AN: Hey everyone! Thank you all so much for your support and continuing to stick with the story. I know I say it a lot but it really does mean so much to me! : )
To Lady Syndra: No they don't know it's her as they have never seen her and don't know what she looks like. Lol I think your right, he has been spending all of his time searching for her and then finds out that one of his own hurts her? : O Lol! Thank you so much for reviewing and I really hope you like this next chapter..
To Mary VA: Wow! Thank you so much yet again! Your reviews are always so amazing and always make me want to keep writing! Seriously thank you so so much! Haha! I know I don't think he's going to be very happy that it was one of his own group that hurt her as well! Lol! Don't worry you won't have to wait too much longer, I am just trying to set it up so that it really will be epic! I actually don't have a Tumblr but I have been wanting to set one up for a while, would you recommend it? It's amazing that you would want to follow me on it, such a compliment and of course it would be okay! : ) I hope you like this next chapter..
"Was that really necessary?" Tahlia asked as she descended the stairs to where Andrew stood over the unconscious girl.
Andrew shrugged.
"You must allow me my fun one way or another" he smirked moving over to the cabinet to begin his search.
"Why do act one way with Kol and another with me?" Tahlia asked as she stepped off of the last step "I could kill you just as fast as he could".
"Yes but I know you won't" he said without even looking up from the files he was sifting through.
"And why is that?"
He stopped and moved to her, his height towering over her doing nothing to intimidate her.
"Because you love me" he said with an air of arrogance moving to put his hands around her waist.
"Love is a strong word" Tahlia replied stopping his hands before they had a chance to embrace her "It's more like I lust for you".
Andrew smirked.
"I'll take that"
He bent to engulf her lips and she reciprocated for a few seconds before pulling away.
"Sam is right upstairs and we should be looking for the birth certificate".
Andrew sighed.
"Do I need to compel you so that we can have some alone time together?" he asked half joking half serious.
She slapped him on his chest and laughed lightly.
"You really think you could?" she replied with attitude. She brushed passed him and continued searching the cabinet he had just come from.
He rolled his eyes. He was used to her indifference to him but sometimes he thought he felt more for her than she did for him. That was something he was not used to with women.
He stepped over Kara, obviously not knowing her identity to get to the second cabinet.
Tahlia threw her cabinet closed with a thud and exasperatedly looked around for another cabinet to search through.
"These were all just property deeds" she said moving to a cabinet that was tilted on its axis at the other side of the room "Of course it could be easier to find it if you hadn't wrecked the place first".
"Don't blame me that the librarian got in the way, she fought hard for an old bat"
Tahlia glared at him.
"And where is she now?"
Andrew shrugged, a smirk playing on his features.
"Andrew" Tahlia warned.
"What? I was hungry okay, be thankful I didn't eat her as well" he said indicating to Kara who was still lying on the floor.
"I found something!" Sam called from upstairs, his voice echoing off of the stone from the floors making it appear louder than it was. Tahlia and Andrew glanced at each other before moving up the stairs.
Sam stood behind the reception desk reading a small piece of parchment.
"What is it?" Tahlia asked moving across the room to him.
Sam held out the piece of paper.
"A note to a Mrs Walcott from none other than Kara Salvatore" Sam said beaming at the find from ear to ear.
"What?" Tahlia asked in disbelief a smile also playing on her face as she moved closer to Sam.
"What does it say?" Andrew asked hopeful that some address might be scratched into the margin.
"Not much" Sam said truthfully scanning back over the words with his eyes "But it's not what it says that's Important"
Both Talia and Andrew looked at him confused.
"The ink is still wet" Sam announced as if it was obvious "She must still be here somewhere or at least close by".
"We didn't see anyone leave when we entered" Andrew spoke squinting his eyes to try and recall the scene when they entered the building.
Sam shrugged.
"She might still be in the building then" Sam said happily bounding from his position at the desk.
