A/N - Sorry that I didn't update till now. I have been pretty busy with school and stuff but I managed to keep writing. Thank you for reading, following, and favoriting (if that's a word). I love you all.

Thanks again to Parodychick and DreaminOfLove22 for continuing to review and comment. You're awesome.

I love reviews and feedback, so don't be shy. Here's the next chapter. :)

Stefan hadn't gotten any sleep that night. The moment he had gotten home, he had looked up his ancestor's journals from 1864. He needed a first-hand account about who the Elena and Katherine who had signed the registry at the first founder's part really were. He didn't want to admit it, but the evidence pointing to that Elena and his Elena being the same person was adding up.

He had frantically searched for a journal from that time period and pulled it down from the shelves. As he read page after page, it became clear that at least the Giuseppe Salvatore that had written the journal had believed in vampires. To him, they were real creatures that were to be feared.

Stefan flipped forward, looking for a mention of Katherine or Elena. About halfway through the journal there was a passage about them. They were the twin daughters of Jonathan Gilbert and, supposedly, they had no idea about the town's vampire problem. Elena was more of a recluse, she liked to sit up in her room and write or read, while her sister Katherine, always seemed to be seducing one boy or another. Giuseppe didn't have much more on the subject of the Pierce twins, but that was all the information Stefan needed.

The Elena and Katherine Pierce from 1864 were twins, and the Elena Stefan knew was identical to her twin sister Katherine. It wasn't a coincidence, they had to be the same girls.

Stefan sat up from his bed, trying to stretch out the night's lack of sleep. There was a knock on the door downstairs. He rushed to get dressed and made it down the stairs just as his brother was leading Elena into the living room.

Stefan stopped short when he saw his girlfriend. "Damon, could you give us a moment alone please?" Stefan said, not taking his eyes off of her.

"Sure brother." Damon gave Stefan a questioning look and then left the room.

Stefan's heart was beating faster than he had ever felt it beat before. He was terrified of what he was about to ask, but he had to know. He had to hear her say it.

"Elena." He took another deep breath. "What are you?"

Elena looked at him with concern. She must have known it would come to this eventually. Maybe she could even hear his heart beat going crazy.

Elena stood up and walked over to him, standing in front of him, but not to close. "I didn't want you to know. I wanted to be normal. I guess I knew that you would figure it out eventually, but I hoped I would have time." She looked up into his eyes, trying to convey the seriousness of what she was going to say. "Are you sure you want to know? It's dangerous."

Stefan nodded. "I need to know. What are you?"

Elena looked down and subconsciously pulled her hair behind her ear. She looked up again and took a deep breath. "I'm a vampire."

As calmly as he could, Stefan said, "I want you to leave. Please."

Elena looked hurt, but didn't protest.

When the door shut behind her, Stefan walked over to the sofa and sank into it, trying to comprehend what exactly it meant.

Caroline woke up in the hospital to the sounds of beeping and the smell of cleanliness. She moaned as she tried to sit up, sore from the crash.

Someone sitting in the chair next to her jerked awake. "Hey sweetie." said her mom.

Caroline smiled. "Hi mom." She searched the room for a clock, but couldn't find one. "What time is it?"

"Almost eleven." the Sheriff replied after checking her watch. "Try not to move too much. Somehow you survived that crash, but let's not press our luck."

Caroline laid back, slightly nodding her head. "Yeah, how did I get out of the car? I don't really remember much. I remember the car crashing into a tree and then . . ." Caroline remembered the strange girl and decided to keep that to herself. She didn't need people thinking she was even crazier than they already thought.

The Sheriff shrugged, shaking her head. "I don't know. We got an anonymous 911 call and by the time we got there you were laying twenty feet from the car, passed out, but not injured really. They want to keep you here for 24 hours to keep you under observation, but you're going to be fine. It's a miracle."

Matt poked his head in the doorway to the room. "Hey Caroline. How are you feeling?"

"I'm okay I guess. I mean, I survived and wasn't injured so . . ."

Caroline's mom stood up. "Well I'm going to leave you two alone for now. I'll be back later." She headed out the door as Matt came over to the side of her bed and gave her a gentle hug.

