he realized what she was, but instead he looked rather fascinated. She grabbed his face, forcing him to look her in the eyes. "I need your help. You are going to continue going to the council meetings. You will forget about me being here, but you will report back to me at the end of each day about the council's plans. You're going to be my spy."

Damon nodded slowly. "I will be your spy." he repeated.

Katherine smiled. "Very good." she said. Then she was gone, leaving a dazed Damon standing in the middle of his room.