Sam Philpott had been turned by Kol over fifty years ago when he had been traveling the highlands of Scotland. He had been the eldest in his family and had been set to inherit his father's cattle farm but had confided to Kol in a tavern that he dreamt of traveling, of seeing the world. Kol granted him his wish, although it was because he needed a travel companion as much as it was to see the look on his Father's face when he discovered him dead the next day. However much Kol had put him through throughout the years he somehow remained loyal and upbeat in personality. He was tall in appearance, had light brown hair on his head but had a darker version on the small stubble on his face. He retained the look of a man in their late teens and rejoiced in the fact that he would never age.
"Where are you going?" Andrew asked a little amused at his friends behaviour.
"To check to see if there's anyone around" Sam said happily.
"There's not" Tahlia said trying to get Sam to continue with the original mission "The only people that were here were that librarian and the….." She stopped suddenly, the words freezing in her throat as a terrifying thought occurred to her.
"The what?" Sam asked urging her to continue.
"Oh no" she said more thinking out loud than directing her speech at anyone.
"What?" Sam asked curious as to why his friend's demeanour had altered so much, he looked to Andrew for the answer but he looked almost a baffled as he felt.
"Andrew you are such an idiot!" she spat fire in her eyes "You need to feed her your blood".
She marched to the gated doorway fast but paused to look back when she realised that no one was following.
"Quickly!" she ordered causing both of them to start moving.
"What on earth has gotten into you?" Andrew argued moving down the stairs rapidly after her.
"You don't understand do you" Tahlia snapped moving to the bottom step and running her hands through her long dark hair in anxiety.
Both Sam and Andrew were now on the stairs watching her attentively but both shaking their heads in response to her question.
She moved to Kara and bent down to her, suspending her hand over her mouth for a moment before letting out a sigh of relief.
"She is still breathing, thank god!".
She looked back to the stairs to see that the two vampires still hadn't moved from their position and just favoured watching their friend in a type of entertaining confusion.
"Well don't just stand there!" she yelled causing Sam to flinch and move a step downwards "One of you heal her"
Sam moved towards her about to aid her but Andrew held an arm out to stop him.
"Why should we?" he asked his tone slightly mimicking a toddler who was denied the toy he had asked for. Tahlia could see that he was just trying to undermine her orders by refusing but she knew that he didn't see what appeared to be right in front of them.
"Andrew wake up" she said with a biting tone "If Sam says the ink was still wet and that there were only two people in the building then it would only be reasonable to assume that this girl is…."
Andrew's eyes had gone wide in realisation when Tahlia had only been half-way through the sentence so finished it with his own conclusion.
"Kara" he finished "This is Kara".
"Bravo for reaching that conclusion so fast now can you please heal her before she dies and Kol dissects us one bit at a time".
This seemed to sober Andrew and he bit into his wrist hard making large droplets of blood fall on the floor.
Tahlia took hold of Kara's lower jaw a gently moved her mouth open so Andrews blood would fall easily down her throat. She began coughing but Tahlia held her hand over her mouth to keep the blood down.
Tahlia watched as the cut that Kara had received when she had hit the floor shrank and disappeared.
"Start searching for the birth cert, quickly" she ordered and Sam immediately jumped to action.
"What do you mean?" Andrew said standing up from his position on the floor "We have her right here, we could just bring her to him".
"And what do we do when we try and explain to Kol how we found her? Or when she wakes up and tells him herself?"
Andrew shrugged arrogantly.
"I've already compelled her, I can do it again".
Tahlia stood too, reaching a more modest height than Andrew.
"That's fine for the few days that she's still a human but as soon as she turns she'll remember everything".
Andrew put his hand to his forehead.
"Damn it! What are we going to do?"
"We?" Tahlia questioned "It was you who attacked her, not us. Sam and I can just say that we never ventured to the basement"
Sam looked up long enough from his search to see the colour drain from Andrew's face.
"But we're in this together" he spoke his voice a lot more subdued than before.
"Don't be ridiculous" she spat "You have never been a team player so why would you be now?"
Andrew seemed to be in deep thought for a moment before responding.