"I can't believe you came to see me." Caroline said.

Matt shrugged like it was no big deal. "Well, you were there for me this summer, so I want to be here for you."

Caroline smiled at the memories. That summer had been rough for Matt. His sister was a major druggy, and his mom had been in and out of his house, causing trouble when she was there, and leaving Matt with a house and sister to take care of when she wasn't.

Caroline had noticed him sitting alone, and quite honestly, looking wreaked, one day at the Grill and had gone over to see if he was okay. She wasn't sure exactly why she had decided to be a good friend to him that day, especially as they had never really been close before, but she had, and in return, he had opened up to her. He had told her about all that was going wrong in his life and how he didn't feel equipped to handle it.

For the rest of the summer, whenever he needed it, he called her. Whether to talk to someone about his problems, to which she would do her best to give good advice, or just to get away from his stressful life for a short time.

They had become good friends. It was somewhat strange and unusual, but they had grown closer over the summer.

"Thank you Matt. You really are a good friend." Caroline thought of all the trouble she was going through right now.

He smiled. "Just returning the favor."

Stefan decided he needed to get out of his house. He asked his brother if he wanted to go for a drink at the grill. Damon was a little surprised Stefan was asking him and not the other way around, but he accepted without question.

The brothers sat down side by side at the bar. Damon ordered two drinks and slid one over to his brother. "Fess up."

Stefan turned to face his brother. "What are you talking about?"

"Oh come on, man. I know you better than that. Something's been bothering you all day. Heck, you were the one who wanted to come have a drink."

Stefan shook his head. "Nothing's wrong."

Damon was about to reply, not ready to give up, when a man walked up to the two of them and cut him off. "Do either of you know Elena Pierce?"

"Yep." Damon answered. "You're looking at her boyfriend." Damon smiled.

"You're her boyfriend?" the man said addressing Damon.

"No." Stefan said. "I am. My brother just thinks he is being funny."

"Oh okay." The man hesitated for a second then asked. "Could I speak to you for a second," he threw a glance at Damon. "Alone?"

Stefan knew it was probably a bad idea, but he was curious what this man had to say. Did he know what she was? Was he going to warn Stefan against getting to know her? He stood up and walked out the door and into the alleyway next to the Grill with the other man following him.

He turned around. "So what-" Stefan stopped short when he saw the man's face. It was veiny like he had seen Elena's do and he had somehow grown fangs.

"I was just looking for the Pierce, to send a message, but now I think it would be so much easier to have you do it." The man lunged at Stefan's neck, baring his fangs.

There was a flash as the man was knocked off of him. Stefan scrambled back to his feet. There was Elena and the other man, fighting with fists and kicks, but it was different than anything Stefan had seen before. Every few seconds one of them seemed to move ten times faster than normal, whether they were dodging a punch, or putting extra umph into their kick. Finally Elena managed to pin the man against the wall, holding him by the throat.

"What do you want?" she barked at him.

He managed a smile beneath the blood dripping from his nose and snickered.

Elena pushed him further up the wall and he gasped for breath.

"Alright, alright." He said. She dropped him and he landed on his feet. He took a few seconds rubbing his throat and coughing before he finally stood up. "I come with a message."

"A message from who?"

The guy smiled again. "He says, he knows where you are. He knows what you did and he is coming."

Elena stepped back, looking like she had seen a ghost. The guy sped away, leaving a shocked Stefan and a worried looking Elena.

"What does he mean?" Stefan asked.

Elena shook herself out of whatever trance she had been in and turned to Stefan. "What?"

"What did he mean when he said that? Who is 'he'?" Stefan clarified.

"Nothing. It's nothing." She finally seemed to realize what had just happened. "Are you okay? Did he hurt you?"

"No." Stefan said. "I'm fine. You got here just in time." Stefan hesitated. "Thank you."

"Of course I find you in an alley somewhere."

Stefan and Elena turned toward the front of the alleyway to find the source of the new voice. Standing in front of them was a girl with straight blonde hair, a cute black shirt, skinny jeans, and high heeled boots. Stefan noticed Elena's smile growing.

"Lexi."