"Because if he knew that I hurt her while you two did nothing, you will be punished as much as I will be"
"I found it!" Sam suddenly yelled from the other side of the room "A birth certificate of one Kara Lillianna Salvatore, parents Giuseppe and Georgianna Salvatore, residence is Veritas Estate, Mystic Falls"
"Good" Tahlia smiled brushing passed Andrew to the stairs "Let's go"
Sam followed.
Andrew turned to the two of them walking up the stairs but only directed his question to Tahlia.
"Well?" he asked his eyebrows rising with his voice.
Tahlia paused her actions and sighed glancing momentarily at Sam who looked just as nervous as she.
"Fine!" she spat " When the time comes we will think of something to convince her that she was mistaken but if they don't believe us I swear to the spirits that I will hand you over in a heartbeat, understood?"
Andrew nodded with a small smile.
"Understood"
"What about her?" Sam asked indicating to Kara on the ground who was now stirring slightly.
"She'll be fine" Tahlia replied to her friend "Besides, I'd rather have Kol discover her comfortable in her own house himself rather than us delivering her to him as a dishevelled mess, with blood streaked down her face"
"Agreed" Andrew said following his companions up the stairs once again.
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~TVD~
Kara was groggy when she regained consciousness. She was on her back, her head tilted to one side, with an odd metallic taste in her mouth. Shakily she sat up, the black spots still seeping into her vision with every small blink of her eyes. Searing pain twisted in her head, the same she had felt when Katherine had attacked her.
'Was that man a vampire too?' she asked herself putting a cool hand to her head in an effort to dull the pain. She swayed a little standing up putting her hand on a cabinet that seemed to have been tilted on its axis. She felt sick to her stomach with fear at the man who had attacked her and at the growing number of monsters that seemed to be invading the town. The fact that they were so powerful and that no one seemed to know about them scared her to no end.
She made her way up the stairs , stumbling a few times but swiftly collecting herself with the help of the bannister. As she reached the top and went through the gated doorway she had to shield her eyes from the glare of the sun through the windows as it only stressed her headache.
She closed her eyes for a moment, leaning her head gently on the doorframe to try and stop her mind from spinning. The thought of the long walk back to her estate made her stomach churn and bubble. She just wanted to rewind time to prevent her father from ever going to offer aid to Katherine. Swallowing the tears that were threatening to moisten her face she gathered as much strength as she could to move over to the reception desk to pick up the book that she had come here for. She almost buckled under its weight but gripped it tightly in her arms. She didn't know what time it was only that she must have been unconscious for at least an hour because the sun had changed position in the sky. Attempting to walk in a straight line to the front door of the library her mind reeled with excuses of what to tell her father. Each coming up too short to be good.
The fresh air hit her hard making her head throb even more. She swallowed hard in an effort to keep the bile that was rising in her throat down. She moved down the steps slowly watching her feet as they descended each step tentatively .
'Where was Evan when you needed him?' she half thought to herself as she remembered his insistence in escorting her here hours before.
She move through the town as inconspicuous as she could keeping her head down, her eyes fixed to the footpath in front of her and her hair fanning her face from both sides. The book was heavy but she managed to keep a good grip on it as she continued knowing that the sooner she that she got home then the sooner she could rest.
It took her longer than normal to reach the outer gates of the Veritas estate. She had stopped worrying about time-keeping when she had passed the town hall with the clock tower and realised that she had been gone way too long to have a valid excuse for her father. Her only hope was that he had got up and gone straight to work in his office without noticing she had gone.
Getting closer she could see a carriage in the driveway to her house and realised that they must have visitors. Knowing whomever it was would no doubt ask questions of the large illegible book she was carrying she decided to make a detour. She took the side gate through the field beside the estate and made for the stables that sat to the back of the house. The small dirt road that led to the stables were not far from the field as they had to be near the road in order for the horses to be led to the carriages whenever the family needed to go somewhere. The stables had always been a safe haven for her and even though she was only seldom allowed to ride the horses, the atmosphere in their presence had always been soothing to her.
Praying that Cyril, the boy that had taken the job of looking after the stables after Harry had been promoted had already finished the morning chores in the paddocks she entered stealthy, sneaking through the door without opening it fully. Squeezing through the narrow space the door creaked in protest as she shut it behind her, the light being left into the room diminishing as she did so. The horses whinnied in her presence but hushed after a moment of shushing them. Scanning the room she tried to find a suitable hiding place for the book. Knowing that it would be found in a matter of hours if she left them in the stalls she turned her attentions to the hay loft. She knew that no new hay would be stored up there for the next few weeks and only the hay at the front would be brought to the stalls for the horses. Climbing the ladder she moved to the back of the loft and situated the book under a heft of loose hay marking the spot by acknowledging the heavy wooden beam that decorated the wall right above it. She resisted the urge to sleep there and then on the soft hay that looked so inviting. Deciding that the book was now invisible to anyone who happened to venture up to the loft she made her way back down the ladder and squeezed herself out of the door once again. She made for the back door, hoping beyond hope that she could sneak in and pretend that she had been there the whole time. She paused at the corner, where the side of the house met the back of the house and waited for the gardener to emerge from the back door and make his way down the steps towards the flower and vegetable patches that were situated passed the potted plants and the end of the garden. She entered the door and had to wait a moment for her eyes to adjust to the dimness of the light. None of the gas-lamps had yet been lit and the staff had clearly still been using the daylight from outside to illuminate their work. The kitchen and surrounding rooms were thankfully empty but she was stopped in her tracks when she made for the servants staircase at the sight of Emily Bennett descending them. She moved to the hallway instead and made to climb the main staircase instead. She knew that there would be a greater danger of her getting caught here but she knew she had to try. With Emily on her heels she exited the hallway into the entrance hall and almost leaped for the stairs, her heart hammering in her chest. She was halfway up the staircase before she knew it, walking up the carpeted centre in an effort to dull the sounds of her footsteps on the steps. She was almost there and the thought of being able to lay her head on her pillow gave her the small bit of energy to continue.
"Kara!?" her father's voice sounded from the dining room downstairs "Is that you?"
Kara cringed. She had almost made it. She turned on the spot facing downwards in hopes that her father had not known of her absence and was just enquiring over a completely unrelated matter.
Giuseppe appeared in the doorway of the dining room and Kara gave him a forced smile.
He gave her an unreadable expression and Kara couldn't tell whether he was annoyed with her or not.
"Come" he said finally opening an arm up to indicate the dining room to her "There is someone here who wishes to see you"
She squinted her eyes in question to him before complying and moving down the stairs towards him. Giuseppe smirked at her obliviousness despite himself and ushered her into the dining room in front of him. She looked to him in question again before turning to the room. Her stomach sank when she spotted Katherine in the corner of the room sitting with a love-sick Stefan and nursing a glass of red wine but it was when she saw the figure in front of the window she stopped. Her heart fluttered in pure excitement, a positive emotion and one she hadn't felt in what felt like forever. He turned to her, his blue eyes mirroring hers and a wide, cheeky grin accompanying it.
"Hi K" he said seemingly just as excited as her.
"Damon?" she had to ask not quite believing her eyes.
"Yeah K it's me" he said with his trademark grin and taking off his army cap as if to prove it was him.
She couldn't help the excitement she felt as she ran to him, everything she had been through in the past couple of days seemed to dissipate for those few milliseconds.
She reached him and threw her arms around him in a hug so tight she thought she might never be able to let go. He reciprocated and she squeezed her eyes shut in an effort to both feel the closeness to her brother and to prevent the tears from falling. She had missed him but she hadn't realised until this very moment truly how much.
"I missed you so much" she whispered into his collar the smell of his aftershave, his familiar scent making her feel even more emotional.
"I missed you too kid" he whispered back he, unlike her trying to hide the emotion from his voice. Kara heard it though. The slight inflection in his voice telling her that he too was feeling just as she was.
He pulled back and she reluctantly released him.
"Look at you" he said rustling her hair as if she was five and then putting a hand on her head "Have you shrunk?".
She gave him a sarcastic look before breaking into a small smile again.
"When did you get back?" she asked "We weren't expecting you home so fast".
Damon shrugged and picked up his glass from the table.
"My unit is moving upstate so our general gave George and me permission to leave now".
"More time to get ready for the ball, eh Damon" Stefan smirked lifting his wine filled glass to Damon as if ushering a toast.
"Absolutely" Damon smirked reciprocating Stefan's actions "And also more time dare I say to get to know the enchanting Miss Pierce"
That wiped the smile from Kara's face.
"My how did I get so lucky" Katherine smirked putting a gloved hand to her mouth as she giggled lightly. Both Stefan and Damon smiled warmly in her direction.
Kara scoffed but it seemed to go unnoticed by the male occupants of the room.
Katherine however clearly heard it and turned her attention to the youngest Salvatore.
"And where did you disappear to today Kara?" she asked sweetly but her fiery eyes glared at her severely "I seemed to have missed your company".
"Well Katherine" Kara spoke just as sweetly "That is actually none of your business"
"Kara!" Giuseppe scolded at her rudeness. She knew it was to be expected but Katherine's sickly sweet attitude was driving her mad with frustration.
"My apologies Father" purposely directing her apology to her Father rather than having to say sorry to Katherine.
"So tell us more about you Miss Pierce" Damon asked sitting in the chair at Katherine's side across from Damon.
Kara rolled her eyes and made for the door, hoping to reach the attic and view Emily's book while everyone was distracted.
"Not so fast young lady" Giuseppe said sternly blocking the door from her "My office, now"
Kara met his eyes, sighed and made for his office. She walked straight in, noticing the mounds of parchment and paper streamed across the table. She sat on the chair near to the window and waited for her father to enter. The sun was warm on her back but she couldn't help but feel the cold atmosphere of the house chill her bones.
Her father entered a moment later and shut the door behind him with a creak. He stood over her, hands on his hips.
"Well?" he asked as if awaiting Kara to explain herself to him.
She looked at him with a feigned bemusement waiting to see what he was accusing her of before pleading her case.
"Well what Father?" she asked looking up at him with the puppy dog eyes she used to use on him when she got in trouble as a child.
"What was with the attitude in there?" he asked leaning on the sideboard and folding his arms tightly.
Kara sighed frustrated trying to think of a way to implement Katherine in some wrong doing without herself sounding crazy.
"I'm sorry father" she admitted first "It's just, she's bewitched Stefan and now Damon seems enthralled by her".
"Kara" Giuseppe scoffed obviously uncomfortable to be having a conversation like this with his daughter.
"But she has, and they do not see it".
"She is a very attractive woman" Giuseppe said slowly as if choosing his words carefully "And they are young men, it's only natural that they should be attracted to her".
"But Stefan seems to have completely forgotten his promise to Rosalyn".
Giuseppe sighed.
"As much as I don't agree to what Stefan is doing with Miss Cartwright, he has every right to do what pleases with any other woman until the day they are married".
"At this rate they never will be" Kara replied.
"Well that is also his prerogative"
"Katherine knows what she is doing father, I don't trust her"
Giuseppe sighed and ran a hand through his grey-brown hair.
"Kara jealousy is not very becoming of a lady".
Kara was equally both shocked and appalled at the accusation.
"I am not jealous of her father" she said slowly getting angrier with each small word.
She shot from the chair and was at the door in two steps.
"I am trying to warn you father, she is going to be the undoing of this family"
"Kara wait!" Giuseppe halted sternly getting up from his position from the sideboard and moving to his daughter by the door.
Kara paused watching his movements, waiting to see if she had made him see any sort of sense.
"The next time you leave this house without my permission you will be grounded for a year, understand?"
It took Kara all of her might not to scream at her father, to tell him that Katherine was a monster and that she was only trying to save their family. She bit her tongue and grinded her teeth.
"Yes father" she almost spat at him before leaving the office and slamming the door behind her.
So what did you think? Urg I'm hating Katherine more and more each chapter! : ) Hope you all enjoyed and as usually if you have any thoughts/ ideas/ questions don't be afraid to ask! Thanks for reading!